Niche differentiation mechanisms among canopy frugivores and zoochoric trees in the northeastern extreme of the Amazon

Frugivores and zoocoric trees represent an important proportion of tropical rainforest biodiversity. As niche differences favor species coexistence, we aimed to evaluate morphological and temporal niche segregation mechanisms among zoochoric trees and canopy frugivores in a tropical rainforest in the northeastern extreme of the Brazilian Amazon. We tested the effects of fruit morphology, tree size, frugivore body size and time of day on fruit consumption. We recorded the frugivore species that fed on 72 trees (44 species, 22 genera) and whether these frugivores swallowed the seeds. We monitored trees only once from 07:00 to 17:00 h between January and September 2017. We observed fruit consumption in 20 of the 72 trees. Seventy-three frugivore individuals from 22 species visited the trees. Heavier fruits were consumed by larger frugivores, while seed size was inversely correlated with frugivore size. Narrower fruits and fruits with smaller seeds had greater probability of having their seeds ingested, and larger frugivores were more prone to ingest seeds. Trees bearing fruits with smaller seeds were visited by a greater number of frugivores. Taxonomic groups differed in the time of arrival at fruiting trees. None of the evaluated variables (fruit weight and size, and seed size) affected the richness of frugivores that visited the trees. We concluded that, in the studied forest, fruit morphology (weight, size and seed size) is a niche segregation mechanism among zoochoric trees, while body size and time of day are niche segregation mechanisms among frugivores.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Redescription of the advertisement call of five species of Thoropa (anura, Cycloramphidae), including recordings of rare and endangered species

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Frogs of the genus Thoropa comprise six endemic Brazilian species on the Eastern side of the country. Little is known about their natural history, especially about their acoustic communication. Therefore, aiming to provide an overview of their vocalizations, we analyzed and redescribed male advertisement calls of three living and two possibly extinct species. The Smaller species, T. petropolitana and T. lutzi, produce simple calls (one single note) with a higher frequency range than the remaining larger ones. On the other hand, the larger species present complex calls, with more than one note: T. megatympanum calls have three notes, T. taophora calls have four notes, and T. miliaris calls varies from three to six notes. Population snout-vent length negatively correlated with peak of dominant frequency as expected. However, highlighted differences between two populations of T. lutzi, which could indicate need of further taxonomic evaluation of those lineages. Peculiar morphology, such as the absence of vocal sacs and slits, may have contributed to their call variation and highly banded frequency structure. If the observed population differences reflect species-level differences, T. lutzi may be classified as a critically endangered species, as T. petropolitana. Furthermore, we provided a suggestion to an unusual behavior in frogs: calling with the mouth open in the Smaller species of the genus.Frogs of the genus Thoropa comprise six endemic Brazilian species on the Eastern side of the country. Little is known about their natural history, especially about their acoustic communication. Therefore, aiming to provide an overview of their vocalizatio119112FAPESP - FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULOCNQP - CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICOCAPES - COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIORFundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)2014/23388-72013/09964-2405285/2013-2302589/2013-9306732/2015-7SEM INFORMAÇÃOWe thank to Pedro CarvalhoRocha for helping with the analysis of the calls of T. lutzi, we also thank Rogério P. Bastos and Rafael Márquez for valuable comments in the last version of this manuscript. This work was funded by: São Paulo Research Foundatio

Historical dynamics of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in Amazonia

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)The Amazon forest is known for its astonishing amphibian diversity, yet the potential distribution and underlying impacts of the most important amphibian pathogen is unknown for most of Amazonia. In this retrospective survey of preserved Leptodactylus frogs, collected over a 119 yr period, we used quantitative PCR to detect the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) and performed spatial scan analyses to identify spatiotemporal clusters of Bd. We also quantified the potential effect of environmental factors on the likelihood of Bd occurrence and generated an updated suitability map for Bd in the Amazon that included our retrospective sampling. We detected Bd in lowland Amazon as early as 1935, in the state of Para, Brazil, and we found low prevalence (approximate to 3.8%) over time. We identified two statistically significant spatiotemporal clusters of Bd: a recent and narrow cluster in the Amazon River delta and a spatiotemporally broad cluster in the southern edge of Amazon and Brazilian savanna. Furthermore, we found an increase in Bd-positive samples in the southwestern Amazon after the 1990s, coinciding with reported amphibian declines in neighboring high elevation sites on Andean slopes of Peru. Spatial regressions indicated that higher human interference, higher precipitation, and lower temperatures were significant predictors of Bd occurrence. Environmental niche modeling predicted some narrow areas of suitable climates along the Amazon's periphery and generally low climatic suitability for Bd in the central Amazon; although, we found clusters of Bd-positive samples with unexpectedly high infection loads in areas of predicted low suitability. Our study indicates that accelerated human development may put Amazonian amphibians at risk from Bd introductions, and it highlights the potential need to monitor Bd dynamics near Amazonian port cities.The Amazon forest is known for its astonishing amphibian diversity, yet the potential distribution and underlying impacts of the most important amphibian pathogen is unknown for most of Amazonia. In this retrospective survey of preserved Leptodactylus fro3910954960CNQP - CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICOFAPESP - FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULOConselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)312895/2014-3405285/2013-2302589/2013-92013/50741-7302518/2013-4We thank T. S. Jenkinson, and M. F. K. Becker for feedback on the manuscriptN. Pupin, A. Mesquita, E. Garcia, D. B. Delgado T. Carvalho, P. Mourao, A. F. R. Missassi, and L. F. Moreno for help with swabbing the specimens. Christopher J. Raxworthy, Da

