Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Photosynthetic properties of an orchid community in central Italy

Abstract Chlorophyllous Mediterranean orchids share a habitat endangered by climate change and land use change. These orchids are characterized by two mechanisms of carbon assimilation, being autotrophic carbon fixation through photosynthesis supplemented by heterotrophic carbon fixation from mycorrhizal fungi. We investigated whether photosynthesis may sustain autotrophy of several species of orchids co-occurring in the same habitat (the understory of a chestnut forest in the Apennines range) along a vegetative season, and how photosynthesis responds to environmental parameters in the different species. Combined analysis of gas-exchange, chlorophyll fluorescence, optical properties, chlorophylls concentration, and Ribulose 1,5 bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) activity were carried out to characterize the photosynthetic apparatus of the orchid species. Both in vivo and in vitro measurements indicated that in all orchids, in natural conditions and over the entire vegetative season (May to July), a detectable amount of carbon, typical of autotrophic shade leaves, is fixed. It is therefore suggested that these orchids are predominantly autotrophic. As an exception, however, Limodorum abortivum, a co-occurring orchid in the examined habitat, is unable to photosynthesize at rates compatible with autotrophy. At the low light intensity experienced in the understory habitat all orchids exhibited a similar quantum yield, but photosynthesis of Dactylorhiza saccifera and Cephalanthera longifolia was stimulated by light intensities higher than ambient, indicating that these species may better use sunflecks reaching the understory vegetation. Photosynthesis of all orchids, including Limodorum, positively responded to increasing CO2 concentration and temperature. Whether this will lead to a larger photosynthetic carbon fixation because of present and future climate change needs to be assessed with long-term experiments also including the impacts of climate on mychorrizal activity and host plants.
Crystallization and Some Properties of Mannanase

A mannan-hydrolyzing enzyme produced by a certain strain of Bacillus subtilis was purified from the culture broth and isolated in a crystalline state by being treated with several ion-exchangers. The optimal pH of the enzyme was 6.0. The enzyme was stable in a pH region of 5.0 to 9.5 and at temperatures less than 55°C. The enzyme attacked only β-1,4-mannosidic linkages in the main chain of galactomannan of soybean seed coat, guar gum and coffee bean, and of glucomannan of konjak (Amorphophalus konjac). Investigation of the hydrolysis mode revealed that the enzyme attacked coffee bean galactomannan endowise to form mannobiose, mannotriose and mannotetraose. The action patterns on several mannohomooligomers prepared from a partial hydrolysate of coffee bean galactomannan were also investigated, indicating that the enzyme preferentially attacked the β-1,4-mannosidic linkages that were present apart three to four mannose residues from the non-reducing end of the mannose chain.
Dispersal in Spatially Explicit Population Models

Abstract: Ruckelshaus et al. (1997) outlined a simulation model of dispersal between patches in a fragmented landscape. They showed that dispersal success—the proportion of dispersers successfully locating a patch—was particularly sensitive to errors in dispersal mortality and concluded that this limits the utility of spatially explicit population models in conservation biology. I contend that, although they explored error propagation in a simple dispersal model, they did not explore how errors are propagated in spatially explicit population models, as no consideration of population processes was included. I developed a simple simulation model to investigate the effect of varying dispersal success on predictions of patch occupancy and population viability, the conventional outputs of spatially explicit population models. The model simulates births and deaths within habitat patches and dispersal as the transfer of individuals between them. Model predictions were sensitive to changes in dispersal success across a restricted range of within‐patch growth rates, which depended on the dispersal initiation mechanism, patch carrying capacities, and number of generations simulated. Predictions of persistence and patch occupancy were generally more sensitive to changes in dispersal success (1) under presaturation rather than saturation dispersal; (2) at lower patch carrying capacities; and (3) over longer time periods. The framework I present provides a means of assessing, quantitatively, the regions of parameter space for which differences in dispersal success are likely to have a large effect on population model outputs. Investigating the effect of the representation of dispersal behavior within the demographic and landscape context provides a more useful assessment of whether our lack of knowledge is likely to cause unacceptable uncertainty in the predictions of spatially explicit population models.
Milk of sheep, goat, and buffalo: a public health review

