40 research outputs found
Data standardization of plantâpollinator interactions
Background: Animal pollination is an important ecosystem function and service, ensuring both the integrity of natural systems
and human well-being. Although many knowledge shortfalls remain, some high-quality data sets on biological interactions are now
available. The development and adoption of standards for biodiversity data and metadata has promoted great advances in biological
data sharing and aggregation, supporting large-scale studies and science-based public policies. However, these standards are currently
not suitable to fully support interaction data sharing.
Results: Here we present a vocabulary of terms and a data model for sharing plantâpollinator interactions data based on the Darwin
Core standard. The vocabulary introduces 48 new terms targeting several aspects of plantâpollinator interactions and can be used to
capture information from different approaches and scales. Additionally, we provide solutions for data serialization using RDF, XML,
and DwC-Archives and recommendations of existing controlled vocabularies for some of the terms. Our contribution supports open
access to standardized data on plantâpollinator interactions.
Conclusions: The adoption of the vocabulary would facilitate data sharing to support studies ranging from the spatial and temporal
distribution of interactions to the taxonomic, phenological, functional, and phylogenetic aspects of plantâpollinator interactions. We
expect to fill data and knowledge gaps, thus further enabling scientific research on the ecology and evolution of plantâpollinator
communities, biodiversity conservation, ecosystem services, and the development of public policies. The proposed data model is
flexible and can be adapted for sharing other types of interactions data by developing discipline-specific vocabularies of termsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Genomics and epidemiology for gastric adenocarcinomas (GE4GAC): a Brazilian initiative to study gastric cancer
Abstract Gastric cancer (GC) is the fifth most common type of cancer worldwide with high incidences in Asia, Central, and South American countries. This patchy distribution means that GC studies are neglected by large research centers from developed countries. The need for further understanding of this complex disease, including the local importance of epidemiological factors and the rich ancestral admixture found in Brazil, stimulated the implementation of the GE4GAC project. GE4GAC aims to embrace epidemiological, clinical, molecular and microbiological data from Brazilian controls and patients with malignant and pre-malignant gastric disease. In this letter, we summarize the main goals of the project, including subject and sample accrual and current findings
G6PD deficiency in Latin America: systematic review on prevalence and variants
Plasmodium vivax radical cure requires the use of primaquine (PQ), a drug that induces haemolysis in glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficient (G6PDd) individuals, which further hampers malaria control efforts. The aim of this work was to study the G6PDd prevalence and variants in Latin America (LA) and the Caribbean region. A systematic search of the published literature was undertaken in August 2013. Bibliographies of manuscripts were also searched and additional references were identified. Low prevalence rates of G6PDd were documented in Argentina, Bolivia, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay, but studies from Curaçao, Ecuador, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Suriname and Trinidad, as well as some surveys carried out in areas of Brazil, Colombia and Cuba, have shown a high prevalence (> 10%) of G6PDd. The G6PD A-202A mutation was the variant most broadly distributed across LA and was identified in 81.1% of the deficient individuals surveyed. G6PDd is a frequent phenomenon in LA, although certain Amerindian populations may not be affected, suggesting that PQ could be safely used in these specific populations. Population-wide use of PQ as part of malaria elimination strategies in LA cannot be supported unless a rapid, accurate and field-deployable G6PDd diagnostic test is made available
Bee-mediated selection favors floral sex specialization in a heterantherous species: strategies to solve the pollen dilemma
Animal-pollinated plants show a broad variation in floral morphology traits and gametophyte production within populations. Thus, floral traits related to plant reproduction and sexuality are usually exposed to pollinator-mediated selection. Such selective pressures may be even stronger in heterantherous and pollen flowers, in which pollen contributes to both bee feeding and pollination, overcoming the âpollen dilemmaâ or the inability to perform both functions simultaneously. We describe the phenotypic gender and sexual organ morphology of flowers in two populations of Macairea radula (Melastomataceae), a heterantherous and buzz-pollinated species with pollen flowers. We estimated selection gradients on these traits through female and male fitness components. Both populations showed sizeable phenotypic gender variation, from strict hermaphrodites to increased femaleness or maleness. We found a continuous variation in style and stamen size, and this variation was correlated with corresponding shape values of both sexual organs. We detected bee-mediated selection towards short and long styles through seed number and towards intermediate degrees of heteranthery through pollen removal in one population, and selection towards increased maleness through pollen dispersal in both populations. Our results suggest that bee-mediated selection favors floral sex specialization and stylar dimorphism in M. radula, optimizing reproductive success and solving the pollen dilemma912CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTĂFICO E TECNOLĂGICO - CNPQCOORDENAĂĂO DE APERFEIĂOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NĂVEL SUPERIOR - CAPESFUNDAĂĂO DE AMPARO Ă PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE MINAS GERAIS - FAPEMIG431873/2018-6NĂŁo temAPQ-02497-16; RED-00253-1