Response to comment on 'Amphibian fungal panzootic causes catastrophic and ongoing loss of biodiversity'

Lambert et al. question our retrospective and holistic epidemiological assessment of the role of chytridiomycosis in amphibian declines. Their alternative assessment is narrow and provides an incomplete evaluation of evidence. Adopting this approach limits understanding of infectious disease impacts and hampers conservation efforts. We reaffirm that our study provides unambiguous evidence that chytridiomycosis has affected at least 501 amphibian species

Disentangling host, pathogen, and environmental determinants of a recently emerged wildlife disease: lessons from the first 15 years of amphibian chytridiomycosis research

The amphibian fungal disease chytridiomycosis, which affects species across all continents, recently emerged as one of the greatest threats to biodiversity. Yet, many aspects of the basic biology and epidemiology of the pathogen, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), are still unknown, such as when and from where did Bd emerge and what is its true ecological niche? Here, we review the ecology and evolution of Bd in the Americas and highlight controversies that make this disease so enigmatic. We explore factors associated with variance in severity of epizootics focusing on the disease triangle of host susceptibility, pathogen virulence, and environment. Reevaluating the causes of the panzootic is timely given the wealth of data on Bd prevalence across hosts and communities and the recent discoveries suggesting co‐evolutionary potential of hosts and Bd. We generate a new species distribution model for Bd in the Americas based on over 30,000 records and suggest a novel future research agenda. Instead of focusing on pathogen “hot spots,” we need to identify pathogen “cold spots” so that we can better understand what limits the pathogen's distribution. Finally, we introduce the concept of “the Ghost of Epizootics Past” to discuss expected patterns in postepizootic host communities.We review the ecology and evolution of amphibian fungal disease chytridiomycosis in the Americas, where it has recently emerged as one of the greatest threats to biodiversity and highlight controversies that make this disease so enigmatic. We explore factors associated with variance in severity of epizootics focusing on the disease triangle of host susceptibility, pathogen virulence, and environment. We generate a new species distribution model for Bd in the Americas based on over 30,000 records, which suggests emphasis needs to be placed on studying pathogen “cold spots” so that we can better understand what biotic and abiotic factors limit the pathogen's distribution.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/113682/1/ece31672_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/113682/2/ece31672.pd

The Fourteenth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey and from the second phase of the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment

The fourth generation of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-IV) has been in operation since July 2014. This paper describes the second data release from this phase, and the fourteenth from SDSS overall (making this, Data Release Fourteen or DR14). This release makes public data taken by SDSS-IV in its first two years of operation (July 2014-2016). Like all previous SDSS releases, DR14 is cumulative, including the most recent reductions and calibrations of all data taken by SDSS since the first phase began operations in 2000. New in DR14 is the first public release of data from the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS); the first data from the second phase of the Apache Point Observatory (APO) Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE-2), including stellar parameter estimates from an innovative data driven machine learning algorithm known as "The Cannon"; and almost twice as many data cubes from the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at APO (MaNGA) survey as were in the previous release (N = 2812 in total). This paper describes the location and format of the publicly available data from SDSS-IV surveys. We provide references to the important technical papers describing how these data have been taken (both targeting and observation details) and processed for scientific use. The SDSS website (www.sdss.org) has been updated for this release, and provides links to data downloads, as well as tutorials and examples of data use. SDSS-IV is planning to continue to collect astronomical data until 2020, and will be followed by SDSS-V.Comment: SDSS-IV collaboration alphabetical author data release paper. DR14 happened on 31st July 2017. 19 pages, 5 figures. Accepted by ApJS on 28th Nov 2017 (this is the "post-print" and "post-proofs" version; minor corrections only from v1, and most of errors found in proofs corrected

Lipidomic Analysis of Extracellular Vesicles from the Pathogenic Phase of Paracoccidioides brasiliensis

