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Plant Response to Toxic Metals: Emerging Sources, Phytohormone Role, and Tolerance Responses
(2023-01-01) Gavassi, Marina Alves [UNESP]; de Oliveira Carvalho, Brenda Mistral [UNESP]; Bressan, Anna Carolina Gressler [UNESP]; Habermann, Gustavo [UNESP]; Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)
The availability of toxic metals in the soil system is an important limiting factor for global crop productivity, being considered a major threat to food security. In the last years, vast areas of arable land around the world have been polluted by toxic heavy metals such as arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), and lead (Pb), and the high accumulation of these elements in edible plants is causing severe damages to the health of humans and animals. Soil acidification, for many reasons, can turn the most abundant metal in the soil, aluminum (Al), also toxic for plants. A large number of different transporters, enzymes, and ligands, as well as their related genes, which play an important role in uptake, translocation, subcellular compartmentalization, and detoxification of different toxic metals, have been implicated in how plants respond and survive. Between metal perception and response, multiple signaling pathways are triggered, in which hormone participation has been evidenced and clarified. In this chapter, we provide an overview about the interaction between the main molecular components shared between major toxic metal(loid)s, such as As, Cd, Pb, and Al, and plant hormone pathways, focusing on abscisic acid (ABA), discussing interesting topics which raise perspectives for plant tolerance bioengineering.
Flowering phenology of species with similar flower colours in species-rich communities
(2023-07-01) Camargo, Maria Gabriela Gutierrez [UNESP]; Arista, Montserrat; Lunau, Klaus; Ortiz, Pedro Luis; Stradic, Soizig Le [UNESP]; Rocha, Nathália Miranda Walter Bretas [UNESP]; Morellato, Leonor Patrícia Cerdeira [UNESP]; Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP); Universidad de Sevilla; Institute of Sensory Ecology
Within a community, co-occurring plant species are expected to diverge in floral display or flowering phenology to decrease interspecific competition and thus increase intraspecific pollination. However, co-occurring species can also benefit from floral signal standardisation (similar colour signals among flowers of different species) because it facilitates pollinator attraction. Considering the interaction of flower colour display and flowering phenology, we investigated the visual similarity of rewarding flowers among species from highly diverse tropical and temperate vegetation types. For six groups of co-occurring, closely related bee-pollinated species with similar floral displays from Brazilian campo rupestre (51 species) and Spanish Mediterranean vegetation (30 species), we first investigated whether flower colours can be discriminated by bees based on colour locus distance in the bee vision hexagon. We then tested whether flowering phenology overlapped or was segregated. We found that within both vegetation regions, flower colour was generally not distinguishable within groups by bees. The small perceptual distance of colour loci in the bee visual space did not enable discrimination. The flowering periods of the Mediterranean species overlapped, while the Brazilian campo rupestre species tended to have segregated phenologies. Mediterranean species may benefit from the increased standardisation of signals displayed during the short flowering season, while the sequential flowering phenology of campo rupestre species may decrease interspecific competition and help maintain a recognizable signal for bees over time, favouring flower constancy. We concluded that the standardisation of the floral colour signal within these two species-rich plant communities is advantageous for most of the species studied, despite having different flowering phenologies.
Trait interactions effects on tropical tree demography depend on the environmental context
(2023-06-01) Kamimura, Vitor de A. [UNESP]; Loiola, Priscilla de P. [UNESP]; Carmona, Carlos P.; Assis, Marco A. [UNESP]; Joly, Carlos A.; Santos, Flavio A.M.; Vieira, Simone A.; Alves, Luciana F.; Martins, Valéria F.; Ramos, Eliana; Ramos, Rafael F.; de Bello, Francesco; Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP); Instituto Tecnológico Vale (ITV); Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP); Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCar); University of Tartu; University of California; IAC; Instituto Nacional da Mata Atlântica (INMA); CIDE-CSIC-UV-GV; University of South Bohemia
Although functional traits are defined based on their impact on demographic parameters, trait-demography relationships are often reported as weak. These weak relationships might be due to disregarding trait interactions and environmental contexts, which should modulate species trait-demography relationships. We applied different models, including boosted regression tree (BRT) models, to investigate changes in the relationship between traits and demographic rates of tropical tree species in plots along an elevational gradient and among time intervals between censuses, analyzing the effect of a strong drought event. Based on a large dataset of 18,000 tree individuals from 133 common species, distributed among twelve 1-ha plots (habitats) in the Atlantic Forest (Brazil), we evaluated how trait interactions and the environmental context influence the demographic rates (growth, mortality, and recruitment). Functional traits, trait-trait, and trait-habitat interactions predicted demography with a good fit through either BRTs or linear mixed-models. Changes in growth rates were best related to size (diameter), and mortality rates to habitats, while changes in recruitment rates were best related to the specific leaf area. Moreover, the influence of traits differed among time intervals, and for demographic parameters, habitat affected growth and mortality by interacting with diameter. Here, we provide evidence that trait-demography relationships can be improved when considering the environmental context (space and time) and trait interactions to cope with the complexity of changes in the demography of tropical tree communities. Thus, to expand predictions of demography based on functional traits, we show that it is useful to fully incorporate the concept of multiple trait-fitness optima, resulting from trait interactions in different habitats and growth conditions.