Data from: Flower colour and visitation rates of Costus arabicus support the "bee avoidance" hypothesis for red-reflecting hummingbird-pollinated flowers
Floral colour mediates plantâpollinator interactions by often signalling floral resources. In this sense, hummingbird-pollinated flowers are frequently red-coloured, and there are two tentative hypotheses to explain this pattern: 1. hummingbirds are attracted to red due its easier detection and 2. bees are sensorially excluded from red flowers. The second hypothesis is based on beesâ red colour blindness, which lead them to be less frequent and less important than hummingbirds as pollinators of red-reflecting flowers. Here, we untangled the role of different flower traits mediating plantâpollinator interactions and empirically tested the above hypotheses. We chose Costus arabicus due to its synchronopatric white- and pink-flowered individuals and its bee and hummingbird pollination system. Although pink flowers are not totally achromatic as pure red ones, they show an achromaticity degree that could drive bee exclusion. Specifically, we tested whether differences on red reflectance work attracting hummingbirds or excluding bees and the consequent implications for the plant's reproduction.
Flower colour morphs of C. arabicus do differ neither in morphology nor in nectar sugar content. Moreover, white and pink flowers can be discriminated by the beesâ and hummingbirdsâ colour vision system. Both groups are able to discriminate the red colour variation morph on the flower petals, the white flowers being more easily detected by bees and the pink flowers by hummingbirds. Bees preferentially visited the white flowers, whereas hummingbirds visited both colours at the same rate â both patterns corroborating the second hypothesis. Pollen loads deposited on stigmas did not differ between flower colour morphs, indicating that bees and hummingbirds play a similar role in the overall pollen deposition. However, bees are more likely to self-pollinate than hummingbirds. Self-pollination limits C. arabicus reproduction, and red-reflecting flowers may be better pollinated by discouraging bee visitation. Therefore, the intraspecific colour variation is driving flowers to show colour-related different levels of generalization. Our results support the âbee avoidanceâ rather than the âhummingbird preferenceâ hypothesis. Sensory exclusion of bees seems to be the pressure for red-reflecting flowers evolution, driving specialization in hummingbird-pollinated flowers due to the costs of bee pollination on plant reproduction
Pollinator movement behaviour on Costus arabicus
Bees and hummingbirds movement between Costus arabicus individuals while foraging on flower
Shifts From Specialized To Generalized Pollination Systems In Miconieae (melastomataceae) And Their Relation With Anther Morphology And Seed Number.
Most species in Melastomataceae have poricidal anthers related to specialized bee buzz-pollination, while some have anthers with large openings associated to non-bee pollination systems. We tracked the evolution of anther morphology and seed number on the Miconieae phylogenetic tree to understand the evolutionary shifts on such pollination systems. Anther morphometric data and seed number were recorded for 54 taxa. Pollinators (bees, flies, wasps) were recorded for 20 available species. Ancestral state reconstruction was made using Maximum Likelihood from nrITS sequences. We used phylogenetic eigenvector regressions to estimate phylogenetic signal and the adaptive component for these traits. Species pollinated by bees or bees and wasps tend to have smaller pores and fruits with more seeds. Species pollinated by flies or flies and bees and/or wasps tend to have larger pores and fruits with less seeds. Independent evolution occurred three times for anthers with large pores and twice for fruits with few seeds. We detected a phylogenetic signal in both traits, and negative correlated evolution between them. In actinomorphic small-flowered Miconieae, changes in anther morphology can be related to generalization in the pollination system incorporating flies and wasps as pollinators and lessening the importance of buzzing bees in such process. Differences in pollen removal and deposition may explain differences in anther morphology and seed number in Miconieae. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved
Bee and hummingbird discrimination between Costus arabicus flowers
Each data refers to the discrimination between a par of white and pink flower colour morphs to the bee and hummingbird vision. Data for petals, labellum and nectar guides