Background: Fungal extracellular vesicles are able to cross the cell wall and transport molecules that help in nutrient acquisition, cell defense, and modulation of the host defense machinery.Methodology/Principal Findings: Here we present a detailed lipidomic analysis of extracellular vesicles released by Paracoccidioides brasiliensis at the yeast pathogenic phase. We compared data of two representative isolates, Pb3 and Pb18, which have distinct virulence profiles and phylogenetic background. Vesicle lipids were fractionated into different classes and analyzed by either electrospray ionization- or gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. We found two species of monohexosylceramide and 33 phospholipid species, including phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidic acid, phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylinositol, and phosphatidylglycerol. Among the phospholipid-bound fatty acids in extracellular vesicles, C181 predominated in Pb3, whereas C18:2 prevailed in Pb18. the prevalent sterol in Pb3 and Pb18 vesicles was brassicasterol, followed by ergosterol and lanosterol. Inter-isolate differences in sterol composition were observed, and also between extracellular vesicles and whole cells.Conclusions/Significance: the extensive lipidomic analysis of extracellular vesicles from two P. brasiliensis isolates will help to understand the composition of these fungal components/organelles and will hopefully be useful to study their biogenesis and role in host-pathogen interactions.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)National Institutes of Health (NIH)Universidade Federal de São Paulo, UNIFESP, Dept Microbiol Imunol & Parasitol, São Paulo, BrazilUniv Texas El Paso, Dept Biol Sci, Border Biomed Res Ctr, El Paso, TX 79968 USAUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, UNIFESP, Dept Microbiol Imunol & Parasitol, São Paulo, BrazilFAPESP: 06/05095-6FAPESP: 07/04757-8FAPESP: 07/59768-4CNPq: 301666/2010-5National Institutes of Health (NIH): 5G12RR008124-16A1National Institutes of Health (NIH): 5G12RR008124-16A1S1National Institutes of Health (NIH): G12MD007592Web of Scienc

Detection of kinase domain mutations in BCR::ABL1 leukemia by ultra-deep sequencing of genomic DNA

The screening of the BCR::ABL1 kinase domain (KD) mutation has become a routine analysis in case of warning/failure for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) Philadelphia (Ph)-positive patients. In this study, we present a novel DNA-based next-generation sequencing (NGS) methodology for KD ABL1 mutation detection and monitoring with a 1.0E−4 sensitivity. This approach was validated with a well-stablished RNA-based nested NGS method. The correlation of both techniques for the quantification of ABL1 mutations was high (Pearson r = 0.858, p < 0.001), offering DNA-DeepNGS a sensitivity of 92% and specificity of 82%. The clinical impact was studied in a cohort of 129 patients (n = 67 for CML and n = 62 for B-ALL patients). A total of 162 samples (n = 86 CML and n = 76 B-ALL) were studied. Of them, 27 out of 86 harbored mutations (6 in warning and 21 in failure) for CML, and 13 out of 76 (2 diagnostic and 11 relapse samples) did in B-ALL patients. In addition, in four cases were detected mutation despite BCR::ABL1 < 1%. In conclusion, we were able to detect KD ABL1 mutations with a 1.0E−4 sensitivity by NGS using DNA as starting material even in patients with low levels of disease.Tis project was funded in part by CRIS CANCER FOUNDATION

The Eighteenth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys: Targeting and First Spectra from SDSS-V

The eighteenth data release of the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys (SDSS) is the first one for SDSS-V, the fifth generation of the survey. SDSS-V comprises three primary scientific programs, or "Mappers": Milky Way Mapper (MWM), Black Hole Mapper (BHM), and Local Volume Mapper (LVM). This data release contains extensive targeting information for the two multi-object spectroscopy programs (MWM and BHM), including input catalogs and selection functions for their numerous scientific objectives. We describe the production of the targeting databases and their calibration- and scientifically-focused components. DR18 also includes ~25,000 new SDSS spectra and supplemental information for X-ray sources identified by eROSITA in its eFEDS field. We present updates to some of the SDSS software pipelines and preview changes anticipated for DR19. We also describe three value-added catalogs (VACs) based on SDSS-IV data that have been published since DR17, and one VAC based on the SDSS-V data in the eFEDS field.Comment: Accepted to ApJ

The eighteenth data release of the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys : targeting and first spectra from SDSS-V

The eighteenth data release of the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys (SDSS) is the first one for SDSS-V, the fifth generation of the survey. SDSS-V comprises three primary scientific programs, or "Mappers": Milky Way Mapper (MWM), Black Hole Mapper (BHM), and Local Volume Mapper (LVM). This data release contains extensive targeting information for the two multi-object spectroscopy programs (MWM and BHM), including input catalogs and selection functions for their numerous scientific objectives. We describe the production of the targeting databases and their calibration- and scientifically-focused components. DR18 also includes ~25,000 new SDSS spectra and supplemental information for X-ray sources identified by eROSITA in its eFEDS field. We present updates to some of the SDSS software pipelines and preview changes anticipated for DR19. We also describe three value-added catalogs (VACs) based on SDSS-IV data that have been published since DR17, and one VAC based on the SDSS-V data in the eFEDS field.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe