Insights on Salt Tolerance of Two Endemic Limonium Species from Spain

[EN] We have analysed the salt tolerance of two endemic halophytes of the genus Limonium, with high conservation value. In the present study, seed germination and growth parameters as well as different biomarkers-photosynthetic pigments, mono and divalent ion contents-associated to salt stress were evaluated in response to high levels of NaCl. The study was completed with an untargeted metabolomics analysis of the primary compounds including carbohydrates, phosphoric and organic acids, and amino acids, identified by using a gas chromatography and mass spectrometry platform. Limonium albuferae proved to be more salt-tolerant than L. doufourii, both at the germination stage and during vegetative growth. The degradation of photosynthetic pigments and the increase of Na+/K+ ratio under salt stress were more accentuated in the less tolerant second species. The metabolomics analysis unravelled several differences between the two species. The higher salt tolerance of L. albuferae may rely on its specific accumulation of fructose and glucose under high salinity conditions, the first considered as a major osmolyte in this genus. In addition, L. albuferae showed steady levels of citric and malic acids, whereas the glutamate family pathway was strongly activated under stress in both species, leading to the accumulation of proline (Pro) and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA).This research was funded by GENERALITAT VALENCIANA, grant number AICO/2017/039, to M. Boscaiu.González-Orenga, S.; Ferrer-Gallego, PP.; Laguna, E.; López-Gresa, MP.; Donat-Torres, MP.; Verdeguer Sancho, MM.; Vicente, O.... (2019). Insights on Salt Tolerance of Two Endemic Limonium Species from Spain. Metabolites. 9(12):1-22. https://doi.org/10.3390/metabo9120294S12291

The analysis of the canid mitochondrial genome studied in Morocco shows that it is neither wolf (Canis lupus) nor Eurasian jackal (Canis aureus)

The mitochondrial genome of three Moroccan canids has been analysed. Two of them complete and one partial. The sequences are included in GenBank with the accession numbers KT378605 (16721 bp), KT378606 (16734bp) and KT378607 (27809bp) Theses results have been compared with the results currently available in GenBank. In the phylogenetic analysis of the of cytochrome b regions and control region the three are grouped together with Canis lupus lupaster and the Senegalese golden jackal Canis aureus and separate from the wolf Canis lupus and the Eurasian golden jackal Canis aureus. The comparison of the complete mitochondrial genomes with Canis lupus confirms the distance between the two groups. We conclude that they belong to a different species to the wolf Canis lupus and the Eurasian golden jackal. We propose in agreement with (Koepfli et al., 2015) that it´s scientific name be Canis anthus by merit of being the name by which it was classified and published for the first time as a different species by Cuvier in 1824.Urios, V.; Donat-Torres, MP.; Ramírez Castillo, C.; Monroy-Vilchis, O.; Rguibi Idrissi, H. (2016). The analysis of the canid mitochondrial genome studied in Morocco shows that it is neither wolf (Canis lupus) nor Eurasian jackal (Canis aureus). PeerJ Computer Science. 1(1763):1-19. doi:10.7287/peerj.preprints.1763v1S1191176

Responses to environmental stress in plants adapted to Mediterranean gypsum habitats

[EN] Gypsum areas are stressful environments inhabited by gypsophytes, plants that are exclusive for such habitats, and by plants that grow on gypsum but also on other soil types, the so-called gypsovags. To investigate possible differences between gypsovags and gypsophytes with respect to basic stress response mechanisms, two common osmolytes, glycine betaine and total soluble sugars, as well as monovalent (Na+ and K+) and bivalent (Ca2+ and Mg2+) cations, were quantified, under field conditions, in two Iberian endemic gypsophytes (Gypsophila struthium subsp. hispanica and Ononis tridentata) and two common Mediterranean gypsovags (Rosmarinus officinalis and Helianthemum syriacum). Their spatial variation according to a topographic gradient and their temporal variation over a period of three successive seasons were correlated with climatic data and soil characteristics. This analysis confirmed that water stress is the main environmental stress factor in gypsum habitats, whereas the percentage of gypsum in the soil does not seem to play any relevant role in the activation of stress responses in plants. Glycine betaine may contribute to stress tolerance in the gypsophytes, but not in the gypsovags, according to the close correlation found between the level of this osmolyte and the gypsophily of the investigated taxa. Cation contents in the plants did not correlate with those present in the soil, but the gypsophytes have higher levels of Ca2+ and Mg2+ than the gypsovags, under all environmental conditions, which may represent an adaptation mechanism to their specific habitat,This work has been supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Project CGL2008-00438/BOS), with contribution from the European Regional Development Fund.Llinares Palacios, JV.; Bautista Carrascosa, I.; Donat-Torres, MP.; Lidón, A.; Lull Noguera, C.; Mayoral García-Berlanga, O.; Wankhade, SD.... (2015). Responses to environmental stress in plants adapted to Mediterranean gypsum habitats. Notulae Scientia Biologicae. 7(1):37-44. https://doi.org/10.15835/nsb.7.1.9537S37447

Seasonal variation of Glycine Betaine in Plants from a Littoral Salt-Marsh in SE Spain

Supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (project CGL2008-00438/BOS), with contribution from the European Regional Development Fund.Boscaiu Neagu, MT.; Tifrea, M.; Donat-Torres, MP.; Mayoral García-Berlanga, O.; Llinares Palacios, JV.; Bautista Carrascosa, I.; Lidón Cerezuela, AL.... (2011). Seasonal variation of Glycine Betaine in Plants from a Littoral Salt-Marsh in SE Spain. Bulletin of University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca : Horticulture. 68(1):543-544. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/62931S54354468

