Expression of estrogenic response genes to different concentration of 17ß-estradiol in male mosquitofish (Gambusia yucatana)

The proximate composition, amino acids and fatty acids composition in the muscle of wild, inshore and offshore cage-cultured large yellow croaker, Pseudosciaena crocea (Richardson, 1846), were determined to identify nutritional differences. Wild fish groups showed highest content of moisture and crude protein, but the lowest lipid content. Offshore cage-cultured fish showed significantly higher content of moisture and crude protein content, but lower crude lipid content than inshore cage-cultured fish. The content of aspartic acid, glutamic acid, and alanine was higher in wild large yellow croaker than inshore cage-cultured groups, but similar to offshore cage-cultured fish. Significant lower contents of total amino acids, essential amino acids, non-essential amino acids and flavor-enhancing amino acids content were recorded in two cultured fish groups than those in wild group. While no major differences in fatty acids composition were found between wild and cage-cultured groups except for linoleic acid. The fish from offshore cages has much better nutrient profile than inshore cage cultured fish, but was still inferior compared to wild fish

Glyphosate Residues in Groundwater, Drinking Water and Urine of Subsistence Farmers from Intensive Agriculture Localities: A Survey in Hopelchén, Campeche, Mexico

The use of pesticides in Mexican agriculture creates an interest in learning about the presence of these substances in different environmental matrices. Glyphosate (GLY) is an herbicide widely used in the state of Campeche, located in the Mayan zone in the western Yucatan peninsula. Despite the fact that GLY is considered a non-toxic pesticide to humans, its presence in water bodies through spillage, runoff, and leaching are a risk to human health or biota that inhabit these ecosystems. In the present study, glyphosate residues were determined in groundwater, bottled drinking water, and the urine of subsistence farmers from various localities of the Hopelchén municipality in Campeche. Determination of GLY was carried out using Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). The highest concentrations of GLY were observed in the groundwater (1.42 μg/L) of Ich-Ek and urine (0.47 μg/L) samples of subsistence farmers from the Francisco J. Mújica communities. The glyphosate concentrations in groundwater and bottled drinking water indicate an exposure and excessive use of glyphosate in these agricultural communities. This is one of the first studies that reports glyphosate concentration levels in human urine and bottled drinking water in México and in the groundwater in the Yucatan Peninsula as part of a prospective pilot study, to which a follow-up will be performed to monitor this trend over time

Glyphosate Residues in Groundwater, Drinking Water and Urine of Subsistence Farmers from Intensive Agriculture Localities: A Survey in Hopelchén, Campeche, Mexico

The use of pesticides in Mexican agriculture creates an interest in learning about the presence of these substances in different environmental matrices. Glyphosate (GLY) is an herbicide widely used in the state of Campeche, located in the Mayan zone in the western Yucatan peninsula. Despite the fact that GLY is considered a non-toxic pesticide to humans, its presence in water bodies through spillage, runoff, and leaching are a risk to human health or biota that inhabit these ecosystems. In the present study, glyphosate residues were determined in groundwater, bottled drinking water, and the urine of subsistence farmers from various localities of the Hopelchén municipality in Campeche. Determination of GLY was carried out using Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). The highest concentrations of GLY were observed in the groundwater (1.42 μg/L) of Ich-Ek and urine (0.47 μg/L) samples of subsistence farmers from the Francisco J. Mújica communities. The glyphosate concentrations in groundwater and bottled drinking water indicate an exposure and excessive use of glyphosate in these agricultural communities. This is one of the first studies that reports glyphosate concentration levels in human urine and bottled drinking water in México and in the groundwater in the Yucatan Peninsula as part of a prospective pilot study, to which a follow-up will be performed to monitor this trend over time

Bonellia albiflora

Few studies have been carried out on the medical flora of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula in search for new therapeutic agents, in particular against cancer. In this paper, we evaluated the cytotoxic potential of the extract of Bonellia albiflora, a plant utilized in the traditional Mayan medicine for treatment of chronic injuries of the mouth. We carried out the methanolic extracts of different parts of the plant by means of extraction with the Soxhlet equipment. We conducted liquid-liquid fractions on each extract with solvents of increasing polarity. All extracts and fractions were evaluated for cytotoxic activity versus four human cancer cell lines and one normal cell line through a tetrazolium dye reduction (MTT) assay in 96-well cell culture plates. The methanolic root-bark extract possessed much greater cytotoxic activity in the human oropharyngeal cancer cell line (KB); its hexanic fraction concentrated the active metabolites and induced apoptosis with the activation of caspases 3 and 8. The results demonstrate the cytotoxic potential of the B. albiflora hexanic fraction and substantiate the importance of the study of the traditional Mayan medicinal plants

Seasonal Response of Major Phytoplankton Groups to Environmental Variables along the Campeche Coast, Southern Gulf of Mexico

To describe the seasonal response of the major phytoplankton groups to environmental variables along the Campeche coast, southeastern Gulf of Mexico, seven shallow-water (ca. 1 m) stations were monitored from January 2019 to January 2020. Orthophosphate, ammonium, nitrite, nitrate and silicate were measured. Several tests, including ANOVA, the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test, Tukey TSD, Bartlett’s test and canonical correspondence analysis (CCA), were applied. The physicochemical variables (temperature, salinity and pH) recorded are typical for the central coast of Campeche. Seasonal characteristics are affected by the shallowness of the study area. The variation of inorganic nutrient concentrations is likely to be related to specific polluting activities. While the abundance of phytoplankton presented a minimum value of 4.1 × 104 cells L−1 in March, the maximum value of 8.8 × 106 cells L−1 occurred in May; the general average was 5.3 × 105 cells L−1. Based on CCA, the correlation between major phytoplankton groups and physical–chemical variables was high (r ≈ 0.8), indicating a significant relationship. The CCA graphs separated the samples of diatoms by higher values of pH and silicate and separated the samples of cyanobacteria with high values of temperature (>30 °C) from the samples with dinoflagellates and nanoflagellates. Nanoflagellates were abundant in the samples with high values of ammonium and phosphate

Morphospecies abundance of above-ground invertebrates in agricultural systems under glyphosate and microplastics in south-eastern Mexico

Soil invertebrates are important for diverse soil ecosystem services, which are jeopar-dized by pesticides and microplastics. In the present study, we aimed to assess above-ground invertebrates’ morphospecies abundance in the presence of glyphosate (GLY), its main metabolite aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA), and microplastics (MPs). Three land-use systems were ana-lyzed: agricultural systems with and without plastic mulch and pesticides (AwPM, AwoPM) and natural unmanaged farming systems (UF). Soil GLY, AMPA, MP concentrations and above-ground invertebrates were quantified. GLY concentrations were also assessed inside invertebrate tissues. GLY, AMPA and the highest concentration of GLY in invertebrates’ tissue were found only in AwoPM at 0.14–0.45 mg kg−1, 0.12–0.94 mg kg−1 and 0.03–0.26 mg kg−1, respectively. MPs were present as follows: AwPM system (100%, 400–2000 particles kg−1) > AwoPM (70.8%, 200–1000 particles kg−1) > UF (37.5%, 200–400 particles kg−1). No significant correlations were found between soil MPs, GLY and AMPA. There was a significant correlation between MPs and morphospecies from the order Entomobrymorpha (Collembola, R = 0.61, p < 0.05). Limnophila, Mesogastropoda (Gastropoda) and Siphonaptera morphospecies were only present in the UF system. GLY in invertebrate tissue was inversely correlated with soil GLY (R = −0.73, p < 0.05) and AMPA (R = −0.59, p < 0.05). Further investigations are required to understand these phenomena

Improving Species Diversity and Biomass Estimates of Tropical Dry Forests Using Airborne LiDAR

The spatial distribution of plant diversity and biomass informs management decisions to maintain biodiversity and carbon stocks in tropical forests. Optical remotely sensed data is often used for supporting such activities; however, it is difficult to estimate these variables in areas of high biomass. New technologies, such as airborne LiDAR, have been used to overcome such limitations. LiDAR has been increasingly used to map carbon stocks in tropical forests, but has rarely been used to estimate plant species diversity. In this study, we first evaluated the effect of using different plot sizes and plot designs on improving the prediction accuracy of species richness and biomass from LiDAR metrics using multiple linear regression. Second, we developed a general model to predict species richness and biomass from LiDAR metrics for two different types of tropical dry forest using regression analysis. Third, we evaluated the relative roles of vegetation structure and habitat heterogeneity in explaining the observed patterns of biodiversity and biomass, using variation partition analysis and LiDAR metrics. The results showed that with increasing plot size, there is an increase of the accuracy of biomass estimations. In contrast, for species richness, the inclusion of different habitat conditions (cluster of four plots over an area of 1.0 ha) provides better estimations. We also show that models of plant diversity and biomass can be derived from small footprint LiDAR at both local and regional scales. Finally, we found that a large portion of the variation in species richness can be exclusively attributed to habitat heterogeneity, while biomass was mainly explained by vegetation structure