The objective is to integrate nutritional, technological, and human health characteristics of milk from sheep, goat and buffalo as viable substitute for cow milk. Ewe milk is much richer than cow milk in riboflavin, thiamine, niacin, pantothenic acid, vitamin B6, vitamin B12 and biotin. Compared to cow milk, goat milk has minor α-s-1-casein, s-carotene, agglutinin; and is lower in citric acid, Na, Fe, S, Zn, Mo, ribonuclease, alkaline phosphatase, lipase, xanthine oxidase, N-acetylneuraminic acid, orotic acid, pyridoxine, folate, vitamin B12, and vitamin C. Buffalo milk is higher in total solids, fat, proteins and vitamins, and is lower in cholesterol compared to cow milk. The peroxidase activity is 2–4 times greater in buffalo milk than in cow milk. Persistent and thorough education will ensure that the public is optimally cognizant of unbiased roles of milk, especially from less-known livestock, in improving the quality of postmodern life.
Mapping, Estimating Biomass, and Optimizing Sampling Programs for Spatially Autocorrelated Data: Case Study of the Northern Shrimp (Pandalus borealis)

The methodology for mapping and for global and cutoff estimation of autocorrelated exploitable resources is presented, based on stationary geostatistical methods. Use and performance of these methods in marine ecology are illustrated with an application to northern shrimp (Pandalus borealis) abundance data, collected in 1989 at 137 stations in the western Gulf of St. Lawrence. Nonstationarity of the biomass data, a proportional increase of the local variance with the local mean, and the presence of outliers all violated the stationarity assumption and strongly hindered the modeling of the spatial structure. Cross-validation tests showed that kriging estimates were better when interpolating within very local neighborhoods using a small number of points. Kriging always performed better than polygonal tessellation. A stratification scheme produced better estimations than the whole-region approach using traditional or relative variograms. The spatial organization of the shrimp biomass was composed of a trend .
A comparative study of Pseudomonas species pathogenic to sorghum

Abstract Eighteen cultures of six Pseudomonas species which produced similar symptoms in artificially inoculated sorghum plants were differentiated on morphological, cultural, and biochemical characters. Two cultures received as Ps. andropogonis and Ps. alboprecipitans were identified as Ps. rubrisubalbicans and Ps. rubrilineans respectively. Two cultures isolated from maize in India were identified as Ps. rubrilineans.
Some Ultrastructural Features of Micronuclei during Conjugation and Autogamy in Paramecium aurelia

Summary: Micronuclei of Paramecium aurelia at the prophase (crescent stage) of the first meiotic division during conjugation or autogamy were characterized by an elongated, somewhat curved shape. They contained small aggregates of a fibrillar material scattered uniformly throughout the nucleoplasm and a single layer of intranuclear microtubules located close under, and adhering to, the inner nuclear membrane. These microtubules ran parallel to each other and parallel to the long axis of the micronucleus. At one end of the crescent stage micronuclei, there were two electron-dense bodies, which may function as organizing centres for micro-tubular assembly. During subsequent meiotic divisions the single layer of intranuclear microtubules was absent but a microtubular meiotic spindle was present. Both gamete pronuclei in each conjugant contained microtubules distributed evenly throughout the nucleoplasm and aligned in one direction. The migratory (male) pronucleus formed pseudopodia during its passage through the cytoplasmic bridge and was surrounded by extranuclear bundles of microtubules located in the cytoplasm close to the nuclear envelope. Stationary (female) pronuclei had no extranuclear microtubules. During all stages of conjugation or autogamy the nuclear envelope remained intact.
Prediction of cotton seedling germination against pre-emergence damping off on the basis of environmental factors and seed applied fungicides

