Germination potential and methods for overcoming seed dormancy for domesticated and wild annatto populations after two years of storage

ABSTRACT: Annatto (Bixa orellana L.) is an arboreal species domesticated in Amazonia from its wild ancestor (B. orellana var. urucurana). Bixin extracted from its orthodox seeds is a natural dye widely used in the food industry. This study evaluated methods to overcome seed dormancy and determine the germination potential, comparing domesticated and wild annatto populations. Seeds from two domesticated-type populations and two families of a wild-type population, stored for two years after field collection, were submitted to five treatments to overcome dormancy: T1 - control; T2 - mechanical scarification (with sandpaper); T3 - mechanical scarification (with sandpaper) + immersion in water at 36 ºC overnight (12 hours); T4 - immersion in water at room temperature (23 ºC, on average) for 24 h; T5 - immersion in concentrated sulfuric acid (95 - 98%) for 15 min + running water for 3 min. Highly significant differences (P < 0.001) were observed in the germination percentage of annatto seeds between wild and domesticated types, and among the treatments tested. Domesticated types showed higher germination percentage (10 - 58%) over all treatments when compared to the wild type (0 - 44%). The best treatments were those performed with mechanical scarification. Given the simplicity, we concluded that mechanical scarification with sandpaper is a good alternative to overcome dormancy of annatto seeds.

First record of Telenomus fariai Costa Lima, 1927 (Hymenoptera, Scelionidae, Telenominae) as a parasitoid of Triatoma dimidiata (Latreille, 1811) (Hemiptera, Reduviidae, Triatominae) eggs in Mexico

The egg parasitoid Telenomus fariai Costa Lima (Hymenoptera, Scelionidae), is reported for the first time in Veracruz, Mexico. Telenomus fariai was discovered in 2019 during a field collection of Triatoma dimidiata L. (Hemiptera, Reduviidae), representing the first report of its association with Tr. dimidiata in Mexico. This species is here redescribed and sequencing of a portion of the cytochrome oxidase 1 gene (COI) was performed to facilitate future identifications and to examine host associations between species of Telenomus Haliday and Reduviidae in a broader context.

Preserving avian blood and DNA sampled in the wild: a survey of personal experiences

Collecting and storing biological material from wild animals in a way that does not deteriorate data quality for analyses using DNA is instrumental for research in ecology and evolution. Our aims were to collect methods commonly used by researchers for the field collection and long-term storage of blood samples and DNA extracts from wild birds and gather reports on their effectiveness. Personal experiences were collected with an online survey targeted specifically at researchers sampling wild birds. Many researchers experienced problems with blood sample storage but not with DNA extract storage. Storage issues generated problems with obtaining adequate DNA quality and sufficient DNA quantity for the targeted molecular analyses, but were not related to season of blood sampling, access to equipment, transporting samples, temperature and method of blood storage. Final DNA quality and quantity were also not affected by storage time before DNA extraction or the methods used to extract DNA. We discuss practical aspects of field collection and storage and provide some general recommendations, with a list of pros and cons of different preservation methods of avian blood samples and DNA extracts.

Diversity and distribution of the tick-borne relapsing fever spirochete Borrelia turicatae

Borrelia turicatae is a causative agent of tick-borne relapsing fever (TBRF) in the subtropics and tropics of the United States and Latin America. Historically, B. turicatae was thought to be maintained in enzootic cycles in rural areas. However, there is growing evidence that suggests the pathogen has established endemic foci in densely populated regions of Texas. With the growth of homelessness in the state and human activity in city parks, it was important to implement field collection efforts to identify areas where B. turicatae and its vector circulate. Between 2017 and 2020 we collected Ornithodoros turicata ticks in suburban and urban areas including public and private parks and recreational spaces. Ticks were fed on naïve mice and spirochetes were isolated from the blood. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) was performed on eight newly obtained isolates and included previously reported sequences. The four chromosomal loci targeted for MLST were 16S ribosomal RNA (rrs), flagellin B (flaB), DNA gyrase B (gyrB), and the intergenic spacer (IGS). Given the complexity of Borrelia genomes, plasmid diversity was also evaluated. These studies indicate that the IGS locus segregates B. turicatae into four genomic types and plasmid diversity is extensive between isolates. Furthermore, B. turicatae and its vector have established endemic foci in parks and recreational areas in densely populated settings of Texas.

ИЗУЧЕНИЕ ПРАВОСЛАВНОЙ ЖИЗНИ РУССКИХ В ИНСТИТУТЕ ЭТНОЛОГИИ И АНТРОПОЛОГИИ РОССИЙСКОЙ АКАДЕМИИ НАУК

В статье дается краткий обзор исследований Отдела русского народа, посвященных изучению православной культуры, в Институте этнологии и антропологии РАН за последние тридцать лет. Отмечены основополагающие работы в этом направлении М. М. Громыко, которая первой поставила вопрос об этнографическом изучении религиозности русского народа, сформулировала и обозначила подходы и направления. Кроме монографий и статей отмечены кандидатские и докторские диссертации, программы сбора полевых материалов, а также организация издания журнала «Традиции и современность», посвященного православной культуре русского народа. В статье показано, как разработка рассматриваемого научного направления получила развитие и реализацию в академических изданиях на основе документальных источников разного характера. Авторы буквально открыли большой пласт повседневной религиозной жизни народа, устойчивые и многовековые традиции вероисповедной практики, которые раньше, до революции и в советское время, не были предметом изучения. The article provides a brief overview of Research by Department of the Russian People, dedicated to the study of Orthodox culture at the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences during the last thirty years. The fundamental works in this direction of M. M. Gromyko, who was the first to raise the question of ethnographic study of the religiosity of the Russian people, formulated and outlined approaches and directions. In addition to monographs and articles, Ph. D. and doctoral dissertations, field collection programs materials, as well as the organization of the publication of the journal «Traditions and Modernity», dedicated to Orthodox culture of the Russian people. The article shows how the development of the considered scientific direction was developed and implemented in academic publications based on documentary sources of a different nature. The authors literally discovered a large layer of everyday religious life of the people, stable and centuries-old traditions of religious practice, which earlier, before revolutions in Soviet times were not a subject of study.