A systematic review of energy and mass fluxes, and biogeochemical processes in seasonally dry tropical forests and cactus ecosystems
(2023-06-01) Jardim, Alexandre Maniçoba da Rosa Ferraz; Morais, José Edson Florentino de; Souza, Luciana Sandra Bastos de; Lopes, Daniela de Carvalho; Silva, Marcos Vinícius da; Pandorfi, Héliton; Oliveira-Júnior, José Francisco de; Silva, Jhon Lennon Bezerra da; Steidle Neto, Antonio José; Morellato, Leonor Patricia Cerdeira [UNESP]; de Lima, João L.M.P.; Silva, Thieres George Freire da; Federal Rural University of Pernambuco; Federal University of São João del-Rei; Federal University of Alagoas; National Institute of the Semiarid (INSA); Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP); University of Coimbra
Hostile climatic conditions, including high water deficit in the soil-atmosphere system characterize regions with arid and semi-arid climates. Local landscapes with climates of low rainfall and relative humidity, and high air temperature, such as regions of sub-humid, semi-arid, and arid zones, cover approximately 45.4% of the entire land surface of the planet, to which the biomes with dry forests occupy a total area of 1079 × 104 km2. Thus, this review aims to quantify the processes and changes in energy, water, and carbon fluxes and their interactions with the surfaces of terrestrial ecosystems of Caatinga and cacti in semi-arid environments. Studies report that forests in arid and semi-arid environments show resilience to local diversity, prominent in the interrelationship of species, which favors the survival of individuals with changes in the ecological niche. One of the main modifications in land use and land occupation in dryland landscapes is the implementation of agriculture. There is evidence that poor land use can negatively affect soil carbon stocks. Furthermore, carbon and energy fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems undergo significant changes with the removal of native vegetation. Therefore, the damage caused by deforestation can cause severe problems in the energy and carbon balance, compromising species' survival. Finally, we emphasize that crassulacean acid metabolism plants can be an alternative in places with serious environmental degradation problems.
Spatial distribution and temporal variation of tropical mountaintop vegetation through images obtained by drones
(2023-02-10) Medeiros, Thaís Pereira de [UNESP]; Morellato, Leonor Patrícia Cerdeira [UNESP]; Silva, Thiago Sanna Freire; Earth Observation and Geoinformatics Division (DIOTG); Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP); University of Stirling
Modern UAS (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) or just drones have emerged with the primary goal of producing maps and imagery with extremely high spatial resolution. The refined information provides a good opportunity to quantify the distribution of vegetation across heterogeneous landscapes, revealing an important strategy for biodiversity conservation. We investigate whether computer vision and machine learning techniques (Object-Based Image Analysis—OBIA method, associated with Random Forest classifier) are effective to classify heterogeneous vegetation arising from ultrahigh-resolution data generated by UAS images. We focus our fieldwork in a highly diverse, seasonally dry, complex mountaintop vegetation system, the campo rupestre or rupestrian grassland, located at Serra do Cipó, Espinhaço Range, Southeastern Brazil. According to our results, all classifications received general accuracy above 0.95, indicating that the methodological approach enabled the identification of subtle variations in species composition, the capture of detailed vegetation and landscape features, and the recognition of vegetation types’ phenophases. Therefore, our study demonstrated that the machine learning approach and combination between OBIA method and Random Forest classifier, generated extremely high accuracy classification, reducing the misclassified pixels, and providing valuable data for the classification of complex vegetation systems such as the campo rupestre mountaintop grassland.
