2015 Report Card for the Mesoamerican Reef

In 2013 and 2014, HRI and partners systematically measured the health of 248 reef sites across 1,000 km of the four countries. This 2015 Report Card represents the first year that HRI has calculated and presented more detailed maps of coral reef condition on a variety of spatial scales -- from regional to local. Regional scale data provide insight on larger scale reef health patterns that can help identify transboundary issues, while subregional and local data help detect finer-scale patterns of reef condition. The country-focused maps provide individual indicator scores at the site level. These new data maps provide guidance for partners on where to focus conservation actions at the most appropriate, effective management scale.The overall 2015 Reef Health Index score is 'fair', with encouraging improvements at both the regional level and of individual indicators. Corals -- the architects of the reef -- have improved since 2006, increasing from 10%-16% cover. Fleshy macroalgae, the main competitors with corals for open reef space, have increased. Key herbivorous fish continue to increase in numbers and are needed to reduce this macroalgae. Commercial fish have also increased in biomass, which is an encouraging sign, although large groupers are rare and mainly found in fully protected zones of MPAs

INFESTAÇÃO DE Bemisia tabaci BIÓTIPO B E TEORES DE AÇÚCARES NAS FOLHAS DE CULTIVARES DE TOMATEIRO FERTIRRIGADO COM CLORETO E SULFATO DE POTÁSSIO

Bemisia tabaci B biotype (whitefly) has been responsible for many losses on tomatoes, mainly due to irregular ripening of the fruits and decrease on yield potential. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of different potassium sources (K-sources), fertirrigated by drip irrigation system, on the infestation of B. tabaci B biotype and on the sugar content on the leaves of three different tomato cultivars.The experiment was carried out on greenhouse at the Experimental Station of the Instituto Agronômico (IAC), São Paulo, Brazil, between September 2000 and January 2001. Potassium Chlorate (KCl) and Potassium Sulphate (K 2 SO 4 ) were used as K-sources. Sweet Million, Rocio and Densus were the selected cultivars. Plants were cultivated on slabs filled with agricultural substratum and fertirrigated with nutritive solution. Evaluated parameters were: number of eggs and nymphs on the plants at 20 and 40 days after whitefly infestation; and reducing sugars, sucrose and total sugars on the leaves. Results showed that K-sources did not have influence on the number of eggs and nymphs. On the second evaluation date, cultivar effect was significant on oviposition. Leaf sugar content were influenced by K-sources. Tomato plants fertirrigated with K 2 SO 4 on nutritive solution presented higher values, for total sugar content on the leaves, in comparison with the plants treated with KCl on nutritive solution.A mosca branca Bemisia tabaci biótipo B é um inseto que tem causado inúmeros prejuízos ao tomateiro, principalmente devido ao amadurecimento irregular dos frutos e diminuição do potencial produtivo. Assim, objetivou-se estudar o efeito da aplicação de sulfato e cloreto de potássio, via fertirrigação por gotejamento, na infestação B. tabaci biótipo B e os teores de açúcares nas folhas de tomateiro. O experimento foi conduzido em estufa plástica no Núcleo Experimental de Campinas (IAC) em Campinas, São Paulo, no período de setembro de 2000 a janeiro de 2001. Utilizou-se cloreto de potássio (KCl) e sulfato de potássio (K 2 SO 4 ) como fontes de potássio e três cultivares de tomateiro, Sweet Million, Rocio e Densus. Estas três cultivares foram cultivadas em “slabs” contendo substrato agrícola e fertirrigadas com solução nutritiva. Foram avaliados o número de ovos e ninfas de mosca branca nas plantas de tomateiro em duas épocas distintas, aos 20 e 40 dias após a infestação com moscas brancas. Avaliaram-se também, açúcares redutores, sacarose e açúcares totais das folhas de tomateiro. Verificou-se que as fontes de potássio não influenciaram no número de ovos + ninfas de mosca branca. Porém, nas avaliações realizadas na segunda época de amostragem, verificou-se influência varietal sobre a oviposição da mosca branca. Já os açúcares contidos nas folhas de tomateiro foram influênciados pelo tipo de fonte de potássio. Os tomateiros fertirrigados com solução nutritiva de K 2 SO 4 obtiveram os maiores teores de açúcares totais nas folhas, comparados com os tomateiros fertirrigados com KCl

PRODUTIVIDADE E QUALIDADE DE FRUTOS DE CULTIVARES DE TOMATEIRO FERTIRRIGADO COM CLORETO E SULFATO DE POTÁSSIO

The objective of this work was to evaluate the yield and fruit quality of tomato fertigated with potassium chlorate and potassium sulphate by a drip system irrigation. The experiment was carried out in a plastic greenhouse at the Campinas Experimental Station, IAC, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil, from September 2000 to January 2001. The tomato cultivars used were Sweet Million, Rocio and Densus that were cultivated on slabs with agricultural substratum. The yield and the quality of tomato fruits were evaluated. The fruit quality was evaluated by the determination of total soluble solids content (TSS), total tritable acidity (TTA), pH, dry matter (DM) and the TSS/TTA ratio. The different sources of potassium affected tomato yield only for the genotype Densus. The pH of tomato juice was also influenced by potassium sources. The TSS, TTA, DM, and TSS/TTA values were only affected by the genotype.O objetivo deste trabalho foi de avaliar o efeito da aplicação de sulfato e cloreto de potássio, via fertirrigação por gotejamento, na produtividade e nas características de qualidade de frutos de tomateiro. O experimento foi instalado em estufa plástica no Núcleo Experimental de Campinas (IAC), em Campinas, São Paulo, no período de setembro de 2000 a janeiro de 2001. Foram utilizados cloreto de potássio (KCl) e sulfato de potássio (K2SO4) como fontes de potássio e as cultivares de tomateiro Sweet Million, Rocio e Densus. As três cultivares foram cultivadas em "slabs" contendo substrato agrícola, em condições de ambiente protegido. Avaliou-se a produtividade do tomateiro e a qualidade dos frutos. Para avaliação da qualidade dos frutos determinaram-se os teores de sólidos solúveis totais (SST), acidez total titulável (ATT), pH, massa seca (MS) e a relação SST/ATT. Verificou-se que a fonte de potássio influenciou na produtividade do tomateiro de forma significativa somente para a cultivar Densus. Com relação aos parâmetros referentes a qualidade de frutos, somente o pH teve efeito da nutrição. Os valores de SST, ATT, MS e SST/ATT somente tiveram influência da cultivar utilizada

Molecular Gas in NUclei of GAlaxies (NUGA) III. The warped LINER NGC3718

16 pages, 17 figures.-- Published in: A&A 442, 479-493 (2005), publisher version available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:20041731.We present the first interferometric observations of CO(1–0) and CO(2–1) line emission from the warped LINER NGC 3718, obtained with the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer (PdBI). This L1.9 galaxy has a prominent dust lane and on kiloparsec scales, a strongly warped atomic and molecular gas disk. The molecular gas is closely associated with the dust lane across the nucleus and its kinematic center is consistent with the millimeter continuum AGN. A comparison of our interferometric mosaic data, which fully cover the ~ 9 kpc warped disk, with a previously obtained IRAM 30m single dish CO(1–0) map shows that the molecular gas distribution in the disk is heavily resolved by the PdBI map. On the nucleus the interferometric maps alone contain less than one half of the single dish line flux, and the overall mosaic accounts for about a tenth of the total molecular gas mass of ~ 2.4 × 108M⊙. After applying a short-spacing correction with the IRAM 30m data to recover the missing extended flux, we find in total six main source components within the dust lane: one associated with the nucleus, four symmetrically positioned on either side at galactocentric distances of about 1.3 kpc and 4.0 kpc from the center, and a sixth on the western side at ~ 3 kpc with only a very weak eastern counterpart. In the framework of a kinematic model using tilted rings, we interpret the five symmetric source components as locations of strong orbital crowding. We further find indications that the warp appears not only on kpc scales, but continues down to ~ 250 pc. Besides the sixth feature on the western side, the lower flux (a factor of ~ 2) of the eastern components compared to the western ones indicates an intrinsic large scale asymmetry in NGC 3718 that cannot be explained by the warp. Indications for a small scale asymmetry are also seen in the central 600 pc. These asymmetries might be evidence for a tidal interaction with a companion galaxy (large scales) and gas accretion onto the nucleus (small scales). Our study of NGC 3718 is part of the NUclei of GAlaxies (NUGA) project that aims at investigating the different processes of gas accretion onto Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN).The research presented in this paper has been financially supported in part by the SFB 494. Stéphane Léon is partially supported by DGI Grant AYA 2002-03338 and Junta de Andalucía.Peer reviewe

Characterizing the involvement of FaMADS9 in the regulation of strawberry fruit receptacle development