Effects of Salt Stress on Three Ecologically Distinct Plantago Species

Comparative studies on the responses to salt stress of taxonomically related taxa should help to elucidate relevant mechanisms of stress tolerance in plants. We have applied this strategy to three Plantago species adapted to different natural habitats, P. crassifolia and P. coronopus both halophytes and P. major, considered as salt-sensitive since it is never found in natural saline habitats. Growth inhibition measurements in controlled salt treatments indicated, however, that P. major is quite resistant to salt stress, although less than its halophytic congeners. The contents of monovalent ions and specific osmolytes were determined in plant leaves after four-week salt treatments. Salt-treated plants of the three taxa accumulated Na+ and Cl- in response to increasing external NaCl concentrations, to a lesser extent in P. major than in the halophytes; the latter species also showed higher ion contents in the non-stressed plants. In the halophytes, K+ concentration decreased at moderate salinity levels, to increase again under high salt conditions, whereas in P. major K+ contents were reduced only above 400 mM NaCl. Sorbitol contents augmented in all plants, roughly in parallel with increasing salinity, but the relative increments and the absolute values reached did not differ much in the three taxa. On the contrary, a strong (relative) accumulation of proline in response to high salt concentrations (600 800 mM NaCl) was observed in the halophytes, but not in P. major. These results indicate that the responses to salt stress triggered specifically in the halophytes, and therefore the most relevant for tolerance in the genus Plantago are: a higher efficiency in the transport of toxic ions to the leaves, the capacity to use inorganic ions as osmotica, even under low salinity conditions, and the activation, in response to very high salt concentrations, of proline accumulation and K+ transport to the leaves of the plants.MAH was a recipient of an Erasmus Mundus pre-doctoral scholarship financed by the European Commission (Welcome Consortium). AP acknowledges the Erasmus mobility programme for funding her stay in Valencia to carry out her Master Thesis.Al Hassan, M.; Pacurar, AM.; López Gresa, MP.; Donat Torres, MDP.; Llinares Palacios, JV.; Boscaiu Neagu, MT.; Vicente Meana, Ó. (2016). Effects of Salt Stress on Three Ecologically Distinct Plantago Species. PLoS ONE. 11(8):1-21. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0160236S12111

Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009; Cianferoni & Bartolozzi 2016; Amorim et al. 2016). This question was again raised in a letter supported by 35 signatories published in the journal Nature (Pape et al. 2016) on 15 September 2016. On 25 September 2016, the following rebuttal (strictly limited to 300 words as per the editorial rules of Nature) was submitted to Nature, which on 18 October 2016 refused to publish it. As we think this problem is a very important one for zoological taxonomy, this text is published here exactly as submitted to Nature, followed by the list of the 493 taxonomists and collection-based researchers who signed it in the short time span from 20 September to 6 October 2016

Caracterización ecológica de un enclave singular: el alcornocal de Pinet (Valencia)

Los municipios valencianos de Pinet y Llutxent cuentan con un alcornocal muy interesante dada su localización marginal y su crecimiento sobre suelos calcáreos que han sufrido un proceso de descarbonatación. En el presente estudio se pretende la caracterización y descripción de este pequeño enclave de 44 ha. Se dividió la superficie a estudiar en 26 estratos, siguiendo criterios de densidad de pies, orientación y presencia/ausencia de alcornoques, homogenizando así las áreas de trabajo. Se muestreó aleatoriamente el 5% de la superficie, mediante parcelas circulares (12 m radio). En todas aquellas parcelas que tuviesen presencia de alcornoque se midió para pies mayores (altura > 1,30 m) de Quercus suber y Pinus pinaster la altura dominante, altura media, diámetro normal, superficie de copa, número de pies por especie y orientación. También se ha anotado el regenerado (pies < 1,30 m). Asimismo se ha realizado un inventario florístico. Los resultados indican que el alcornocal se encuentra muy degradado, debido principalmente a los incendios de 1979 y 1991, favoreciéndose la expansión de Pinus pinaster y Quercus ilex subsp. ballota. Debido a la debilidad de la masa y a las condiciones ambientales, el regenerado es muy escaso, por lo que de continuar esta tendencia se podría ver comprometida su existencia. Igualmente, se comprobó que las zonas con mayor calidad están muy influenciadas por la orientación y la profundidad edáfica y que los enclaves donde había un mayor porcentaje de alcornoque se correspondían con una mayor biodiversidad. En total se catalogaron 158 especies

Principal Component Analyses (PCAs).

<p>Changes in all measured growth parameters and biochemical stress markers were analyzed in salt-treated plants with respect to the control, non-stressed plants of <i>Plantago crassifolia</i> (A), <i>P</i>. <i>coronopus</i> (B) and <i>P</i>. <i>major</i> (C), in correlation to EC (electrical conductivity) of the substrate, at the end of the four-week treatment. Abbreviations: number of leaves (NL), fresh weight percentage (FW%), water content percentage (WC%), sodium ions (Na⁺), potassium ions (K⁺), chloride ions (Cl^-), sorbitol (Sor), proline (Pro), glycine-betaine (GB), total soluble sugars (TSS).</p

Salt-induced inhibition of plant growth.

<p>Number of leaves of <i>Plantago</i> plants after four weeks of treatement with the indicated NaCl concentrations (means ± SD, n = 5). Different lower case letters within each species indicate significant differences among treatments according to Tukey test (α = 0.05).</p

Salt-induced leaf dehydration.

<p>Leaf water content (%) after four weeks of treatment with increasing NaCl concentrations, in the three selected <i>Plantago</i> species (means ± SD, n = 5). Different lower case letters within each species indicate significant differences among treatments according to Tukey test (α = 0.05).</p