Biocultural Strategies for Measuring Psychosocial Stress Outcomes in Field-based Research

The goal of assessing psychosocial stress as a process and outcome in naturalistic (i.e., field) settings is applicable across the social, biological, and health sciences. Meaningful measurement of biology-in-context is, however, far from simple or straightforward. In this brief methods review, we introduce theoretical framings, methodological conventions, and ethical concerns around field-collection of markers of psychosocial stress that have emerged from 50 years of research at the intersection of anthropology and human biology. Highlighting measures of psychosocial stress outcomes most often used in biocultural studies, we identify the circumstances under which varied measures are most appropriately applied and provide examples of the types of cutting-edge research questions these measures can address. We explain that field-based psychosocial stress measures embedded in different body systems are neither equivalent nor interchangeable, but this recognition strengthens the study of stress as always simultaneously cultural and biological, situated in local ecologies, social–political structures, and time.

Of stumps and stipes: comparisons between the cultures and identities of Yorkshire cricket and mycology at the turn of the twentieth century

Mycology, the study of fungi, is a relatively young and underexplored discipline with a strong culture of field collection and study. The Yorkshire Mycological Committee (YMC) of the Yorkshire Naturalist's Union, formed in 1892, became the first permanent mycological organization within Great Britain. Well renowned and highly competent, the members of the YMC espoused a distinctive philosophy and practice of science that led them into a drawn-out conflict with the newly established British Mycological Society that continues to impact the practice of British field mycology today. This paper explores the philosophy, practice, and hierarchy of the Yorkshire mycologists and fungal collectors through the lens of their regional identity. To do so, it examines similarities and differences between the Yorkshire expressions of mycology and cricket around the turn of the twentieth century, with the latter already well established as a major vehicle for expressions of the region's identity. It argues that both activities stem from a distinct Yorkshire identity and culture that both superseded and intersected with other factors such as class and authority. In doing so, it highlights the importance of provincial identities and scientific movements in informing and influencing wider disciplinary philosophies and practices.

Senna pluribracteata (Leguminosae, Caesalpinioideae), a New Species from Paraíba State, Brazil, with Notes on Leaf Anatomy

Abstract— A new species of the genus Senna from the Atlantic Forest of Paraíba State, Brazil, is described and illustrated based on a field collection, traditional taxonomic methodologies, and the analysis of Senna collections at RB and the main herbaria in northeastern Brazil. Morphologically, Senna pluribracteata is related to a group of four species of Senna sect. Chamaefistula ser. Bacillares: S. macranthera, S. pinheiroi, S. rizzinii, and S. rugosa, although S. pluribracteata has a set of distinctive anatomical characters that differentiate it: two extrafloral nectaries between leaflets in the rachis; large and conspicuous elliptic bracts 7.0‐9.0 mm long along the inflorescence peduncle; the epidermis on the abaxial surface is conspicuously and compactly papillose; the rounded leaflet margins have palisade parenchyma near the apex; the mesophyll is dorsiventral with a single layer of palisade parenchyma, with isodiametric cells occupying approximately 60% of that structure; the petiole has a somewhat pentagonal shape and is planar adaxially; the rachis is obdeltoid and planar adaxially. Morphological and leaf anatomical descriptions, and a key to identifying the seven species of Senna ser. Bacillares found in Paraíba State are provided. The morphological and anatomical affinities of S. pluribracteata and its allied taxa are discussed.

Varietal Response to Sour Bunch Rot in Polish Grapevine Genetic Resources

The aim of this study was to assess the resistance to sour rot of twenty-eight valuable cultivars of grapevine for wine production and twenty-five cultivars of table grapevine with diverse geographic and genetic origins, and to explain the causes of varied resistance based on the features related to the morphology, biology and ecology of assessed genotypes. The study was conducted for six years in the grapevine field collection of the National Institute of Horticultural Research in Skierniewice (Poland, latitude 51.9627 N, longitude 20.1666 E). Sour rot was severe in three seasons with abundant rainfall during the berry ripening stage. The number of wine and table cultivars in particular classes of resistance (mean value for three years) was as follows: very little or little—9 (wine) and 9 (table), medium—9 (wine) and 3 (table), high or very high—10 (wine) and 13 (table). The severity of bunch sour rot was positively correlated with single berry weight (moderate or weak correlation), bunch density and single bunch weight (very weak or weak correlation), and negatively correlated with thickness of berry skin (strong correlation) and the time of the beginning of veraison (weak correlation). Cultivars that were characterized by such agrobiological and ecological features as easy detachment of the berry from the pedicel, sensitivity to berry skin cracking, frequent damage to the skin by insects, and sensitivity to sunburn, were more heavily exposed to sour rot.