Multiple pre- and postzygotic components of reproductive isolation between two co-occurring Lysimachia species
(2023-04-01) Jiménez-López, Francisco Javier [UNESP]; Arista, Montserrat; Talavera, María; Cerdeira Morellato, Leonor Patrícia [UNESP]; Pannell, John R.; Viruel, Juan; Ortiz Ballesteros, Pedro L.; University of Seville; Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP); University of Lausanne; Kew
Genetic divergence between species depends on reproductive isolation (RI) due to traits that reduce interspecific mating (prezygotic isolation) or are due to reduced hybrid fitness (postzygotic isolation). Previous research found that prezygotic barriers tend to be stronger than postzygotic barriers, but most studies are based on the evaluation of F1 hybrid fitness in early life cycle stages. We combined field and experimental data to determine the strength of 17 prezygotic and postzygotic reproductive barriers between two Lysimachia species that often co-occur and share pollinators. We assessed postzygotic barriers up to F2 hybrids and backcrosses. The two species showed near complete RI due to the cumulative effect of multiple barriers, with an uneven and asymmetric contribution to isolation. In allopatry, prezygotic barriers contributed more to reduce gene flow than postzygotic barriers, but their contributions were more similar in sympatry. The strength of postzygotic RI was up to three times lower for F1 progeny than for F2 or backcrossed progenies, and RI was only complete when late F1 stages and either F2 or backcrosses were accounted for. Our results thus suggest that the relative strength of postzygotic RI may be underestimated when its effects on late stages of the life cycle are disregarded.
Rock n' Seeds: A database of seed functional traits and germination experiments from Brazilian rock outcrop vegetation
(2023-01-01) Ordóñez-Parra, Carlos A.; Dayrell, Roberta L. C.; Negreiros, Daniel; Andrade, Antônio C. S.; Andrade, Letícia G.; Antonini, Yasmine; Barreto, Leilane C.; Barros, Fernanda de V.; Carvalho, Vanessa da Cruz; Corredor, Blanca Auxiliadora Dugarte [UNESP]; Davide, Antônio Cláudio; Duarte, Alexandre A.; Feitosa, Selma Dos Santos; Fernandes, Alessandra F.; Fernandes, G. Wilson; Figueiredo, Maurílio Assis; Fidelis, Alessandra [UNESP]; Garcia, Letícia Couto; Garcia, Queila Souza; Giorni, Victor T.; Gomes, Vanessa G. N.; Gonçalves-Magalhães, Carollayne; Kozovits, Alessandra R.; Lemos-Filho, José P.; Le Stradic, Soizig; Machado, Isabel Cristina; Maia, Fabiano Rodrigo; Marques, Andréa R.; Mendes-Rodrigues, Clesnan; Messias, Maria Cristina T. B.; Morellato, Leonor Patrícia Cerdeira [UNESP]; de Moraes, Moemy Gomes; Moreira, Bruno; Nunes, Flávia Peres; Oliveira, Ademir K. M.; Oki, Yumi; Rodrigues, Alba R. P.; Pietczak, Carolina; Pina, José Carlos; Ramos, Silvio Junio; Ranal, Marli A.; Ribeiro-Oliveira, João Paulo; Rodrigues, Flávio H.; Santana, Denise G.; Santos, Fernando M. G.; Senhuk, Ana Paula M. S.; Silveira, Rodrigo A.; Soares, Natalia Costa [UNESP]; Tonetti, Olívia Alvina Oliveira; Vieira, Vinícius Augusto da Silveira; Viana, Letícia Cristiane de Sena; Zanetti, Marcílio; Zirondi, Heloiza L. [UNESP]; Silveira, Fernando A. O.; Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG); Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro; Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ); Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto; Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP); Universidade Federal de Lavras (UFLA); University of Coimbra; Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE); Universidade Federal de Uberlândia (UFU); Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP); Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica de Minas Gerais; Universidade Federal de Goiás (UFG); Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas; Universidade Anhanguera – Uniderp; Universidade Federal de Santa Maria; Instituto Tecnológico Vale; Bioma Meio Ambiente Ltda
Advancing functional ecology depends fundamentally on the availability of data on reproductive traits, including those from tropical plants, which have been historically underrepresented in global trait databases. Although some valuable databases have been created recently, they are mainly restricted to temperate areas and vegetative traits such as leaf and wood traits. Here, we present Rock n' Seeds, a database of seed functional traits and germination experiments from Brazilian rock outcrop vegetation, recognized as outstanding centers of diversity and endemism. Data were compiled through a systematic literature search, resulting in 103 publications from which seed functional traits were extracted. The database includes information on 16 functional traits for 383 taxa from 148 genera, 50 families, and 25 orders. These 16 traits include two dispersal, six production, four morphological, two biophysical, and two germination traits—the major axes of the seed ecological spectrum. The database also provides raw data for 48 germination experiments, for a total of 10,187 records for 281 taxa. Germination experiments in the database assessed the effect of a wide range of abiotic and biotic factors on germination and different dormancy-breaking treatments. Notably, 8255 of these records include daily germination counts. This input will facilitate synthesizing germination data and using this database for a myriad of ecological questions. Given the variety of seed traits and the extensive germination information made available by this database, we expect it to be a valuable resource advancing comparative functional ecology and guiding seed-based restoration and biodiversity conservation in tropical megadiverse ecosystems. There are no copyright restrictions on the data; please cite this paper when using the current data in publications; also the authors would appreciate notification of how the data are used in publications.
