Record of hypogeal ichthyofauna in the Salta province (Argentina, South America)

Durante 1993, en una casa en la ciudad de Tartagal, se construyó un aljibe para almacenar agua. La excavación cesó a los 8 metros de profundidad por filtración de greda negra de las paredes del pozo. La boca del pozo fue protegida por una pared de un metro de altura, las paredes interiores fueron cementadas. Después de grandes inundaciones en el 2012, que no alcanzaron el aljibe, se observaron en éste, peces y caracoles, y esta fauna permanece hasta el presente. Las exploraciones en 2012 indicaron la presencia de tres especies de peces y una de caracoles. Se indican valores de química del agua, temperatura y composición de sedimentos, concluyendo que éste es un sistema de troglobiontes accidentales sustentado por una cadena trófica basada en el detrito.During 1993, in a house in the city of Tartagal, a well was built to draw water. The excavation process ended 8 meters down, due to the filtration of black clay from the well’s walls. The opening of the well was protected by a meter-high wall; the interior walls were covered with cement. After the severe floods in 2006, which did not reach the well, the presence of fish and snails was observed. This fauna exists to this day. The explorations in 2012 indicated the presence of three species of fish and one species of snail. The chemical values of the water, its temperature and sediment composition are provided, concluding that this is an accidental troglobits system based on a detritus food chain.Fil: Gomez, Sergio Enrique. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; Argentin

Propuesta para un índice de conservación de la biodiversidad

Para cualquier ecosistema y nivel, la medición de la “biodiversidad” es relativamente simple utilizando el índice de Shannon - Wiener, que ha sido utilizado con éxito en diversas situaciones. Requiere conocer el numero de especies presentes y la abundancia de cada especie, ya sea en forma cuantitativa: porcentaje de individuos de cada especie; o cualitativa: escasa – frecuente – abundante. Pero existe una gran variedad de índices utilizables para la medición de la biodiversidad, compilados y explicados por Moreno (2001), todos esos índices son matemáticamente correctos.Fil: Gomez, Sergio Enrique. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; Argentin

Results of the surveys of fish in Arroyo Urugua-í, before construction of the dam, Misiones, Argentina

Durante 1986 se estudio la ictiofauna a lo largo de toda la cuenca de éste ritron subtropical, caracterizada por una alta cantidad de endemismos. Las capturas con redes se expresaron como “captura por unidad de esfuerzo” (CPU). El pH es alcalino-neutro en todo el cauce. La transparencia disminuye y la conductividad aumenta al disminuir la altitud. Se comprobó que la CPU (en peso) disminuye con la altitud y temperatura; los siluriformes fueron dominantes en la mayoría de los casos, seguidos por los caraciformes. La numerosidad de especies es baja. Estos datos servirán para comparar con datos actuales; debidos a los cambios del sistema que son inevitables por la construcción de un embalse, próximo a su desembocadura en el río Paraná. Para la construcción se desforestó un sector importante de la pluviselva paranaense Argentina.During 1986, ichthyofauna was studied along the basin of this subtropical rithron, characterized by a high number of endemic species. The pH is alkaline or neutral throughout the course. Transparency decreases and conductivity increases with decreasing altitude. It was found that the catch per unit effort CPU decreases with altitude and temperature. Siluriforms were dominant in the most of cases. The numerosity of species is low. These data serve to compare current data; due to system changes that are inevitable for the construction of a dam, near its confluence with the Paraná River. To build dam an important sector of Argentina paranasean rainforest was deforested. For soil type, rainfall and high slope, the reservoir of Arroyo Urugua-í possibly medium term will not be useful.Fil: Gomez, Sergio Enrique. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; Argentin

Continental water temperature and its influence on migration of the fishes in the "Río De La Plata" basin

La Cuenca del Río de La Plata es el segundo sistema hidrográfico de América, después del Amazonas. Tiene un área de 3 x 106 km2, a lo largo de cinco paises y una descarga media anual de 25000 m3 s -1. La Cuenca del Río de La Plata basin esta compuesta por dos grandes tributarios, los ríos Paraná y Uruguay, los cuales forman el estuario del Río de la Plata estuary. Es un sistema complejo donde ocurren singulares fenómenos biológicos, como las migraciones y mortandades masivas de peces asociados a la temperatura. Este trabajo se refiere estrictamente a las temperaturas en el eje potámico subtropical, desde el "gran pantanal" a los 20° S y que se extiende linealmente hacia el sur unos 1200 km hasta el Río de la Plata, con un marcado gradiente de temperaturas. Este análisis además incluye algunas "lagunas" pampásicas (37° S), ya que son el extremo sur de la distribución de la ictiofauna brasílica. En las lagunas pampásicas la temperatura media anual del agua no tiene ninguna diferencia significativa con la temperatura media anual del aire. En toda la cuenca del Río de La Plata la temperatura del agua es mayor que la temperatura del aire, la diferencia oscila entre 4,5 y 2,2 ° C. Los resultados se discuten en relación a las mortandades masivas y migraciones de peces.With a total area of 3 x 106 km2 shared by five countries and a mean discharge of 25000 m3 s –1, the Río de La Plata is the second largest hydrographic system in America, after the Amazon. The Río de La Plata basin is composed of two main watersheds, the Paraná and Uruguay Rivers, which together form the Río de la Plata estuary. From hydrological, physical and biological standpoints, the Río de la Plata basin is a complex system, where singular biological phenomena occur, as migrations and massive fish deaths. This paper refers strictly to the temperatures in the subtropical potamous axis from the “great swamp” at 20 ° S and extending linearly to about 1200 km south to the Rio de la Plata, with a strong temperature gradient. This analysis includes some pampasic ‘lagunas’ (37° S) because they are the southern end of distribution of brazilic ichthyofauna. In pampasic lagunas the mean annual water temperature has no significant difference with annual mean air temperature. In the Río de La Plata basin the water temperature is higher than the air temperature; the difference varies between 4.5 and 2.2 °C. The results are discussed in relation to massive fish deaths and migrations.Fil: Gomez, Sergio Enrique. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ; Argentin

