51 research outputs found
Xylem Transcription Profiles Indicate Potential Metabolic Responses For Economically Relevant Characteristics Of Eucalyptus Species.
Eucalyptus is one of the most important sources of industrial cellulose. Three species of this botanical group are intensively used in breeding programs: E. globulus, E. grandis and E. urophylla. E. globulus is adapted to subtropical/temperate areas and is considered a source of high-quality cellulose; E. grandis grows rapidly and is adapted to tropical/subtropical climates; and E. urophylla, though less productive, is considered a source of genes related to robustness. Wood, or secondary xylem, results from cambium vascular differentiation and is mostly composed of cellulose, lignin and hemicelluloses. In this study, the xylem transcriptomes of the three Eucalyptus species were investigated in order to provide insights on the particularities presented by each of these species. Data analysis showed that (1) most Eucalyptus genes are expressed in xylem; (2) most genes expressed in species-specific way constitutes genes with unknown functions and are interesting targets for future studies; (3) relevant differences were observed in the phenylpropanoid pathway: E. grandis xylem presents higher expression of genes involved in lignin formation whereas E. urophylla seems to deviates the pathway towards flavonoid formation; (4) stress-related genes are considerably more expressed in E. urophylla, suggesting that these genes may contribute to its robustness. The comparison of these three transcriptomes indicates the molecular signatures underlying some of their distinct wood characteristics. This information may contribute to the understanding of xylogenesis, thus increasing the potential of genetic engineering approaches aiming at the improvement of Eucalyptus forest plantations productivity.1420
Xylem transcription profiles indicate potential metabolic responses for economically relevant characteristics of Eucalyptus species
Abstract Background Eucalyptus is one of the most important sources of industrial cellulose. Three species of this botanical group are intensively used in breeding programs: E. globulus, E. grandis and E. urophylla. E. globulus is adapted to subtropical/temperate areas and is considered a source of high-quality cellulose; E. grandis grows rapidly and is adapted to tropical/subtropical climates; and E. urophylla, though less productive, is considered a source of genes related to robustness. Wood, or secondary xylem, results from cambium vascular differentiation and is mostly composed of cellulose, lignin and hemicelluloses. In this study, the xylem transcriptomes of the three Eucalyptus species were investigated in order to provide insights on the particularities presented by each of these species. Results Data analysis showed that (1) most Eucalyptus genes are expressed in xylem; (2) most genes expressed in species-specific way constitutes genes with unknown functions and are interesting targets for future studies; (3) relevant differences were observed in the phenylpropanoid pathway: E. grandis xylem presents higher expression of genes involved in lignin formation whereas E. urophylla seems to deviates the pathway towards flavonoid formation; (4) stress-related genes are considerably more expressed in E. urophylla, suggesting that these genes may contribute to its robustness. Conclusions The comparison of these three transcriptomes indicates the molecular signatures underlying some of their distinct wood characteristics. This information may contribute to the understanding of xylogenesis, thus increasing the potential of genetic engineering approaches aiming at the improvement of Eucalyptus forest plantations productivity
Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research
Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4
While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge
of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In
the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of
Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus
crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced
environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian
Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by
2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status,
much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Consistent patterns of common species across tropical tree communities
Trees structure the Earth’s most biodiverse ecosystem, tropical forests. The vast number of tree species presents a formidable challenge to understanding these forests, including their response to environmental change, as very little is known about most tropical tree species. A focus on the common species may circumvent this challenge. Here we investigate abundance patterns of common tree species using inventory data on 1,003,805 trees with trunk diameters of at least 10 cm across 1,568 locations1,2,3,4,5,6 in closed-canopy, structurally intact old-growth tropical forests in Africa, Amazonia and Southeast Asia. We estimate that 2.2%, 2.2% and 2.3% of species comprise 50% of the tropical trees in these regions, respectively. Extrapolating across all closed-canopy tropical forests, we estimate that just 1,053 species comprise half of Earth’s 800 billion tropical trees with trunk diameters of at least 10 cm. Despite differing biogeographic, climatic and anthropogenic histories7, we find notably consistent patterns of common species and species abundance distributions across the continents. This suggests that fundamental mechanisms of tree community assembly may apply to all tropical forests. Resampling analyses show that the most common species are likely to belong to a manageable list of known species, enabling targeted efforts to understand their ecology. Although they do not detract from the importance of rare species, our results open new opportunities to understand the world’s most diverse forests, including modelling their response to environmental change, by focusing on the common species that constitute the majority of their trees.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe
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A social and ecological assessment of tropical land uses at multiple scales: the Sustainable Amazon Network
Science has a critical role to play in guiding more sustainable development trajectories. Here, we present the Sustainable Amazon Network (Rede Amazonia Sustentavel, RAS): a multidisciplinary research initiative involving more than 30 partner organizations working to assess both social and ecological dimensions of land-use sustainability in eastern Brazilian Amazonia. The research approach adopted by RAS offers three advantages for addressing land-use sustainability problems: (i) the collection of synchronized and co-located ecological and socioeconomic data across broad gradients of past and present human use; (ii) a nested sampling design to aid comparison of ecological and socioeconomic conditions associated with different land uses across local, landscape and regional scales; and (iii) a strong engagement with a wide variety of actors and non-research institutions. Here, we elaborate on these key features, and identify the ways in which RAS can help in highlighting those problems in most urgent need of attention, and in guiding improvements in land-use sustainability in Amazonia and elsewhere in the tropics. We also discuss some of the practical lessons, limitations and realities faced during the development of the RAS initiative so far.Keywords: Social–ecological systems, Tropical forests, Land use, Interdisciplinary research, Sustainability, Trade-off
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