New Amphicocconeis (Bacillariophyta) from Raivavae and Tahiti Islands (South Pacific) and Porto Belo (Brazil), with re-examination of Psammococconeis

Psammococconeis and Amphicocconeis are recently created diatom genera showing a high morphological plasticity-variability, making particularly difficult identification only based on morphology. The sternum valve (SV) of Amphicocconeis is very similar to that of Cocconeis, whereas its raphe valve (RV) is highly dissimilar between the two genera. The RV in Amphicocconeis has curved terminal raphe fissures and striae composed of macroareolae with more or less complex arrangement, unique to each taxon. The Amphicocconeis valvocopulae are most of the time extended, with pores arranged along rows, or clusters of pores, and are an important taxonomic criterion. Several Amphicocconeis were originally described as Cocconeis and thereafter renamed after accurate examination with scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The number of described Amphicocconeis is low, while numerous species probably remain to be described, named or renamed. Several tropical Amphicocconeis from two Polynesian archipelagos are here investigated, from which three are described as new. Psammococconeis is a genus established prior to Amphicocconeis, originally described with simple terminal raphe endings, while their SV has characteristics close to Amphicocconeis. Psammococconeis is here re-defined as an invalid genus, after re-examination of the Brazilian type material of P. brasiliensis M.Garcia (renamed as Amphicocconeis brasilensis comb. nov.), and a new Amphicocconeis is described from this Brazilian material.

CLASSIFICATION OF RECREATIONAL LOCATIONS OF RURAL GREEN TOURISM IN ODESA REGION

The article highlights the importance of the role of rural green tourism in restarting the Ukrainian economy, given that the inertia of the surge in domestic tourism caused by the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic will work in the coming years. The importance of recreational activities in the field of rural green tourism is considered. The problems of the conceptual and terminological description of the infrastructure of the recreational industry are outlined. Expansion of the nomenclature of key terms in the field of rural green tourism in the context of highlighting the point elements of the territorial structure is proposed. The concept of “recreational location of rural green tourism” has been introduced for use in the practice of the recreational industry in order to strengthen the territorial aspects of the research of recreational activities. The content of the concept “recreational location of rural green tourism” is characterized as a point element of the territorial infrastructure in the field of rural tourism in the region, which combines the territorial localization of the place of receiving tourist services (rural ecologically clean area), accommodation facility (local object) and indicates the special nature of the activity (recreation). It is indicated that, according to the taxonomic criterion, it is a micro-site, a place, and according to the typological criterion, it is a recreational and tourist object with the functions of accommodation and provision of recreational services. The components of the recreational potential of the Odesa region, which have the necessary properties for the successful functioning of a competitive tourist product in the regional and national tourist markets, have been analyzed. The importance of the classification of recreational locations of rural green tourism in the Odessa region for further systematization of information for the purpose of convenient practical use by specialists from various industries and consumers of recreational services has been substantiated. The classification of the locations of rural green tourism in the Odessa region according to three criteria has been proposed and five types of recreational locations have been identified.

Co-Acquired Nanovirus and Geminivirus Exhibit a Contrasted Localization within Their Common Aphid Vector

Single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) plant viruses belong to the families Geminiviridae and Nanoviridae. They are transmitted by Hemipteran insects in a circulative, mostly non-propagative, manner. While geminiviruses are transmitted by leafhoppers, treehoppers, whiteflies and aphids, nanoviruses are transmitted exclusively by aphids. Circulative transmission involves complex virus–vector interactions in which epithelial cells have to be crossed and defense mechanisms counteracted. Vector taxa are considered a relevant taxonomic criterion for virus classification, indicating that viruses can evolve specific interactions with their vectors. Thus, we predicted that, although nanoviruses and geminiviruses represent related viral families, they have evolved distinct interactions with their vector. This prediction is also supported by the non-structural Nuclear Shuttle Protein (NSP) that is involved in vector transmission in nanoviruses but has no similar function in geminiviruses. Thanks to the recent discovery of aphid-transmitted geminiviruses, this prediction could be tested for the geminivirus alfalfa leaf curl virus (ALCV) and the nanovirus faba bean necrotic stunt virus (FBNSV) in their common vector, Aphis craccivora. Estimations of viral load in midgut and head of aphids, precise localization of viral DNA in cells of insect vectors and host plants, and virus transmission tests revealed that the pathway of the two viruses across the body of their common vector differs both quantitatively and qualitatively.