Crenicichla taikyra (Teleostei: Cichlidae), a new species of pike cichlid from the middle río Paraná, Argentina

Crenicichla taikyra, new species, is described from the middle río Paraná, Argentina. Crenicichla taikyra is distinguished from the other species of the genus by the following combination of characters: lower pharyngeal tooth plate stout, bearing molariform teeth, ascending arm of premaxilla longer than the dentigerous arm, posterior edge of preoperculum serrated, a well developed suborbital stripe, and absence of scattered dark dots on flanks. Molariform teeth on pharyngeal jaws is a derived character among Crenicichla species, however this character state has appeared several times in unrelated spe-cies.Fil: Casciotta, Jorge Rafael. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Departamento Científico Zoología Vertebrados; ArgentinaFil: Almirón, Adriana Edith. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Departamento Científico Zoología Vertebrados; ArgentinaFil: Aichino, Danilo. Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Químicas y Naturales; ArgentinaFil: Gomez, Sergio Enrique. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales “Bernardino Rivadavia”; ArgentinaFil: Piálek, Lubomír. University of South Bohemia; República ChecaFil: Rícan, Oldrich. University of South Bohemia; República Chec

Water consumption of three ornamental species with the suction irrigation system

Objetive: Water consumption was evaluated in ornamental plants (geranium, gazania, petunia) in two substrates with different particle sizes (fine and coarse) of tezontle and peat moss, through a suction irrigation system, which uses porous capsules as irrigation emitters. Design/methodology/approach: The experimental design was in complete randomized blocks, with six treatments (three ornamental species and two substrates) with four repetitions (24 experimental units). The first mix contains fine substrate (composed of tezontle with particle size less than 0.4 mm) and peat moss, in a 1:2 v/v ratio; the second mix presents coarse substrate (composed of tezontle with particle size between 0.4-0.6 mm) and peat moss, 1:1 in v/v.Results: In water consumption there are significant differences, by ornamental species and type of substrate, where the irrigation system has the ability to self-regulate. The highest water consumption was in the petunia in the coarse substrate (which has a higher proportion of peat moss in its composition).Limitations on study/implications: With use in protected agriculture, rural and urban orchards, gardens, walls and green roofs and research purposes.Finding/Conclusions: The suction irrigation system through porous capsules has the capacity to continuously supply the water demanded by the plant-substrate-atmosphere system.Objective: To evaluate water consumption in ornamental plants (geranium, gazania and petunia) in two substrates with different particle sizes (fine and coarse) of tezontle and peat moss, through a suction irrigation system, which uses porous capsules as irrigation emitters. Design/methodology/approach: The experimental design was in complete randomized blocks, with six treatments (three ornamental species and two substrates) with four repetitions (24 experimental units). The first mixture contains fine substrate (composed of tezontle with particle size less than 0.4 mm) and peat moss, in a 1:2 v/v ratio; the second mixture presents coarse substrate (composed of tezontle with particle size between 0.4-0.6 mm) and peat moss, 1:1 in v/v. Results: In water consumption, there are significant differences by ornamental species and type of substrate, where the irrigation system has the ability to self-regulate. The highest water consumption was in petunia in the coarse substrate (which has a higher proportion of peat moss in its composition). Limitations on study/implications: With use in protected agriculture, rural and urban orchards, gardens, walls and green roofs and research purposes. Findings/Conclusions: The suction irrigation system through porous capsules has the capacity to continuously supply the water demanded by the plant-substrate-atmosphere system

A genetic compensatory mechanism regulated by Jun and Mef2d modulates the expression of distinct class IIa Hdacs to ensure peripheral nerve myelination and repair

