Phylogenetics of Cucumis (Cucurbitaceae)

Background: Melon, Cucumis melo, and cucumber, C. sativus, are among the most widely cultivated crops worldwide. Cucumis, as traditionally conceived, is geographically centered in Africa, with C. sativus and C. hystrix thought to be the only Cucumis species in Asia. This taxonomy forms the basis for all ongoing Cucumis breeding and genomics efforts. We tested relationships among Cucumis and related genera based on DNA sequences from chloroplast gene, intron, and spacer regions (rbcL, matK, rpl20-rps12, trnL, and trnL-F), adding nuclear internal transcribed spacer sequences to resolve relationships within Cucumis. Results: Analyses of combined chloroplast sequences (4,375 aligned nucleotides) for 123 of the 130 genera of Cucurbitaceae indicate that the genera Cucumella, Dicaelospermum, Mukia, Myrmecosicyos, and Oreosyce are embedded within Cucumis. Phylogenetic trees from nuclear sequences for these taxa are congruent, and the combined data yield a well-supported phylogeny. The nesting of the five genera in Cucumis greatly changes the natural geographic range of the genus, extending it throughout the Malesian region and into Australia. The closest relative of Cucumis is Muellerargia, with one species in Australia and Indonesia, the other in Madagascar. Cucumber and its sister species, C. hystrix, are nested among Australian, Malaysian, and Western Indian species placed in Mukia or Dicaelospermum and in one case not yet formally described. Cucumis melo is sister to this Australian/Asian clade, rather than being close to African species as previously thought. Molecular clocks indicate that the deepest divergences in Cucumis, including the split between C. melo and its Australian/Asian sister clade, go back to the mid-Eocene. Conclusion: Based on congruent nuclear and chloroplast phylogenies we conclude that Cucumis comprises an old Australian/Asian component that was heretofore unsuspected. Cucumis sativus evolved within this Australian/Asian clade and is phylogenetically far more distant from C. melo than implied by the current morphological classification

A new Australian species of Luffa (Cucurbitaceae) and typification of two Australian Cucumis names, all based on specimens collected by Ferdinand Mueller in 1856

As a result of his botanical explorations in northern Australia, Ferdinand von Mueller named several Cucurbitaceae that molecular data now show to be distinct, requiring their resurrection from unjustified synonymy. We here describe and illustrate Luffa saccata F. Muell. ex I.Telford, validating a manuscript name listed under L. graveolens Roxb. since 1859, and we lectotypify Cucumis picrocarpus F. Muell. and C. jucundus F. Muell. The lectotype of the name C. jucundus, a synonym of C. melo, is mounted on the same sheet as the lectotype of C. picrocarpus, which is the sister species of the cultivated C. melo as shown in a recent publication

Evolution and loss of long-fringed petals

Background: The Cucurbitaceae genus Trichosanthes comprises 90–100 species that occur from India to Japan and southeast to Australia and Fiji. Most species have large white or pale yellow petals with conspicuously fringed margins, the fringes sometimes several cm long. Pollination is usually by hawkmoths. Previous molecular data for a small number of species suggested that a monophyletic Trichosanthes might include the Asian genera Gymnopetalum (four species, lacking long petal fringes) and Hodgsonia (two species with petals fringed). Here we test these groups’ relationships using a species sampling of c. 60% and 4759 nucleotides of nuclear and plastid DNA. To infer the time and direction of the geographic expansion of the Trichosanthes clade we employ molecular clock dating and statistical biogeographic reconstruction, and we also address the gain or loss of petal fringes. Results: Trichosanthes is monophyletic as long as it includes Gymnopetalum, which itself is polyphyletic. The closest relative of Trichosanthes appears to be the sponge gourds, Luffa, while Hodgsonia is more distantly related. Of six morphology-based sections in Trichosanthes with more than one species, three are supported by the molecular results; two new sections appear warranted. Molecular dating and biogeographic analyses suggest an Oligocene origin of Trichosanthes in Eurasia or East Asia, followed by diversification and spread throughout the Malesian biogeographic region and into the Australian continent. Conclusions: Long-fringed corollas evolved independently in Hodgsonia and Trichosanthes, followed by two losses in the latter coincident with shifts to other pollinators but not with long-distance ispersal events. Together with the Caribbean Linnaeosicyos, the Madagascan Ampelosicyos and the tropical African Telfairia, these cucurbit lineages represent an ideal system for more detailed studies of the evolution and function of petal fringes in plant-pollinator mutualisms

