The First Bromeligenous Species of Dendropsophus (Anura: Hylidae) from Brazil\u27s Atlantic Forest

We describe a new treefrog species of Dendropsophus collected on rocky outcrops in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Ecologically, the new species can be distinguished from all known congeners by having a larval phase associated with rainwater accumulated in bromeliad phytotelms instead of temporary or lentic water bodies. Phylogenetic analysis based on molecular data confirms that the new species is a member of Dendropsophus; our analysis does not assign it to any recognized species group in the genus. Morphologically, based on comparison with the 96 known congeners, the new species is diagnosed by its small size, framed dorsal color pattern, and short webbing between toes IV-V. The advertisement call is composed of a moderate-pitched two-note call (~5 kHz). The territorial call contains more notes and pulses than the advertisement call. Field observations suggest that this new bromeligenous species uses a variety of bromeliad species to breed in, and may be both territorial and exhibit male parental care

Dense sampling of bird diversity increases power of comparative genomics (vol 587, pg 252, 2020)

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Elucidation of gibberellin biosynthesis in bacteria reveals convergent evolution

Gibberellins (GAs) are crucial phytohormones involved in many aspects of plant growth and development, including plant-microbe interactions, which has led to GA production by plant-associated fungi and bacteria as well. While the GA biosynthetic pathways in plants and fungi have been elucidated and found to have independently arisen through convergent evolution, little has been uncovered about GA biosynthesis in bacteria. Some nitrogen-fixing/symbiotic, legume-associated rhizobia, including Bradyrhizobium japonicum, the symbiont of soybean, and Sinorhizobium fredii, a broad-host-nodulating species, contain a putative GA biosynthetic operon/gene cluster. Through functional characterization of five unknown genes, we demonstrate that this operon encodes the enzymes necessary to produce GA(9), thereby elucidating bacterial GA biosynthesis. The distinct nature of these enzymes indicates that bacteria have independently evolved a third biosynthetic pathway for GA production. Furthermore, our results also reveal a central biochemical logic that is followed in all three convergently evolved GA biosynthetic pathways