The class IIa histone deacetylases (HDACs) have pivotal roles in the development of different tissues. Of this family, Schwann cells express Hdac4, 5 and 7 but not Hdac9. Here we show that a transcription factor regulated genetic compensatory mechanism within this family of proteins, blocks negative regulators of myelination ensuring peripheral nerve developmental myelination and remyelination after injury. Thus, when Hdac4 and 5 are knocked-out from Schwann cells in mice, a JUN-dependent mechanism induces the compensatory overexpression of Hdac7 permitting, although with a delay, the formation of the myelin sheath. When Hdac4,5 and 7 are simultaneously removed, the Myocyte-specific enhancer-factor d (MEF2D) binds to the promoter and induces the de novo expression of Hdac9, and although several melanocytic lineage genes are misexpressed and Remak bundle structure is disrupted, myelination proceeds after a long delay. Thus, our data unveil a finely tuned compensatory mechanism within the class IIa Hdac family, coordinated by distinct transcription factors, that guarantees the ability of Schwann cells to myelinate during development and remyelinate after nerve injury

Do protein–protein interaction databases identify moonlighting proteins?

One of the most striking results of the human (and mammalian) genomes is the low number of protein-coding genes. To-date, the main molecular mechanism to increase the number of different protein isoforms and functions is alternative splicing. However, a less-known way to increase the number of protein functions is the existence of multifunctional, multitask, or ‘‘moonlighting’’, proteins. By and large, moonlighting proteins are experimentally disclosed by serendipity. Proteomics is becoming one of the very active areas of biomedical research, which permits researchers to identify previously unseen connections among proteins and pathways. In principle, protein–protein interaction (PPI) databases should contain information on moonlighting proteins and could provide suggestions to further analysis in order to prove the multifunctionality. As far as we know, nobody has verified whether PPI databases actually disclose moonlighting proteins. In the present work we check whether well-established moonlighting proteins present in PPI databases connect with their known partners and, therefore, a careful inspection of these databases could help to suggest their different functions. The results of our research suggest that PPI databases could be a valuable tool to suggest multifunctionality

The RNA Polymerase II Factor RPAP1 Is Critical for Mediator-Driven Transcription and Cell Identity

The RNA polymerase II-associated protein 1 (RPAP1) is conserved across metazoa and required for stem cell differentiation in plants; however, very little is known about its mechanism of action or its role in mammalian cells. Here, we report that RPAP1 is essential for the expression of cell identity genes and for cell viability. Depletion of RPAP1 triggers cell de-differentiation, facilitates reprogramming toward pluripotency, and impairs differentiation. Mechanistically, we show that RPAP1 is essential for the interaction between RNA polymerase II (RNA Pol II) and Mediator, as well as for the recruitment of important regulators, such as the Mediator-specific RNA Pol II factor Gdown1 and the C-terminal domain (CTD) phosphatase RPAP2. In agreement, depletion of RPAP1 diminishes the loading of total and Ser5-phosphorylated RNA Pol II on many genes, with super-enhancer-driven genes among the most significantly downregulated. We conclude that Mediator/RPAP1/RNA Pol II is an ancient module, conserved from plants to mammals, critical for establishing and maintaining cell identity.We are grateful to Elisa Varela for assistance with morula and blastocyst fixa- tion. Work in the laboratory of M.S. is funded by the CNIO and the IRB and by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Economy co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) (SAF2013-48256-R), the European Research Co uncil (ERC-2014-AdG/66 9622), the Region al Government of Ma- drid co-funded by the Euro pean Social Fund (ReCaRe project), the Euro pean Union (RISK-IR project), the Botin Foundation and Banco Santander (Santander Universities Glo bal Division), the Ramon Areces Found ation, and the AXA Foundation. S.R. was funded by a contract from the Ramon y Cajal Program(RYC-2011-09242) and by the Spanish Ministry of Economy co- funded by the ERDF (SAF2013-49147- P and SAF2016-80874-PS

Energy Estimation of Cosmic Rays with the Engineering Radio Array of the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA) is part of the Pierre Auger Observatory and is used to detect the radio emission of cosmic-ray air showers. These observations are compared to the data of the surface detector stations of the Observatory, which provide well-calibrated information on the cosmic-ray energies and arrival directions. The response of the radio stations in the 30 to 80 MHz regime has been thoroughly calibrated to enable the reconstruction of the incoming electric field. For the latter, the energy deposit per area is determined from the radio pulses at each observer position and is interpolated using a two-dimensional function that takes into account signal asymmetries due to interference between the geomagnetic and charge-excess emission components. The spatial integral over the signal distribution gives a direct measurement of the energy transferred from the primary cosmic ray into radio emission in the AERA frequency range. We measure 15.8 MeV of radiation energy for a 1 EeV air shower arriving perpendicularly to the geomagnetic field. This radiation energy -- corrected for geometrical effects -- is used as a cosmic-ray energy estimator. Performing an absolute energy calibration against the surface-detector information, we observe that this radio-energy estimator scales quadratically with the cosmic-ray energy as expected for coherent emission. We find an energy resolution of the radio reconstruction of 22% for the data set and 17% for a high-quality subset containing only events with at least five radio stations with signal.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO