scholarly journals Towards a better understanding of the role of nectar-inhabiting yeasts in plant–animal interactions

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joon Klaps ◽  
Bart Lievens ◽  
Sergio Álvarez-Pérez

AbstractFlowers offer a wide variety of substrates suitable for fungal growth. However, the mycological study of flowers has only recently begun to be systematically addressed from an ecological point of view. Most research on the topic carried out during the last decade has focused on studying the prevalence and diversity of flower-inhabiting yeasts, describing new species retrieved from floral parts and animal pollinators, and the use of select nectar yeasts as model systems to test ecological hypotheses. In this primer article, we summarize the current state of the art in floral nectar mycology and provide an overview of some research areas that, in our view, still require further attention, such as the influence of fungal volatile organic compounds on the foraging behavior of pollinators and other floral visitors, the analysis of the direct and indirect effects of nectar-inhabiting fungi on the fitness of plants and animals, and the nature and consequences of fungal-bacterial interactions taking place within flowers.

2021 ◽  
Vol 288 (1947) ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin E. Shortlidge ◽  
Sarah B. Carey ◽  
Adam C. Payton ◽  
Stuart F. McDaniel ◽  
Todd N. Rosenstiel ◽  
...  

The evolution of sustained plant–animal interactions depends critically upon genetic variation in the fitness benefits from the interaction. Genetic analyses of such interactions are limited to a few model systems, in part because genetic variation may be absent or the interacting species may be experimentally intractable. Here, we examine the role of sperm-dispersing microarthropods in shaping reproduction and genetic variation in mosses. We established experimental mesocosms with known moss genotypes and inferred the parents of progeny from mesocosms with and without microarthropods, using a pooled sequencing approach. Moss reproductive rates increased fivefold in the presence of microarthropods, relative to control mesocosms. Furthermore, the presence of microarthropods increased the total number of reproducing moss genotypes, and changed the rank-order of fitness of male and female moss genotypes. Interestingly, the genotypes that reproduced most frequently did not produce sporophytes with the most spores, highlighting the challenge of defining fitness in mosses. These results demonstrate that microarthropods provide a fitness benefit for mosses, and highlight the potential for biotic dispersal agents to alter fitness among moss genotypes.


Author(s):  
Ana Gimeno-Sanz ◽  
Valentina Morgana ◽  
Julie Van de Vyver

This chapter offers insights into the benefits and drawbacks of adopting mobile learning in language education, both from a theoretical as well as a practical point of view. A survey was designed to explore pedagogically sound practices and provide a better understanding of the current and future role of MALL on language learning, specifically in higher education (HE). Comparison between the two target groups (learners and teachers) produced results to aid in aligning and narrowing distances between the learners' independent usage of MALL in informal learning and the instructors' perception of how mobile apps can or should be integrated into the language curriculum. The chapter proposes a number of research areas that require further exploration in MALL and with a set of recommendations in terms of embracing MALL practices in language learning and teaching.


Membranes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 455
Author(s):  
Zongqi Zhang ◽  
Siquan Xu ◽  
Yuanfeng Wu ◽  
Shengbin Shi ◽  
Guomin Xiao

N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) is a commonly-used solvent in industry and pharmaceutics for extracting acetylene and fabricating polyacrylonitrile fibers. It is also a starting material for a variety of intermediates such as esters, pyrimidines or chlordimeforms. However, after being used, DMF can be form 5–25% spent liquors (mass fraction) that are difficult to recycle with distillation. From the point of view of energy-efficiency and environment-friendliness, an emergent separation technology, pervaporation, is broadly applied in separation of azeotropic mixtures and organic–organic mixtures, dehydration of aqueous–organic mixtures and removal of trace volatile organic compounds from aqueous solutions. Since the advances in membrane technologies to separate N,N-dimethylformamide solutions have been rarely reviewed before, hence this review mainly discusses the research progress about various membranes in separating N,N-dimethylformamide aqueous solutions. The current state of available membranes in industry and academia, and their potential advantages, limitations and applications are also reviewed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-268
Author(s):  
Inna V Andronova ◽  
Elena A Yakimovich

The article analyzes the state of the world fish market, problems and prospects for its development in the context of current trends in the world economy. The authors emphasize the importance of the space allocated to the world fish market in solving global problems of our time, such as fighting hunger, ensuring food security, sustainable development, etc. The article presents the current state of world fishing and fish farming, the main producers and exporters, Russia’s place in this market. Reflected issues related to the role of developing countries in this sector of the economy. Conclusions are drawn about the problems and prospects of the world fish market from the point of view of the sustainable development of the world community and the growth of consumption of this food product by the population of the planet.


2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Callum J. O’Kane ◽  
Edel M. Hyland

Abstract Saccharomyces cerevisiae (budding yeast) and Schizosaccharomyces pombe (fission yeast) are two of the most recognised and well-studied model systems for epigenetic regulation and the inheritance of chromatin states. Their silent loci serve as a proxy for heterochromatic chromatin in higher eukaryotes, and as such both species have provided a wealth of information on the mechanisms behind the establishment and maintenance of epigenetic states, not only in yeast, but in higher eukaryotes. This review focuses specifically on the role of histone modifications in governing telomeric silencing in S. cerevisiae and centromeric silencing in S. pombe as examples of genetic loci that exemplify epigenetic inheritance. We discuss the recent advancements that for the first time provide a mechanistic understanding of how heterochromatin, dictated by histone modifications specifically, is preserved during S-phase. We also discuss the current state of our understanding of yeast nucleosome dynamics during DNA replication, an essential component in delineating the contribution of histone modifications to epigenetic inheritance.


Acoustics ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alicia Alonso ◽  
Rafael Suárez ◽  
Juan Sendra

One of the most significant enclosures in worship spaces is that of the choir. Generally, from a historical point of view, the choir is a semi-enclosed and privileged area reserved for the clergy, whose position and configuration gives it a private character. Regarding the generation and transformation of ecclesial interior spaces, the choir commands a role of the first magnitude. Its shape and location produce, on occasions, major modifications that significantly affect the acoustics of these indoor spaces. In the case of Spanish cathedrals, whose design responds to the so-called “Spanish type”, the central position of the choir, enclosed by high stonework walls on three of its sides and with numerous wooden stalls inside, breaks up the space in the main nave, thereby generating other new spaces, such as the trascoro. The aim of this work was to analyse the acoustic evolution of the choir as one of the main elements that configure the sound space of Spanish cathedrals. By means of in situ measurements and simulation models, the main acoustic parameters were evaluated, both in their current state and in their original configurations that have since disappeared. This analysis enabled the various acoustic conditions existing between the choir itself and the area of the faithful to be verified, and the significant improvement of the acoustic quality in the choir space to become apparent. The effect on the acoustic parameters is highly significant, with slight differences in the choir, where the values are appropriate for Gregorian chants, and suitable intelligibility of sung text. High values are also obtained in the area of the faithful, which lacked specific acoustic requirements at the time of construction.


Author(s):  
Catherine C. Marinagi ◽  
Themis Panayiotopoulos ◽  
Constantine D. Spyropoulos

This chapter provides an overview of complementary research in the active research areas: AI planning technology and intelligent agents technology. It has been widely acknowledged that modern intelligent agents approaches should combine methodologies, techniques and architectures from many areas of computer science, cognitive science, operation research, cybernetics, and so forth. AI planning is an essential function of intelligence that is necessary in intelligent agents applications. This chapter presents the current state-of-the-art in the field of intelligent agents, focusing on the role of AI planning techniques. It sketches a typical classification of agents, agent theories and architectures from an AI planning perspective, it briefly introduces the reader to the basic issues of AI planning, and it presents different AI planning methodologies implemented in intelligent agents applications. The authors aim at stimulating research interest towards the integration of AI planning with intelligent agents.


2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vu Thu Thuy Nguyen ◽  
Svenja König ◽  
Simone Eggert ◽  
Kristina Endres ◽  
Stefan Kins

Abstract Mycotoxins are fungal metabolites that can cause various diseases in humans and animals. The adverse health effects of mycotoxins such as liver failure, immune deficiency, and cancer are well-described. However, growing evidence suggests an additional link between these fungal metabolites and neurodegenerative diseases. Despite the wealth of these initial reports, reliable conclusions are still constrained by limited access to human patients and availability of suitable cell or animal model systems. This review summarizes knowledge on mycotoxins associated with neurodegenerative diseases and the assumed underlying pathophysiological mechanisms. The limitations of the common in vivo and in vitro experiments to identify the role of mycotoxins in neurotoxicity and thereby in neurodegenerative diseases are elucidated and possible future perspectives to further evolve this research field are presented.


Botany ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 97 (12) ◽  
pp. 661-669
Author(s):  
Fei Li ◽  
Min Tang ◽  
Xiaoxin Tang ◽  
Wei Sun ◽  
Jiyi Gong ◽  
...  

Plant–bacteria interactions are known to play important physiological roles in plant growth. Determining the mechanisms behind these interactions has paramount agricultural and ecological importance. Therefore, it is essential to study Plant–bacteria interactions and determine the relevant molecular mechanisms by using model systems. This review summarizes the current knowledge regarding plant–bacteria interactions based on the Arabidopsis thaliana – Bacillus subtilis model system, and highlights future areas for research.


Author(s):  
Yuliya Dyadyscheva-Rosovetska

Specific language of the Gregory Skovoroda still attract the attention of scientists, especially common are discussions on combination of elements of the different origin in his poetics. The emphasis is on the method of reconstruction of features of the language of ancient texts, which is a complex set of procedures. The various approaches of scientists to the linguistic interpretation of Skovoroda's texts are analyzed: certain heterogeneity taking into account stylistic differentiation, approaching to Russian, a mixture of Church Slavicisms, Ukrainianisms, Russisms, pseudo-Ukrainianisms and pseudorussisms, a combination of the traditional Old Slavonic element with the linguistic folk, the Slavic Ukrainian book 2 half of the XVIII century Etc., a qualitatively new phenomenon, representing the only Eastern Slavic literary language. Unfortunately, the problem of language of the Gregory Skovoroda is usually observed only from the point of view of the current state of development of the Ukrainian language and the processes that occur in it at the beginning of the XXI century. This study's autor approaches this issue from diachronic point of view, reconstructing G. Skovoroda’s speech issues in the context of the language environment of his time and using a comparative method to identify the original pronunciation of the G. Skovoroda’s the poetry in relation to the spelling of his poetic texts. With this instrumentary, rhyme in a number of poems becomes available to study. In particular, proposed method is used upon a "Tenth song" from the series "Garden of Divine Songs", only its author's version on autograph rough copy becouse versions published in academic collections in 1973 and 2011 hold traces of adaptation to the norms of modern spelling. Based on our observations on the draft of the autograph’s Song "To Every City Its Customs and Laws" by G. Skovoroda, we can conclude that when reading the poetry of the G. Skovoroda using Ukrainian language phonetic signs, rhyme is accurate, whereas in rules of "Russian" reading - is inaccurate. This is the evidence for the important role of the Ukrainian component in the language of the poet-philosopher and that his poems are ment to be read using Ukrainian rules. In the perspective, proposed approach can be applyed to analyze the language of other poetic works by Gregory Skovoroda. Key words: language of G. Skovoroda, rhyme, historical linguistic stylistics, linguistic phonetics, Ukrainian language, Old Chirche Slavonic language. Information about author: Dyadyshcheva-Rosovetska Juliya Borysivna – PhD, associate professor; associate professor of the department of stylistics and language communication; Institute of philology; Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko University.


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