Seed micromorphology of representatives of holoparasitic Orobanchaceae genera from the Caucasus region and its taxonomic significance

Obligate parasitic plant species from the Orobanchaceae family belong to the most critical genera of world flora. Due to their strongly reduced vegetative organ architecture, there arise many difficulties and mistakes in species identification, and extra characteristics of systematic importance are required. Seed micromorphology is a highly informative taxonomic criterion that helps to resolve ambiguities in plant taxonomy and evolution, and has proved to be a valuable complementary tool for Orobanchaceae species identification. In this study, seeds of 43 holoparasitic species from the Cistanche, Diphelypaea, Orobanche and Phelipanche genera collected in the Caucasus were subjected to micromorphological analysis. The Caucasus is one of the most important centres of world biodiversity, with many endangered and endemic parasitic plants. Twenty two quantitative/qualitative micromorphological seed parameters were analysed using stereo ZOOM, confocal scanning laser (CLSM) and scanning electron (SEM) microscopy. Three types of seed were established based on periclinal wall ornamentation: 1) clearly pitted sculpturing in all Cistanche, Diphelypaea, and most Orobanche seeds; 2) fibrillar and veined sculpturing in Phelipanche seeds; and 3) smooth, granular or rugged (very rarely visibly pitted) outer periclinal wall in O. coerulescens and O. colorata seeds. However, CLSM, used in present studies for Orobanchaceae seeds for the first time, revealed more details of wall lignification and ornamentation invisible in SEM images. The best micromorphological characteristics for species identification are the type of ornamentation of the periclinal wall, the width of anticlinal wall, the character of perforation, perforation length and width, the fibrillar character, and fibrillar and vein width. A comparison of the main characteristics distinguishing the seeds of Orobanchaceae is also presented and discussed.

PEDOGENESIS ON COASTAL TABLELANDS AREA WITH LOW RANGE ALTIMETRY IN PARAÍBA STATE

ABSTRACT Small variations of relief may change drainage and runoff and hence promote the formation of sandy surface horizons and hardened subsurface horizons (fragipans and/or duripans) in Coastal Tablelands soils. This study aimed to investigate the pedogenesis on Coastal Tablelands area with low range altimetry in Paraíba state; secondly, we also sought to contribute to the improvement of the Brazilian Soil Classification System (BSCS). Four soil profiles ware described and collected to be submitted to routine physical and chemical analysis, determination of Fe, Al and Si extracted by sulfuric acid digestion, sodium citrate-bicarbonate-dithionite and acid ammonium oxalate, sodium pyrophosphate, and mineralogical analysis in the sand and clay fractions by X-ray diffractometry. Optical density of the oxalate extract (ODOE) was also determined; the results were statistically evaluated using the R software. Microrelief variations conditioning differentiated water flows, along with the sandy texture of the surface horizons (A and E) and the lower coarse sand/fine sand ratio in the subsurface horizon, seem to promote clay accumulation in depth in the Spodosols developed on Coastal Tablelands environments. For this soils, the argilluvic (argissólico) character at the subgroup level of the BSCS should be incorporated. In addition, Al amorphous mineral phases and/or poorly crystalline play an important role in the formation of strongly cemented horizons (duripans) of the Spodosols, as also reported by other authors. Finally, the ODOE showed to be an efficient indicator of soils under podzolization process, being possible its use as a taxonomic criterion for classification of Spodosols by the BSCS.

The taxonomic relevance of flower colour for Epimedium (Berberidaceae), with morphological and nomenclatural notes for five species from China

Morphological variations, particularly flower colour, could be considered as an evolutionarily and ornamentally significant taxonomic criterion for Epimedium. Our extensive field investigation based on population studies revealed abundant intraspecific variations in flower colour. Five species, (i.e., E.acuminatum Franch., E.leptorrhizum Stearn, E.pauciflorum K.C.Yen, E.mikinorii Stearn, and E.glandulosopilosum H.R.Liang) were found to possess polymorphic flower colour, which is first described and illustrated here. Moreover, all these species were found to be polymorphic in other diagnostic characters, such as the type of rhizome, the number and arrangement of stem-leaves, and/or their indumentum, which have not been adequately described in previous studies. Therefore, their morphological descriptions have been complemented and/or revised. We also provide notes on the morphology and nomenclature for each species. Additionally, a key to the species in China has been provided. The present study could serve as a basis for understanding their taxonomy and helping their utilisation as an ornamental plant.