Cotton is an important fibre crop chiefly attacked by a number of diseases. Pre-emergence damping off seedling is an important disease of cotton. Efficacy of three fungicides (Dynesty, Topsin-M and Antracol) was assessed on early mid and late sowings. Topsin-M and Antracol were evaluated at 1X and 2X concentrations, Dynasty was only used at standard dose. Significant increase in seed germination was seen, maximum germination was observed in late sowing. Antracol (2X) significantly improved seed germination rate in all three sowings as compared to other treatments. Impact of environmental parameters on germination rate was assessed relating to seed dressing fungicides at 1X and 2X concentrations. Significant correlation was observed between soil temperature and seedling germination rate by all treatments, 30–31 °C favoured germination rate. Maximum seedling germination rate was observed at 24–26 and 22–23 °C and 45–50% by average air temperature, minimum air temperature and relative humidity respectively. Regression model was contrived to predict seedling germinations impacted by seed dressing fungicides relating to environmental factors. Closed resemblance between observed and predicted values states that model can be used to predict seed germination by treating with fungicides regarding to environmental factors.
Parallel evolution in sympatric, hybridizing species: performance of Colias butterflies on their introduced host plants

Shared ancestry and introgression can contribute to genetic similarity between hybridizing species, and it is generally difficult to disentangle these causes. However, shared ancestry plays a more limited role in traits that have recently undergone parallel directional selection in the two species, permitting the role of introgression to be better understood. The butterflies Colias eurytheme (Boisduval) and Colias philodice (Godart) (Lepidoptera, Pieridae) are native to North America and have shifted their host ranges in parallel onto several introduced weedy and agricultural legumes. These butterflies hybridize at moderate rates throughout their range, and there is a strong possibility that they could be sharing host‐associated adaptations. We split families of each species among nine introduced, prospective hosts and measured survivorship, larval duration, pupal weight, and a new variable, effective daily growth rate (DGR), analogous to a compound daily interest rate in economics. We found strong effects of host, sex, and family (species), but negligible effects of the host*species interaction that would indicate species‐specific differences in performance on different hosts. We found species‐specific life‐history differences: C. eurytheme matured significantly later and reached a significantly larger body size than C. philodice while growing at the same DGR. Protandry was strong, and males, in addition to pupating sooner than females, grew significantly faster than females as measured by DGR. We measured broad‐sense heritabilities and genetic correlations for host‐associated performance variables. Most pairwise comparisons of performance among hosts and most pairwise comparisons between performance variables showed positive genetic correlations, except survivorship where little heritability was found. Nevertheless, a factorial multivariate analysis of variance of G‐matrices showed highly significant species, host, and host*species interactions, suggesting differentially evolving genetic architectures underlying host adaptation in these two species, despite the small differences in overall performance. At least some of the genes affecting host performance in Colias are likely to be in the small, species‐diagnostic regions and not shared via introgression between these hybridizing species. For biologists interested in the evolutionary ecology of their host associations, including applied biologists managing their agricultural pest potential, C. eurytheme and C. philodice are most usefully studied as if they were a single polymorphic species wherever they co‐exist. In studying species that hybridize readily with a sympatric congener, it may often be necessary to include the second species in the experimental design.
A multivariate morphometric investigation of Atherina boyeri Risso, 1810 and A. presbyter Cuvier, 1829 (Teleostei: Atherinidae): morphometric evidence in support of the two species

Two recently developed morphometric methodologies, multiple group principal components analysis (MGPCA) and the box truss method of body form transformation are used to re-address whether Atherina boyeri Risso, 1810 and A. presbyter Cuvier, 1829 are morphometrically distinct. The results revealed that morphometric differences are present between A. boyeri and A. presbyter, consistent with expectations of the existence of two species. Females of the two species were clearly discriminated into two separate groups because the within-group covariances of several characters within populations of each species were different between species i.e., the covariances were heteroscedastic. The occurrence of heteroscedasticity within the data, although statistically invalidating the results of canonical variates anslysis, indicated there to be a large amount of morphological variation between females of the two species. Males were differentiated as a result of differences in body ‘shape’, particularly the relationship between head ‘shape’ and body ‘shape’. Several probable reasons are given for the failure of a previous study to differentiate the two species. The data rejects the synonymy of the two species in support of the continued use of the taxa A. boyeri Risso, 1810 and A. presbyter Cuvier, 1829.
Photorespiratory nitrogen cycle – A critical evaluation

The photorespiratory nitrogen cycle proposed by Keys et al. (Nature 275: 741-743, 1978) involved formation of glycine by transamination of glyoxylate in the peroxisomes utilizing glutamate. Subsequently, glycine is oxidized to ammonia, serine and CO2 in the mitochondria. The ammonia is reassimilated via the GS/GOGAT pathway generating glutamate. In this article, experimental evidence which suggests the occurrence of alternative mechanisms of glycolate and serine synthesis as well as of CO2 and ammonia evolution is discussed. The problem of utilization of NADH coupled to ATP synthesis during photosynthesis is still unresolved, which complicates the glycine oxidation reaction in light. Further, factors are presented that determine the availability of amino donors in the peroxisomes and of amino acids viz., glycine, serine and glutamate for the operation of the photorespiratory N cycle. Recent evidence regarding the role of formate arising out of the reaction of glyoxylate with H2O2 in the regulation of photosynthetic electron flow in the Hill reaction, as well as of photorespiratory substrates functioning as carbon sources for the citric acid cycle in the light or for export to the growing tissues, suggests that the role of photo-respiration in plant metabolism needs to be reexamined.
ECOLOGY, BEHAVIOR AND BIONOMICS Exigências Térmicas e Estimativa do Número de Gerações de Argyrotaenia sphaleropa (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae)

Argyrotaenia sphaleropa (Meyrick) is often found attacking Diospyros kaki fruits in southern region of Brazil. Duration and viability of the periods (eggs, larvae and pupae) and lifespan of the pest was studied under laboratory conditions in different temperatures. The experiment was conducted in climatic chambers under 60±10% RH and 14h photophase, at temperatures of 14, 18, 20, 22, 25, 28 and 30oC, using artificial diet. Larval eclosion occurred in 5.9 to 25.4 days and larval period ranged from 13.9 to 91.1 days at 30 and 14oC, respectively. A variation of 6.4 (30oC) to 28.3 (14oC) and 26.5 (30oC) to 143.4 (14oC) days was observed for pupal phase and lifespan. Eggs, larvae and pupae viability was always higher than 75% while the lower total viability was 64.8% at 18oC. For eggs, larvae, pupae and total cycle, the threshold temperature and thermal requirements were respectively 10.8, 10.9, 10.0 and 11.0oC and 104.3, 251.4, 114.9 and 473.3 degree days. For A. sphaleropa the occurrence of the 4.1 and 14.7 generations per year were estimated in the field and in the laboratory (30oC), respectively. Temperatures of 14 and 18oC were less favorable for the insect development, with increase in time of development and decrease in survivorship.
Competitive Interactions among Tadpoles: Responses to Resource Level

Using experimental populations of Rana clamitans tadpoles, I examined the hypoth- esis that the nature of competitive interactions among individuals changes in response to the amount and distribution of the food resource. Competitive interactions within populations were dominated by the largest individuals. Large tadpoles outcompeted small tadpoles for the solid food resource. Small tadpoles ordinarily engaged in filter feeding and were thus exposed to relatively high concen- trations of the parasitic yeast, Candida himnicola. At lower food levels or food concentrations, large tadpoles responded by increasing the amount of filter feeding relative to substrate feeding, which increased the parasite population growth rate. Small tadpoles subsequently experienced a dispropor- tionate increase in their parasite burden which decreased their competitive abilities relative to the large tadpoles. The aspect of the food resource which alters these competitive interactions appears to be the bivariate distribution of food items in time and space. The results of this investigation imply that deterministic models may be inadequate to predict outcomes even in laboratory situations because organisms seem to be maximizing their probability of success conditional on their current situation. Kev iiortis: Candida humicola; competition; exploitation; inter! erenee; population regulation; Rana clamitans: tadpoles.
Setting Effective and Realistic Restoration Goals: Key Directions for Research