Aluminum Toxicity in Plants: Present and Future
(2022-01-01) Hajiboland, Roghieh; Panda, Chetan K.; Lastochkina, Oksana; Gavassi, Marina A. [UNESP]; Habermann, Gustavo [UNESP]; Pereira, Jorge F.; University of Tabriz; OUAT; Institute of Biochemistry and Genetics - Subdivision of the Ufa Federal Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP); Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA)
Toxic aluminum ions (Al3+) found in acidic soils are absorbed by plants and interact with multiple sites during plant development, affecting especially the root growth. The mechanisms by which plants cope with Al3+ stress are variable, and Al3+ can be excluded or accumulated internally. The molecular and physiological mechanisms associated with Al3+ response have been substantially studied. Thus, reviewing the findings about these mechanisms is important to portrait the state-of-the-art of Al3+ response in plants, highlight key results, identify research gaps, and ask new questions. In this paper, we discuss the current knowledge about DNA damage response induced by Al3+, as well as membrane transporters that avoid Al3+ toxicity in the apoplast, Al3+ exclusion mechanisms, how Al3+ influences plant nutrition, signaling pathways evoked by Al3+ affecting gene expression, changes in plant growth regulators concentrations caused by Al3+ toxicity, and beneficial effects of microorganisms on plants exposed to Al3+ stress. The future research on these topics is also discussed. The current and future knowledge of how plants cope with Al3+ stress is important to comprehend the inter- and intraspecies variability of Al3+ response and to pave the way for new molecular breeding targets that can improve plant performance under Al3+ stress.
Floristic composition, pollination and seed-dispersal systems in a target cerrado conservation area
(2022-01-01) Borgiani, Renan [UNESP]; Grombone-Guaratini, Maria Tereza; Vargas, Betânia da Cunha [UNESP]; Martins, Amanda Eburneo [UNESP]; Camargo, Maria Gabriela Gutierrez [UNESP]; Morellato, Leonor Patrícia Cerdeira [UNESP]; Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP); Núcleo de Uso Sustentável da Biodiversidade
Cerrado remnants can hold an important diversity of plant species of environmental and ecological relevance. We presented a checklist of vascular plants based on 12 years of inventory carried out in 36 plots (10 m x 2 m; 0.18 ha in total) and during unsystematic walks in a remnant area of cerrado sensu stricto located at Itirapina municipality, state of São Paulo, southeastern Brazil. The list comprised 195 plant species, corresponding to 54 families and 131 genera. The richest families were Fabaceae (25 species), Asteraceae (16), Myrtaceae (16), Rubiaceae (11), Bignoniaceae and Malpighiaceae (10 each), Melastomataceae (9), and Erythroxylaceae, Sapindaceae and Annonaceae (6). Predominant life forms included shrubs and trees, with 68% of the species, followed by lianas with 12%, sub-shrub and herbs with 10% each. Bees were the dominant pollinators (67,5%) and the majority of species had seeds dispersed by animals (56.8%), mostly by birds, followed by wind (33.3%) and self-dispersed (11.2%). More than 60% of the total species were classified as “typical” Cerrado species. Bowdichia virgilioides was the only species classified as Near Threatened (NT) and 157 were regarded as Data Deficient (DD). Our dataset provides floristic, structural, and ecological information for one of the targeted areas for Cerrado survey at São Paulo state, contributing to the understanding of diversity patterns and future conservation and restoration actions in this threatened hotspot.
