Three new species of Iodosphaeria (Xylariomycetidae): I. chiayiensis, I. jinghongensis and I. thailandica

Three fungal specimens (two sexual and one asexual) were collected during fieldwork conducted in China, Taiwan and Thailand. Both sexual morphs share superficial, black ascomata surrounded by flexuous setae; 8-spored, unitunicate, cylindrical asci, with J+, apical ring, and ellipsoidal to allantoid, aseptate, guttulate ascospores. The asexual morph has ceratosporium-like conidia arising from aerial hyphae with a single arm and are usually attached or with 2–3 arms, brown, often with a subglobose to conical cell at the point of attachment. Morphological examinations and phylogenetic analyses of a combined LSU-ITS dataset via maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses indicated that these three collections were new species. Iodosphaeria chiayiensis (sexual morph), I. thailandica (sexual morph) and I. jinghongensis (asexual morph) are therefore introduced as new species in this study. Iodosphaeria chiayiensis has small, hyaline and ellipsoidal to allantoid ascospores, while I. thailandica has large ascomata, cylindrical to allantoid asci and hyaline to pale brown ascospores.

Morphology and multi-gene phylogeny reveal a new fungal genus and species from Hevea brasiliensis latex in Yunnan, China

During a survey of rubber tree plantations in Yunnan Province, China, a fungus growing on natural rubber latex was collected and isolated. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses of combined ITS, LSU, SSU, tef-α and rpb2 genes showed the isolated taxon belongs to Wiesneriomycetaceae and was well separated from closely related genera with high statistical support. It can be differentiated from other genera in Wiesneriomycetaceae by synnemata with catenate conidia that are cylindrical, 0–4 to multi-septate, often with a dark brown band at the septa. Morphology, phylogenetic analyses and pairwise homoplasy index (PHI) tests provide evidence that the new isolate is a distinct genus. The genus Heveicola is introduced, with H. xishuangbannaensis as the type species. A key to the genera in Wiesneriomycetaceae is also provided.

Consistent Individual Tendencies in Motor Speed-Accuracy Trade-Off

The literature of Speed-Accuracy Trade-Off (SAT) in motor control has evidenced individuality in the preference to trade different aspects (mean, variance) of spatial and temporal errors. Nonetheless, to the best of our knowledge, how robust this preference is has not been properly tested. Thirty participants performed nine conditions with different time and spatial criteria over two days (scanning). In-between these scanning conditions, individuals performed a practice condition that required modifications of the individuals’ preferences in SAT. Through Bayesian analyses, we found that, despite individuals demonstrating changes during practice, decreasing movement time, they did not modify how they performed the scanning conditions. This is evidence for a robust SAT individual tendency. We discuss how such individuality could modify how individuals perform within/between SAT criteria, and what this means for interpretation of results.

Molecular phylogeny and diversity of Laburnicola (Didymosphaeriaceae): a new species from Uzbekistan

Laburnicola is a genus in Didymosphaeriaceae that includes saprobic and endophytic fungal taxa. The current study conducted in the subalpine region of Uzbekistan discovered a new species on a dead stem of a wild rose plant. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses of combined LSU, SSU, ITS, and TEF 1-ɑ dataset confirmed the new species’ taxonomic position in Laburnicola. Our new species, Laburnicola zaaminensis (TASM 6152), was clustered with L. dactylidis (MFLUCC 16-0285) with strong bootstrap support. A detailed description together with illustrations are provided for Laburnicola zaaminensis. Furthermore, an annotated species list, a distribution map, and a taxonomic key for Laburnicola species are provided. This is the first record of Laburnicola from Central Asia.

Surprisingly inflexible: Statistically learned suppression of distractors generalizes across contexts

The present study investigates the flexibility of statistically learned distractor suppression between different contexts. Participants performed the additional singleton task searching for a unique shape, while ignoring a uniquely colored distractor. Crucially, we created two contexts within the experiments, and each context was assigned its own high-probability distractor location, so that the location where the distractor was most likely to appear depended on the context. Experiment 1 signified context through the color of the background. In Experiment 2, we aimed to more strongly differentiate between the contexts using an auditory or visual cue to indicate the upcoming context. In Experiment 3, context determined the appropriate response ensuring that participants engaged the context in order to be able to perform the task. Across all experiments, participants learned to suppress both high-probability locations, even if they were not aware of these spatial regularities. However, these suppression effects occurred independent of context, as the pattern of suppression reflected a de-prioritization of both high-probability locations which did not change with the context. We employed Bayesian analyses to statistically quantify the absence of context-dependent suppression effects. We conclude that statistically learned distractor suppression is robust and generalizes across contexts.

Bayesian analyses question the role of climate in Chulmun demography

We investigate the relationship between climatic and demographic events in Korea during the Chulmun period (10,000–3,500 cal. BP) by analyzing paleoenvironmental proxies and 14C dates. We focus on testing whether a cooling climate, and its potential negative impact on millet productivity around the mid 5th-millennium cal. BP, triggered the population decline suggested by the archaeological record. We employ a Bayesian approach that estimates the temporal relationship between climatic events and change-points in the rate of growth in human population as inferred from radiocarbon time frequency data. Our results do not support the climate-induced population decline hypothesis for three reasons. First, our Bayesian analyses suggest that the cooling event occurred after the start of the population decline inferred from the radiocarbon time–frequency record. Second, we did not find evidence showing a significant reduction of millet-associated dates occurring during the cooling climate. Third, we detected different magnitudes of decline in the radiocarbon time–frequency data in the inland and coastal regions, indicating that the even if cooling episodes were ultimately responsible of these population ‘busts’, their impact was most likely distinct between these regions. We discuss our results highlighting the long tradition of mobility-based subsistence strategy in coastal regions as a potential factor contributing to the regional differences we were able to detect.

PP133 Developing A Novel Multifaceted Graphical Visualization For Treatment Ranking Within An Interactive Network Meta-Analysis Application

IntroductionNetwork meta-analysis (NMA) is a key methodology for comparing the effectiveness of multiple interventions or treatments simultaneously. This project aimed to ascertain current methods and visualizations for treatment ranking within an NMA framework and to subsequently develop a novel graphic within MetaInsight (an interactive NMA web application), to aid clinicians and stakeholders when making decisions regarding the “best” intervention(s) for their patient(s).MethodsCurrent literature on the methodology or visualization of treatment ranking published in the last 10 years was collated and studied. Based on the literature, a novel graphical visualization was developed using RShiny (RStudio, PBC) and integrated within MetaInsight, which is currently hosted on shinyapps.io.ResultsBayesian analyses produce rank probabilities from which mean or median rank and surface under the cumulative ranking curve can be calculated. For frequentist analyses the p-value is available. The simpler methods may be easier to interpret, but they are often more unstable and do not encompass the whole analysis (and vice versa). To aid interpretation and facilitate sensitivity analysis, an interactive graphic was developed that presents rankings alongside treatment effect and study quality results.ConclusionsTreatment ranking is useful, but the results should be interpreted cautiously, and the visualization should be transparent and all-encompassing. A ‘living’ version of MetaInsight, with treatment ranking, would allow interested parties to follow the evidence base as it grows.

Phylogeny of the Neotropical element of the Randia clade (Gardenieae, Rubiaceae, Gentianales)

Background and aims – Generic limits of the tropical tribe Gardenieae (Ixoroideae, Rubiaceae) have partly remained unsettled. We produced a new phylogeny of the Randia clade, with emphasis on its Neotropical clade comprising five genera (Casasia, Randia, Rosenbergiodendron, Sphinctanthus, and Tocoyena). The result was subsequently used to evaluate and discuss: a) the respective monophyly of the above-mentioned genera and their interrelationships; b) relationships within Tocoyena and the evolutionary relevance of its subgeneric classification; and c) the monophyly of the morphologically variable T. formosa.Material and methods – We examined the phylogeny of the Randia clade based on maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses of sequence data from two nuclear (ETS and Xdh) and two plastid (petB-petD and trnT-F) DNA regions from 59 individuals (including seven representatives from the remaining Ixoroideae).Key results – The Neotropical clade of the Randia clade comprises three major lineages, the Randia armata subclade, the Randia-Casasia subclade and the Rosenbergiodendron subclade. Neither Casasia nor Randia is monophyletic. Tocoyena is sister to Rosenbergiodendron + Sphinctanthus and is subdivided into three lineages: the Tocoyena pittieri group, the Tocoyena guianensis group, and the core Tocoyena. Tocoyena williamsii is paraphyletic with respect to T. pittieri. Tocoyena formosa is polyphyletic and should be re-circumscribed.Conclusions – Our results demonstrate the monophyly of each of the relatively species-poor genera Rosenbergiodendron, Sphinctanthus, and Tocoyena, and confirm their close affinity. The serial classification of Tocoyena does not reflect the evolutionary history of the genus. The paraphyly of T. williamsii with respect to T. pittieri, together with their morphological similarities and geographic distributions, support the inclusion of the former in the latter. Our study calls for additional phylogenetic work on Casasia and the more species-rich genus Randia. While the respective monophyly of both genera is rejected here, future work with a broader representation of Randia is needed.

Monophyly of Diverse Bigyromonadea and their Impact on Phylogenomic Relationships Within Stramenopiles

Stramenopiles are a diverse but relatively well-studied eukaryotic supergroup with considerable genomic information available (Sibbald and Archibald, 2017). Nevertheless, the relationships between major stramenopile subgroups remain unresolved, in part due to a lack of data from small nanoflagellates that make up a lot of the genetic diversity of the group. This is most obvious in Bigyromonadea, which is one of four major stramenopile subgroups but represented by a single transcriptome. To examine the diversity of Bigyromonadea and how the lack of data affects the tree, we generated transcriptomes from seven novel bigyromonada species described in this study: Develocauda condao, Develocanicus komovi, Develocanicus vyazemskyi, Cubaremonas variflagellatum, Pirsonia chemainus, Feodosia pseudopoda, and Koktebelia satura. Both maximum likelihood and Bayesian phylogenomic trees based on a 247 gene-matrix recovered a monophyletic Bigyromonadea that includes two diverse subgroups, Developea and Pirsoniales, that were not previously related based on single gene trees. Maximum likelihood analyses show Bigyromonadea related to oomycetes, whereas Bayesian analyses and topology testing were inconclusive. We observed similarities between the novel bigyromonad species and motile zoospores of oomycetes in morphology and the ability to self-aggregate. Rare formation of pseudopods and fused cells were also observed, traits that are also found in members of labyrinthulomycetes, another osmotrophic stramenopiles. Furthermore, we report the first case of eukaryovory in the flagellated stages of Pirsoniales. These analyses reveal new diversity of Bigyromonadea, and altogether suggest their monophyly with oomycetes, collectively known as Pseudofungi, is the most likely topology of the stramenopile tree.