Restoration ecology has made significant advances in the past few decades and stands to make significant contributions both to the practical repair of damaged ecosystems and the development of broader ecological ideas. I highlighted four main areas where progress in research can assist with this. First, we need to enhance the translation of recent advances in our understanding of ecosystem and landscape dynamics into the conceptual and practical frameworks for restoration. Second, we need to promote the development of an ability to correctly diagnose ecosystem damage, identify restoration thresholds, and develop corrective methodologies that aim to overcome such thresholds. This involves understanding which system characteristics are important in determining ecosystem recovery in a range of ecosystem types, and to what extent restoration measures need to overcome threshold and hysteresis effects. A third key requirement is to determine what realistic goals for restoration are based on the ecological realities of today and how these will change in the future, given ongoing changes in climate and land use. Finally, there is a need for a synthetic approach which draws together the ecological and social aspects of the issues surrounding restoration and the setting of restoration goals.
EFFLUX OF SODIUM IONS BY A Na+/H+-ANTIPORTER DURING SALT STRESS IN THE SALT-TOLERANT YEAST ZYGOSACCHAROMYCES ROUXII

The flux of Na+, Cl- and H+ ions and the accumulation of glycerol in cells of a salt-tolerant yeast, Zygosaccharomyces rouxii, was examined during the initial stages of salt stress. Although the intracellular accumulation of glycerol that was required for osmoregulation began immediately after exposure of the cells to salt stress, rapid influx of Na+ and Cl- ions into cells also occurred. These ions were subsequently extruded from the cells and the intracellular levels of both ions were maintained much lower than those in the external medium. Furthermore, a rapid efflux of protons was induced by activation of the plasma membrane ATPase (PM- ATPase) immediately after the start of salt stress and then the influx (re-influx) of protons into cells occurred. The addition of a specific inhibitor of PM-ATPase, diethylstilbestrol (DES), and of inhibitors of the energy-generating system, namely sodium azide, antimycin A and dinitrophenol, inhibited the intracellular accumulation of glycerol and activation of PM-ATPase, and they retarded the rapid efflux of protons and the extrusion of Na+ and Cl- ions. The re-influx of protons into cells was inhibited by amphotericin B, probably because of the destruction of the structure of the plasma membrane. In mutants in which rapid activation of PM-ATPase was not observed immediately after the start of salt stress, the efflux of protons was markedly retarded and extrusion of Na+ and Cl- ions was also suppressed during salt stress. Amiloride, an inhibitor of the Na+/H+-antiporter, inhibited the re-influx of protons and the efflux of Na+ and Cl- ions, but this inhibitor did not inhibit the accumulation of glycerol, activation of PM-ATPase or the rapid efflux of protons. These results suggest that the Na+/H+-antiporter may play a significant role in extrusion of the ions that enter cells during the initial stages of salt stress.
2-Oxopropanal, Hydroxy-2-propanone, and 1-PyrrolineImportant Intermediates in the Generation of the Roast-Smelling Food Flavor Compounds 2-Acetyl-1-pyrroline and 2-Acetyltetrahydropyridine

On the basis of labeling experiments with [13C]6-glucose/unlabeled proline as well as quantitative data obtained in model studies using stable isotope dilution assays, 1-pyrroline and hydroxy-2-propanone were identified as effective intermediates in generating the roast-smelling food odorant 2-acetyltetrahydropyridine (ATHP; two tautomers). Synthesis of the key precursor compound, 2-(1-hydroxy-2-oxo-propyl)pyrrolidine, and studies on its degradation confirmed the important role of this intermediate in ATHP formation. Boiling of the intermediate for 30 min in aqueous solution generated >30% of ATHP on a molar basis. 1-Pyrroline and 2-oxopropanal were confirmed as important intermediates in the generation of the further roast food odorant, 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (AP). On the basis of results of labeling experiments with [13C]6-glucose/unlabeled proline, two different mechanisms could be proposed. One leads to AP via 2-(1,2-dioxopropyl)pyrrolidine as the precursor with elimination of the aldehyde group in 2-ox.