Towards a New Ecophysiological Approach to Understand Citrus Crop Yield Under Abiotic Stresses Mirroring in the Brazilian Savanna Genetic Resources
(Intech Europe, 2011-01-01) Souza, Marcelo Claro de [UNESP]; Habermann, Gustavo [UNESP]; Rahman, IMM; Hasegawa, H.; Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)
Applications of Circular Statistics in Plant Phenology: a Case Studies Approach
(Springer, 2010-01-01) Morellato, L. Patricia C. [UNESP]; Alberti, L. F. [UNESP]; Hudson, Irene L.; Hudson, I. L.; Keatley, M. R.; Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP); Univ S Australia
Phenology is the study of recurring biological events and its relationship to climate. Circular statistics is an area of statistics not very much used by ecologists nor by other researchers from the biological sciences, and indeed not much visited, till recently in statistical science. Nevertheless, the connection between the evaluation of temporal, recurring events and the analysis of directional data have converged in several papers, and show circular statistics to be an outstanding tool by which to better understand plant phenology. The aim of this chapter is to assess applications for circular statistics in plant phenology and its potential for phenological data analysis in general. We do not discuss the mathematics of circular statistics, but discuss its actual and potential applications to plant phenology. We provide several examples at various levels of application: from generating circular phenological variables to the actual testing of hypotheses, say, for the existence of certain a priori seasonal patterns. Circular statistics has particular value and application when flowering onset (or fruiting) occurs almost continuously in an annual cycle and importantly in southern climates, where flowering time may not have a logical starting point, such as mid-winter dormancy. We conclude circular statistics applies well to phenological research where we want to test for relationships between flowering time and other phenological traits (e.g. shoot growth), or with functional traits such as plant height. It also allows us to group species into annual, supra-annual, irregular and continuous reproducers; to study seasonality in reproduction and growth; and to assess synchronization of species.
The Influence of Sampling Method, Sample Size, and Frequency of Observations on Plant Phenological Patterns and Interpretation in Tropical Forest Trees
(Springer, 2010-01-01) Morellato, L. Patricia C. [UNESP]; Camargo, Maria Gabriela G. [UNESP]; D'Eca Neves, Fernanda F. [UNESP]; Luize, Bruno G. [UNESP]; Mantovani, Adelar [UNESP]; Hudson, Irene L.; Hudson, I. L.; Keatley, M. R.; Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP); Univ Sul Santa Catarina; Univ Estado Santa Catarina; Univ S Australia
The research field of plant phenology, which often involves the monitoring of several to hundreds of species of different life forms and/or different vegetation types, has increased exponentially over the last three decades. This has occurred in general, without consideration of the comparability of data and patterns across areas, and its influence on the interpretation of resultant patterns. In this chapter we address the influence of sampling method, sample size and the frequency of observations on the analysis of tropical tree phenology. Our approach is to compare the results of direct observations on transects with those obtained from litter traps. Transects and litter traps are the two most common methods used to sample and monitor plant phenology. Data from 3 locations were used to simulate different sample sizes and frequencies, and results were then compared with the original data. We conclude that sample size influences the patterns observed and there is a clear trade off between sample size and the frequency of observations. We show that direct observations were more accurate in defining both the beginning and the peak of phenological phases, and there was a significant difference between the peaks and seasonal patterns detected by both sampling methods. For tropical tree forest applications we recommend a minimum sample size of 15 trees and that a fortnightly frequency of observation be used especially if the sample size is small. We advocate the combination of presence/absence data and a quantification method to estimate plant phenology, a careful application of indices and a cautious generalization of pattern.
Family legacy: contrasting diversity–elevation relationships on a coastal Atlantic Forest mountain system
(2022-08-01) de Andrade Kamimura, Vitor [UNESP]; Marcusso, Gabriel Mendes [UNESP]; Sabino, Gabriel Pavan [UNESP]; Assis, Marco Antonio [UNESP]; Joly, Carlos Alfredo; de Paula Loiola, Priscilla [UNESP]; Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP); Instituto Tecnológico Vale (ITV); Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP); Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCar)
Unveiling the ecological processes driving diversity and its relationship to the environment remains a central goal in ecological studies. Here, we investigated the elevation effect on plant beta-, phylogenetic and alpha-diversity patterns in the coastal Atlantic Forest, considering two scenarios: excluding one basal clade (tree ferns), which are usually neglected in diversity analysis, and depicting the patterns of the five richest families. To do so, we compiled a forest dataset with 22,236 individuals (trees, palms, and tree ferns) from 17 plots in southeastern Brazil. We found significant phylogenetic and species rates of turnover along the elevational gradient; however, species dissimilarities were higher than phylogenetic dissimilarities between communities. Alpha phylodiversity showed a monotonic decrease with increasing elevation, including or not tree ferns, while the phylogenetic structure was highly affected by the inclusion of tree ferns. We found that the unimodal species diversity pattern of the whole community emerged from differences among the species distributions of the richest families (e.g., Myrtaceae, Lauraceae, and Fabaceae), while phylogenetic diversity seemed to be gradually filtered by elevation. The higher species diversification within families and their different diversity patterns might support the idea of different ecological strategies leading to a high species co-occurrence in Tropical Forests. Thus, we show that the intricated effects of elevation on species assemblages can be better assessed using both ecological and evolutionary approaches, stressing the importance of species selection in diversity analyses. These results should be considered in conservation planning, since focusing only on greater diversity for the whole community may not encompass the high diversity of all Tropical Forest families.
How candidate genes respond to aluminum toxicity in Citrus x limonia Osbeck?
(2022-09-01) Silva, Carolina M. S. [UNESP]; Banguela-Castillo, Alexander; Domingues, Douglas S. [UNESP]; Habermann, Gustavo [UNESP]; Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP); Instituto Biológico
In acidic soils, toxic aluminum (Al) inhibits root growth of sensitive species, including Citrus plants. In the Americas, rainfed Citrus plantations are highly dependent on unique rootstocks, such as the ‘Mandarin’ lime (Citrus x limonia Osbeck), which is tolerant to drought although sensitive to Al. It requires yearly lime application to grow on soils that are acidic (pH < 5.0) and rich in Al, especially in central and southeastern areas of Brazil. Despite this scenario, genes that are modulated by Al have not yet been searched in this species. Root apices of ‘Mandarin’ lime plants grown for 60 days in nutrient solutions either with 1480 μM Al3+ or 0 μM Al3+ were analyzed by RNA-seq, and differentially expressed candidate genes were validated by qRT-PCR. We highlight the transcriptional up-regulation of citrate synthase and citrate exudation by MATE (multidrug and toxic compound exudation) channels. Genes related to specialized metabolism, pectin methylesterification, auxin response, defense to biotic and abiotic stresses, cell division, suberin deposition, and nitrate uptake were also up-regulated by Al. The overview of up-regulated genes in ‘Mandarin’ lime not only validates its sensitivity to Al, but also points out targets for future research of Al resistance in this rootstock.
Phenological patterns of herbaceous Mediterranean plant communities in spring: is there a difference between native and formerly-cultivated grasslands?
(2022-01-01) Hess, Manon C. M.; Gómez-Ruiz, Pilar Angélica; Morellato, Leonor Patricia C. [UNESP]; Buisson, Elise; IMBE; Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; Centro de Investigación de Ciencias Ambientales (CICA); Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)
Background and aims – Plant phenology, defined as the timing of recurring life events like leaf flushing, flowering, or fruiting, is highly sensitive to environmental factors such as photoperiod, temperature, and moisture. Phenological synchrony between interacting species – such as plants and their pollinators – is of major importance to the structure and functioning of ecosystems. Plant phenology might also be affected by changes in edaphic conditions. However, whether former agricultural activities may shift phenological patterns of plant communities remains poorly understood. In this study, we evaluated the impact of past agricultural practices on herbaceous plant community phenology in the protected Mediterranean xeric grassland of La Crau (France). Material and methods – We compared (1) species composition, and (2) phenological patterns of annuals, perennials, Bromus rubens (annual), and Lobularia maritima (perennial), in formerly-cultivated plots – abandoned for 30 years – and intact native grassland plots (steppe), both subjected to itinerant sheep grazing. Key results and conclusion – Our results suggest that former agricultural activities can affect species composition of Mediterranean xeric grassland communities with differences visible after 30 years of abandonment, but only altered phenological patterns slightly. We suggest that climatic factors and sheep grazing acted as strong habitat filters constraining community assembly at the phenological level.
Do aluminum (Al)-accumulating species from the Brazilian savanna accumulate Al in the roots?
(2022-01-01) Zaia, Marina [UNESP]; Timpone, Luá Taibo [UNESP]; Habermann, Gustavo [UNESP]; Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)
Key message: Al-accumulating species are tolerant, accumulating more than 1000 mg Al kg−1 dry leaves, and varying root Al concentrations. Non-accumulating species are ‘avoiders’, retaining low root and leaf Al concentrations. Abstract: Edaphic aluminum (Al) is toxic to nearly all plant species. Al-accumulating species, however, can accumulate more than 1000 mg Al kg−1 dry leaves without showing toxicity symptoms. The Brazilian savanna, known as ‘Cerrado’, is home to a woody plant community composed of few species from four families of Al-accumulating plants and the rest, non-accumulating ones. The leaves are the target organs when searching for Al roles in these plants, although the roots are the first organ to get in contact with Al. Thus, the roots are being neglected in field studies with accumulating and non-accumulating plants. We expected that Al-accumulating species also accumulate Al in their roots, while non-accumulating ones, that accumulate less than 1000 mg Al kg−1 dry leaves, avoid this metal in their roots. Vochysia tucanorum and Qualea grandiflora (Vochysiaceae) showed more than 1000 mg Al kg−1 dry leaves, and the former accumulated 6.8-times more Al in its leaves than the latter. Xylopia aromatica (Annonaceae) and Caryocar brasiliense (Caryocaraceae) showed approximately 100 mg Al kg−1 dry leaves, being considered non-accumulating species. In the roots, V. tucanorum accumulated 7.8-times more Al than Q. grandiflora, which showed 748 ± 191 mg Al kg−1 dry roots. Xylopia aromatica and C. brasiliense accumulated, approximately, 50 and 250 mg Al kg−1 dry roots, respectively. While Al-accumulating species are tolerant, showing high Al concentration in their leaves and varying concentrations in their roots, non-accumulating species from the Cerrado are ‘avoiders’ and retain low Al concentrations in their roots and leaves.
Benefits of alignment quality-control processing steps and an Angiosperms353 phylogenomics pipeline applied to the Celastrales
(2022-01-01) Simmons, Mark P.; Maurin, Olivier; Bailey, Paul; Brewer, Grace E.; Roy, Shyamali; Lombardi, Julio A. [UNESP]; Forest, Félix; Baker, William J.; Colorado State University; Kew; Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)
We examined the impact of successive alignment quality-control steps on downstream phylogenomic analyses. We applied a recently published phylogenomics pipeline that was developed for the Angiosperms353 target-sequence-capture probe set to the flowering plant order Celastrales. Our final dataset consists of 158 species, including at least one exemplar from all 109 currently recognized Celastrales genera. We performed nine quality-control steps and compared the inferred resolution, branch support, and topological congruence of the inferred gene and species trees with those generated after each of the first six steps. We describe and justify each of our quality-control steps, including manual masking, in detail so that they may be readily applied to other lineages. We found that highly supported clades could generally be relied upon even if stringent orthology and alignment quality-control measures had not been applied. But separate instances were identified, for both concatenation and coalescence, wherein a clade was highly supported before manual masking but then subsequently contradicted. These results are generally reassuring for broad-scale analyses that use phylogenomics pipelines, but also indicate that we cannot rely exclusively on these analyses to conclude how challenging phylogenetic problems are best resolved.
Influence of palm trees on the richness and distribution of plant species on the murundus at a Caatinga/Cerrado ecotone
(2022-01-01) De Morais, Rodrigo Ferreira; De Sousa Macedo, Maria Thamiris; Gomes, Maria Thereza Dantas; Fernades, Izaias Medice; De Morais, Fernando Ferreira; Marcusso, Gabriel Mendes [UNESP]; De Sousa, Jose Ribamar; Lab. Botanica; Lab. Biodiversidade e Conservacao; Universidade Federal da Paraíba (UFPB); Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP); Depto. Ciencias Biologicas
Understand the role of the drivers in vegetation pattern is essential in ecology since diversity plays a major role in the stability and maintenance of plant communities. The murundus are small and scattered earthmounds with a differentiated flora of its surrounding. In our study site (Campo Maior, Piaui, Northeastern Brazil), we classified them in three categories: presence of carnauba (PC), presence of tucum (PT), and with the absence of palm trees (AP). Here, our goals were (1) to explore alpha diversity using the richness estimator and abundance distribution rank, expecting that palm trees could influence the richness of plant species on murundus; (2) analyzing the species richness-area relationship in the murundus, following the assumptions that the largest one holds more species; (3) find the changes in the species composition (beta diversity) between the three categories of murundus, assuming which the presence of palm trees influence the species composition; and (4) investigate if the distance between murundus is a decisive factor in the species composition, where the closest murundus are the most similar in species composition. Ours results showed that palms trees do not influence the richness of the murundus, the largest murundus are the richest ones, and the turnover predominantly determines beta diversity in the different murundus categories. Furthermore, the distance between the murundus did not determine its floristic similarity. Overall, we demonstrated which the species of palm trees are not the main drive of the plant assemblage in the murundus, however its size comprises a major factor in the richness, with great species substitution, which explains the high plant diversity.
Plants in the clouds: vascular epiphytes of Pedra Azul, a mountain top in Espírito Santo, Southeastern Brazil
(2022-01-01) Marcusso, Gabriel Mendes [UNESP]; Neto, Luiz Menini; Lombardi, Julio Antonio [UNESP]; Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP); Institute of Biological Sciences
Cloud forests usually occur at high-altitude sites of the Atlantic Forest in eastern Brazil, albeit scattered and fragmented along the mountain tops. In this habitat, the vegetation occurs at low-temperature conditions and is usually provided by additional water sources that arise due to the horizontal precipitation of the frequent fogs. Together with the more considerable air movement and higher luminosity, these factors are conditioning for singular floras at high elevations, mainly the vascular epiphytes, which are macro and microclimate dependent. In the mountains range at the center of the Espírito Santo state, Southeastern Brazil, some mountain tops such as Pedra Azul (PA) hold these environmental features. Here, we aimed to present the first checklist of vascular epiphytes in the Pedra Azul State Park and surroundings based on fieldwork and herbarium specimens. The checklist comprises 152 species, 65 genera, and 17 families, the main families being Orchidaceae, Bromeliaceae, and Polypodiaceae, with the main genera represented by Vriesea, Acianthera, and Peperomia. The holoepiphytes were the main category among the epiphytes, although an unusually high number of facultative epiphytes were recorded. Asplenium theciferum and Octomeria cucullata are recorded in Espírito Santo for the first time, and we confirmed the occurrence of Rhipsalis cereuscula in the state. Overall, the richness recorded in PA is amongst the highest of the Atlantic Forest cloud forests. Six species are threatened at the national level and 32 at the state level. These results support the importance of the protected area for conserving the flora; however, several species - including threatened - were only recorded in the surroundings, demonstrating that the buffer zone of the Pedra Azul State Park must be included in the management plans.
Is aluminum (Al) eliminated by senescent structures of Miconia albicans, an Al-accumulating species from Brazilian savanna?
(2022-04-01) Timpone, Luá Taibo [UNESP]; Habermann, Gustavo [UNESP]; Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)
Aluminum (Al)-accumulating plants are distributed worldwide. In the Cerrado vegetation in South America, these plants occur as few woody species from Melastomataceae, Rubiaceae, Syplocaceae and Vochysiaceae. Nevertheless, Al assessments are usually limited to their leaves. In this field study, we measured the Al concentration in different vegetative and reproductive structures of Miconia albicans (Sw.) Triana (Melastomataceae) with a special emphasis on changes of Al accumulation in senescent organs and tissues. We collected leaf (leaf bud, two young leaf phases and senescent leaf), wood, bark, root, inflorescence (raceme, flower bud and flower) and fruit (two initial fruit phases, unripe and ripe fruit) to evaluate the Al distribution within the whole plant. The mature leaf was separated into leaf blade and veins, and the former accumulated more Al in relation to leaf veins, following the same pattern observed for Vochysiaceae Al-accumulating plants. Senescent leaf and bark accumulated more Al than mature leaves, and as flowers developed into ripe fruits the Al concentration decreased. Aluminum accumulation is not limited to the leaves of M. albicans, and the greater Al accumulation in senescent leaves and bark suggests that this Al-accumulating species uses senescent leaves and bark to eliminate Al from the plant.

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