FaMADS9 is the strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa) gene that exhibits the highest homology to the tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) RIN gene. Transgenic lines were obtained in which FaMADS9 was silenced. The fruits of these lines did not show differences in basic parameters, such as fruit firmness or colour, but exhibited lower Brix values in three of the four independent lines. The gene ontology MapMan category that was most enriched among the differentially expressed genes in the receptacles at the white stage corresponded to the regulation of transcription, including a high percentage of transcription factors and regulatory proteins associated with auxin action. In contrast, the most enriched categories at the red stage were transport, lipid metabolism and cell wall. Metabolomic analysis of the receptacles of the transformed fruits identified significant changes in the content of maltose, galactonic acid-1,4-lactone, proanthocyanidins and flavonols at the green/white stage, while isomaltose, anthocyanins and cuticular wax metabolism were the most affected at the red stage. Among the regulatory genes that were differentially expressed in the transgenic receptacles were several genes previously linked to flavonoid metabolism, such as MYB10, DIV, ZFN1, ZFN2, GT2, and GT5, or associated with the action of hormones, such as abscisic acid, SHP, ASR, GTE7 and SnRK2.7. The inference of a gene regulatory network, based on a dynamic Bayesian approach, among the genes differentially expressed in the transgenic receptacles at the white and red stages, identified the genes KAN1, DIV, ZFN2 and GTE7 as putative targets of FaMADS9. A MADS9-specific CArG box was identified in the promoters of these genes

Genetic association study of QT interval highlights role for calcium signaling pathways in myocardial repolarization.

The QT interval, an electrocardiographic measure reflecting myocardial repolarization, is a heritable trait. QT prolongation is a risk factor for ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death (SCD) and could indicate the presence of the potentially lethal mendelian long-QT syndrome (LQTS). Using a genome-wide association and replication study in up to 100,000 individuals, we identified 35 common variant loci associated with QT interval that collectively explain ∼8-10% of QT-interval variation and highlight the importance of calcium regulation in myocardial repolarization. Rare variant analysis of 6 new QT interval-associated loci in 298 unrelated probands with LQTS identified coding variants not found in controls but of uncertain causality and therefore requiring validation. Several newly identified loci encode proteins that physically interact with other recognized repolarization proteins. Our integration of common variant association, expression and orthogonal protein-protein interaction screens provides new insights into cardiac electrophysiology and identifies new candidate genes for ventricular arrhythmias, LQTS and SCD

High levels of genetic differentiation and selfing in the Brazilian cerrado fruit tree Dipteryx alata Vog. (Fabaceae)

Dipteryx alata is a native fruit tree species of the cerrado (Brazilian savanna) that has great economic potential because of its multiple uses. Knowledge of how the genetic variability of this species is organized within and among populations would be useful for genetic conservation and breeding programs. We used nine simple sequence repeat (SSR) primers developed for Dipteryx odorata to evaluate the genetic structure of three populations of D. alata located in central Brazil based on a leaf sample analysis from 101 adults. The outcrossing rate was evaluated using 300 open-pollinated offspring from 25 seed-trees. Pollen dispersal was measured by parentage analysis. We used spatial genetic structure (SGS) to test the minimal distance for harvesting seeds in conservation and breeding programs. Our data indicate that the populations studied had a high degree of genetic diversity and population structure, as suggested by the high level of divergence among populations . The estimated outcrossing rate suggested a mixed mating system, and the intrapopulation fixation index was influenced by SGS. We conclude that seed harvesting for genetic conservation and breeding programs requires a minimum distance between trees of 196 m to avoid collecting seeds from related seed-trees

Sphingomyelinase D Activity in Model Membranes: Structural Effects of in situ Generation of Ceramide-1-Phosphate

The toxicity of Loxosceles spider venom has been attributed to a rare enzyme, sphingomyelinase D, which transforms sphingomyelin to ceramide-1-phosphate. The bases of its inflammatory and dermonecrotic activity, however, remain unclear. In this work the effects of ceramide-1-phosphate on model membranes were studied both by in situ generation of this lipid using a recombinant sphingomyelinase D from the spider Loxosceles laeta and by pre-mixing it with sphingomyelin and cholesterol. The systems of choice were large unilamellar vesicles for bulk studies (enzyme kinetics, fluorescence spectroscopy and dynamic light scattering) and giant unilamellar vesicles for fluorescence microscopy examination using a variety of fluorescent probes. The influence of membrane lateral structure on the kinetics of enzyme activity and the consequences of enzyme activity on the structure of target membranes containing sphingomyelin were examined. The findings indicate that: 1) ceramide-1-phosphate (particularly lauroyl ceramide-1-phosphate) can be incorporated into sphingomyelin bilayers in a concentration-dependent manner and generates coexistence of liquid disordered/solid ordered domains, 2) the activity of sphingomyelinase D is clearly influenced by the supramolecular organization of its substrate in membranes and, 3) in situ ceramide-1-phosphate generation by enzymatic activity profoundly alters the lateral structure and morphology of the target membranes