Genetic identification and hybridization in the seagrass genus Halophila (Hydrocharitaceae) in Sri Lankan waters

Seagrasses, as marine angiosperms, play important roles in coastal ecosystems. With increasing anthropogenic impacts, they are facing dramatic declines on a global scale. Halophila is well-known as a complex taxonomic challenge mainly due to high morphological plasticity. By using only a morphological approach, the genus could be over-split or similar species could be erroneously lumped, thus masking its true biodiversity. In the present study, we incorporated genetic identification with morphological examination to reveal the identity of Halophila plants in southern and northwestern Sri Lankan waters. The nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region and chloroplast ribulose-bisphosphate carboxylase gene (rbcL) were used to identify plants collected from the Gulf of Mannar, Puttalam Lagoon, and Matara, Sri Lanka. Based on genetic identification, H. major (Zoll.) Miquel is reported for the first time from Sri Lanka, which might have been misidentified as H. ovalis in previous literature based on morphology alone. We also observed a first hybridization case of Halophila cross between H. ovalis and H. major. Two potential cryptic species were found, herein designated Halophila sp. 1 (allied to H. minor) and Halophila sp. 2 (closely related to H. decipiens). In order to clarify taxonomic ambiguity caused by morphological plasticity and the low resolution of genetic markers, further comparative phylogenomic approaches might be needed to solve species boundary issues in this genus.

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First records of the Indo-Pacific Finless Porpoise Neophocaena phocaenoides (G. Cuvier, 1829) (Cetartiodactyla: Phocoenidae) from Sri Lanka

Journal of Threatened Taxa ◽

10.11609/jott.1811.9.12.11081-11084 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 9 (12) ◽

pp. 11081 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ranil P. Nanayakkara ◽

Thomas A. Jefferson ◽

Sandaruwan Abayaratne

Keyword(s):

Sri Lanka ◽

Marine Mammals ◽

Holistic Approach ◽

Marine Species ◽

Gulf Of Mannar ◽

Sri Lankan ◽

Finless Porpoise ◽

Survey Team ◽

Research Initiative ◽

Neophocaena Phocaenoides

Thirty species of marine mammals have been recorded from Sri Lanka. Amongst them the Indo-Pacific Finless Porpoise Neophocaena phocaenoides is the only representative of the family Phocoenidae. The only previous record from Sri Lanka was a specimen caught on the Wadge Bank by a Smithsonian Carangid Survey team in 1970. Wadge Bank is west of the island and is, in fact, in Indian territorial waters. Here we present the first legitimate records of the Finless Porpoise from Sri Lanka, based on one stranding and three live sightings. Furthermore, the occurrence of threatened species such as the Indo-Pacific Finless Porpoise in the waters of the Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar indicates that a cross boundary research initiative between Indian and Sri Lankan scientists, simultaneously focusing on the conservation of the species, is essential. We believe, through such an initiative, a more holistic approach could be adopted when studying and conserving the species, which could then be expanded to encapsulate many other marine species and ecosystems.

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Killer Whale Orcinus orca (Linnaeus, 1758) (Mammalia: Cetartiodactyla: Delphinidae) predation on Sperm Whales Physeter macrocephalus Linnaeus, 1758 (Mammalia: Cetartiodactyla: Physeteridae) in the Gulf of Mannar, Sri Lanka

Journal of Threatened Taxa ◽

10.11609/jott.5006.12.13.16742-16751 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (13) ◽

pp. 16742-16751

Author(s):

Ranil P. Nanayakkara ◽

Andrew Sutton ◽

Philip Hoare ◽

Thomas A. Jefferson

Keyword(s):

Sri Lanka ◽

Gulf Of Mannar ◽

Sri Lankan ◽

Physeter Macrocephalus ◽

Sperm Whales ◽

Killer Whales ◽

Almost All ◽

First Time ◽

Published Account ◽

Eastern Half

To date in Sri Lankan waters, there has been limited research on Killer Whales. These animals have been recorded almost all around the island, except in the northernmost waters and in Palk Bay. The highest observed concentrations are from the northeastern, south/southwestern and northwestern coastal waters of Sri Lanka. These have come from both opportunistic observations and dedicated scientific surveys. Seasonal trends in sightings in some locations suggest fairly consistent occupancy. Transient Killer Whales have been documented attacking/killing Sperm Whales from many geographic locations around the world. To date, there is only one published account of Killer Whales feeding in Sri Lankan waters. Our paper presents, for the first time, field observations of Killer Whales preying upon superpods of Sperm Whales in the waters off the Kalpitiya Peninsula (eastern half of the Gulf of Mannar), northwestern Sri Lanka. The incidents took place on two separate occasions during the months of March and April, 2017.

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The Role of Music and Allied Arts in Public Writings on Cultural Diversity: “People of Sri Lanka”

ASIAN-EUROPEAN MUSIC RESEARCH JOURNAL ◽

10.30819/aemr.6-7 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 ◽

pp. 93-100

Author(s):

Gisa Jähnichen

Keyword(s):

Sri Lanka ◽

Cultural Diversity ◽

South Asia ◽

Case Studies ◽

Sri Lankan ◽

Culturally Different ◽

The World ◽

Official Languages ◽

The Way

The Sri Lankan Ministry of National Coexistence, Dialogue, and Official Languages published the work “People of Sri Lanka” in 2017. In this comprehensive publication, 21 invited Sri Lankan scholars introduced 19 different people’s groups to public readers in English, mainly targeted at a growing number of foreign visitors in need of understanding the cultural diversity Sri Lanka has to offer. This paper will observe the presentation of these different groups of people, the role music and allied arts play in this context. Considering the non-scholarly design of the publication, a discussion of the role of music and allied arts has to be supplemented through additional analyses based on sources mentioned by the 21 participating scholars and their fragmented application of available knowledge. In result, this paper might help improve the way facts about groups of people, the way of grouping people, and the way of presenting these groupings are displayed to the world beyond South Asia. This fieldwork and literature guided investigation should also lead to suggestions for ethical principles in teaching and presenting of culturally different music practices within Sri Lanka, thus adding an example for other case studies.

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Blood Pressure values of Sri Lankan Tamils in Jaffna District, Sri Lanka

Asian Pacific Journal of Health Sciences ◽

10.21276/apjhs.2015.2.3.15 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 2 (3) ◽

pp. 66-71

Author(s):

Balasubramaniam M ◽

◽

Sivapalan K ◽

Tharsha J ◽

Sivatharushan V ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Blood Pressure ◽

Sri Lanka ◽

Sri Lankan ◽

Sri Lankan Tamils

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Rapid, large-scale species discovery in hyperdiverse taxa using 1D MinION sequencing

BMC Biology ◽

10.1186/s12915-019-0706-9 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Amrita Srivathsan ◽

Emily Hartop ◽

Jayanthi Puniamoorthy ◽

Wan Ting Lee ◽

Sujatha Narayanan Kutty ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dna Sequences ◽

Large Scale ◽

Low Cost ◽

Small Body ◽

Small Subset ◽

Similar Species ◽

Large Species ◽

Morphological Examination ◽

Species Discovery ◽

Short Period

Abstract Background More than 80% of all animal species remain unknown to science. Most of these species live in the tropics and belong to animal taxa that combine small body size with high specimen abundance and large species richness. For such clades, using morphology for species discovery is slow because large numbers of specimens must be sorted based on detailed microscopic investigations. Fortunately, species discovery could be greatly accelerated if DNA sequences could be used for sorting specimens to species. Morphological verification of such “molecular operational taxonomic units” (mOTUs) could then be based on dissection of a small subset of specimens. However, this approach requires cost-effective and low-tech DNA barcoding techniques because well-equipped, well-funded molecular laboratories are not readily available in many biodiverse countries. Results We here document how MinION sequencing can be used for large-scale species discovery in a specimen- and species-rich taxon like the hyperdiverse fly family Phoridae (Diptera). We sequenced 7059 specimens collected in a single Malaise trap in Kibale National Park, Uganda, over the short period of 8 weeks. We discovered > 650 species which exceeds the number of phorid species currently described for the entire Afrotropical region. The barcodes were obtained using an improved low-cost MinION pipeline that increased the barcoding capacity sevenfold from 500 to 3500 barcodes per flowcell. This was achieved by adopting 1D sequencing, resequencing weak amplicons on a used flowcell, and improving demultiplexing. Comparison with Illumina data revealed that the MinION barcodes were very accurate (99.99% accuracy, 0.46% Ns) and thus yielded very similar species units (match ratio 0.991). Morphological examination of 100 mOTUs also confirmed good congruence with morphology (93% of mOTUs; > 99% of specimens) and revealed that 90% of the putative species belong to the neglected, megadiverse genus Megaselia. We demonstrate for one Megaselia species how the molecular data can guide the description of a new species (Megaselia sepsioides sp. nov.). Conclusions We document that one field site in Africa can be home to an estimated 1000 species of phorids and speculate that the Afrotropical diversity could exceed 200,000 species. We furthermore conclude that low-cost MinION sequencers are very suitable for reliable, rapid, and large-scale species discovery in hyperdiverse taxa. MinION sequencing could quickly reveal the extent of the unknown diversity and is especially suitable for biodiverse countries with limited access to capital-intensive sequencing facilities.

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Four Mutant Alleles Elucidate the Role of the G2 Protein in the Development of C4 and C3 Photosynthesizing Maize Tissues

Genetics ◽

10.1093/genetics/159.2.787 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 159 (2) ◽

pp. 787-797

Author(s):

Lizzie Cribb ◽

Lisa N Hall ◽

Jane A Langdale

Keyword(s):

Cell Types ◽

Bundle Sheath ◽

Primary Role ◽

Ribulose Bisphosphate Carboxylase ◽

Sheath Cell ◽

Mesophyll Cells ◽

Phenotypic Data ◽

Bisphosphate Carboxylase ◽

Bundle Sheath Cell

Abstract Maize leaf blades differentiate dimorphic photosynthetic cell types, the bundle sheath and mesophyll, between which the reactions of C4 photosynthesis are partitioned. Leaf-like organs of maize such as husk leaves, however, develop a C3 pattern of differentiation whereby ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase (RuBPCase) accumulates in all photosynthetic cell types. The Golden2 (G2) gene has previously been shown to play a role in bundle sheath cell differentiation in C4 leaf blades and to play a less well-defined role in C3 maize tissues. To further analyze G2 gene function in maize, four g2 mutations have been characterized. Three of these mutations were induced by the transposable element Spm. In g2-bsd1-m1 and g2-bsd1-s1, the element is inserted in the second intron and in g2-pg14 the element is inserted in the promoter. In the fourth case, g2-R, four amino acid changes and premature polyadenylation of the G2 transcript are observed. The phenotypes conditioned by these four mutations demonstrate that the primary role of G2 in C4 leaf blades is to promote bundle sheath cell chloroplast development. C4 photosynthetic enzymes can accumulate in both bundle sheath and mesophyll cells in the absence of G2. In C3 tissue, however, G2 influences both chloroplast differentiation and photosynthetic enzyme accumulation patterns. On the basis of the phenotypic data obtained, a model that postulates how G2 acts to facilitate C4 and C3 patterns of tissue development is proposed.

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Using intrinsic vulnerability and anthropogenic impacts to evaluate and compare groundwater risk potential at northwestern and western coastal aquifers of Sri Lanka through coupling DRASTIC and GIS approach

Applied Water Science ◽

10.1007/s13201-021-01452-y ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (7) ◽

Author(s):

Ratha Phok ◽

Nandalal Kosgallana Duwage Wasantha ◽

Weerakoon Sumana Bandara ◽

Pitawala Herath Mudiyanselage Thalapitiye Ge ◽

Dharmagunawardhane Hingure Arachchilage

Keyword(s):

Sri Lanka ◽

Groundwater Contamination ◽

Anthropogenic Impacts ◽

Shallow Groundwater ◽

Monitoring Network ◽

Groundwater Vulnerability ◽

Moderate Risk ◽

Pollution Risk ◽

Intrinsic Vulnerability ◽

Contamination Risk

AbstractGroundwater vulnerability assessment has become a crucial step in successfully protecting groundwater against pollution. An attempt of this study has been made to evaluate groundwater contamination risk using intrinsic vulnerability and land-uses in Vanathavillu, Kalpitiya and Katana area in Sri Lanka, using coupled DRASTIC with GIS as feasible methodology. The findings reveal that the groundwater in the areas under study falls under very low to high contamination risk. The higher risk of contamination has been identified in most of the Kalpitiya (about 82%) with the moderate along the beach in the west and next to Puttalam lagoon in the northeast and southeast. This is mainly due to pollution risk inherent with intense vegetable cultivation, over pumping, shallow groundwater tables and permeable sandy soil. Vanathavillu is under very low to moderate contamination risk, in which the moderate risk (about 13%) has especially been found the center, central southwest and west of the area. The relative less deep groundwater tables, possible seepage from the underlying limestone aquifer and less permeable red earth soil could be cause for the moderate risk in the area. Furthermore, results show that the Katana has low to moderately high groundwater contamination risk. Nitrate has a good agreement with the different pollution risk classes and that nitrate can be used as an indicator of aquifer degradation inherent with land-use activities in the coastal areas. Groundwater quality monitoring network should be set up to minimize the anthropogenic acts, particularly in high and moderate contamination risk zones.

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