Soluble Intracellular Adhesion Molecule-1 in Patients with Unipolar or Bipolar Affective Disorders

Background: Immunological and vascular markers may play a role in the pathophysiology of mood disorders and mood changes. Aim: To test whether the cell adhesion molecule soluble intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) may serve as a biomarker for patients with unipolar or bipolar affective disorders when compared to a healthy control group, and whether sICAM-1 blood levels change during different mood states. Methods: sICAM-1 serum concentrations were compared between 20 healthy controls and 48 patients with affective disorders (unipolar, bipolar II and bipolar I disorder) during different mood states (euthymic mood state, depression or mania). Results: When compared to healthy controls, patients with affective disorders had significantly higher sICAM-1 levels during the euthymic state (p = 0.015). Differences became more pronounced during depression (p = 0.013). When unipolar and bipolar patients were analyzed separately, unipolar patients significantly differed from controls during the euthymic and depressive mood state, while bipolar II patients showed a trend towards higher sICAM-1 levels during depression. Patients with bipolar I disorders had significantly higher sICAM-1 levels during manic states when compared to controls (p = 0.007). Conclusions: sICAM-1 elevation in unipolar and bipolar patients, independent of mood changes, might support the hypothesis of chronic immune activation and endothelial dysfunction in patients with affective disorders. (C) 2016 S. Karger AG, Base

An Anechoic Recording of Demosthenes’ 1st Olynthic Oration in German

This data set contains two anechoic recordings of an excerpt of Demosthenes’ 1st Olynthic Oration in expressive and loud speech in German language.DFG, 194453117, EXC 1027: Bild Wissen Gestaltung. Ein interdisziplinäres Labo

An Anechoic Recording of Cicero’s 3rd Cataline Oration: Italian, Latin and German

This data set contains three anechoic recordings of an excerpt of Cicero's 3rd Cataline Oration in Italian, Latin and German language.DFG, 194453117, EXC 1027: Bild Wissen Gestaltung. Ein interdisziplinäres Labo

Split-ring resonator experiments and data analysis at FLUTE

FLUTE (Ferninfrarot Linac- Und Test-Experiment) is a compact linac-based test facility for accelerator and diagnostics R&D located at the Karlsruher Institute of Technology (KIT). A new accelerator diagnostics tool, called the split-ring resonator (SRR), was tested at FLUTE, which aims at measuring the longitudinal bunch profile of fs-scale electron bunches. Laser-generated THz radiation is used to excite a high frequency oscillating electromagnetic field in the SRR. Electrons passing through the 20 µm x 20 µm SRR gap are time-dependently deflected in the vertical plane, leading to a vertical streaking of the electron bunch. During the commissioning of the SRR at FLUTE, large series of streaking attempts with varying machine parameters and set-ups were investigated in an automatized way. The recorded beam screen images during this experiment have been analyzed and evaluated. This contribution motivates and presents the automatized experiment and discusses the data analysis

Characterization and optimization of laser-generated THz beam for THz based streaking

At the Ferninfrarot Linac- und Test-Experiment (FLUTE) at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) a new and compact method for longitudinal diagnostics of ultrashort electron bunches is being developed. For this technique, which is based on THz streaking, strong electromagnetic pulses with frequencies around 240 GHz are required. Therefore, a setup for laser-generated THz radiation using tilted-pulse-front pumping in lithium niobate was designed, delivering up to 1 µJ of THz pulse energy with a conversion efficiency of up to 0.03 %. In this contribution we study the optimization of the THz beam transport and environment