Short Communication: Muscle protein bands resolved by Sarotherodon melanotheron from fresh and brackish water habitats

Oladosu-Ajayi RN, Omoniyi IT, Dienye HE. 2018. Muscle protein bands resolved by Sarotherodon melanotheron from fresh and brackish water habitats. Nusantara Bioscience 10: 40-45. An electrophoretic analysis of muscle protein of Sarotherodon melanotheron from freshwater (Eleiyele Reservoir, Ibadan, Nigeria) and brackish water (Lekki Lagoon, Lagos, Nigeria) was carried out using the Sodium Dodecyl Sulphate Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The protein banding patterns for the fish species were distinguishable. The freshwater S. melanotheron samples displayed 15-22 protein bands with the male samples having the highest while the brackish water S. melanotheron samples displayed 13-20 protein bands with the female having the highest. The freshwater S. melanotheron were also observed to have resolved a higher range of protein bands of molecular weights ranging between 20 kd to 99 kd than the brackish water species, which resolved protein bands of lower molecular weights ranging between 20 kd to 95 kd. The electrophoretic analysis of muscle proteins revealed that SDS-PAGE can be considered a good taxonomic criterion to differentiate among and within fish species.

At the crossroads between literature, culture, linguistics, and cognition: local character-based metaphors in fairy tales

This paper resumes the series devoted to metaphors in fairy tales (cf. Herrero 2005a, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2010). We attempt to show how five conceptual metaphors (PEOPLE ARE ANIMALS, PEOPLE ARE PLANTS, IMPERFECT IS IRREGULAR, LOVE IS MAGIC, and REAL PEOPLE ARE FICTITIOUS CHARACTERS) and their variants may occur at a local level in the narration, allowing us to understand the magical depiction of characters and some of the relationships they may establish in the tales under analysis.The tales, which were compiled by the British author Andrew Lang (1844-1912), are representative of different cultures and have been downloaded from the Project Gutenberg online library. Our research also supports Herrero’s claims that (1) conceptual metaphor may serve as a taxonomic criterion for tales, and that (2) although many of these stories belong to different socio-cultural settings, they are coincident with the same plots and local metaphors employed, which may be a result of their strong experiential basis.

Seed micromorphology of central European Orobanche and Phelipanche (Orobanchaceae) in relation to preferred hosts and systematic implications

Holoparasitic genera within family Orobanchaceae are characterised by greatly reduced vegetative organs; therefore, seed micromorphology has proved to be a useful complementary taxonomic criterion. Seeds of 160 samples from 54 localities of 26 taxa of the Orobanche and Phelipanche genera occurring in central Europe, specifically from Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria and Slovakia, supplemented by samples from Spain, France and Ukraine, were investigated using scanning electron microscopy. Thirteen quantitative or qualitative morphological characters of seeds were analysed. The following three types of periclinal wall sculpture of seeds were identified: veined and fibrillar in Phelipanche; with oval or elliptic perforations (pitted) in almost all species of Orobanche; with outer periclinal wall smooth, granular or rugged (very rarely visibly pitted), impeding vision of the inner one, occurring only in O. gracilis Sm. and O. coerulescens Stephan in Willd. The influence of different hosts on the features of seeds of eight species is also presented, as well as relationships between seed morphology and taxonomic classification, including problematic taxa. The best diagnostic features include type of ornamentation of the periclinal wall, perforation diameter (in pitted sculpture), fibrillar diameter (in fibrillar sculpture) and width of anticlinal walls. Size and shape of the seeds and cells and the presence of median troughs are variable; however, these features can be helpful when using larger samples. The usefulness of micromorphological studies on seeds of Orobanche and Phelipanche is demonstrated.

Taxonomy of the southernmost populations of Philander (Didelphimorphia, Didelphidae), with implications for the systematics of the genus

The taxonomic identities of populations of Philander Brisson of Argentina are still unclear. Philander frenatus (Olfers) isthe only species assigned to the country, a conclusion based on incomplete analysis of available material and without aclear taxonomic criterion. The aim of this study was to determine the taxonomic identity of the populations of Philanderof Argentina. To accomplish this, DNA from eight specimens from Argentina and one specimen from Paraguay wassequenced and compared with sequences published by other authors, using a phylogenetic approach. To complement themolecular information, seven skull measurements were taken from specimens of P. frenatus and P. opossum canus(Osgood) from Bolivia and Brazil, and compared with the specimens from Argentina and Paraguay using biandmultivariate analyses. Molecular and morphological results showed that there are two species of Philander in Argentina,P. frenatus in Misiones province and P. opossum canus in Chaco and Formosa provinces. Both species can bemorphologically distinguished only by the width of the postorbital constriction. Finally, the phylogenetic analyses and thepairwise genetic distances between the included sequences showed that the taxonomic status of Philander mcilhennyi, P. opossum and its subspecies should be revisited.