Effects of resource sharing directionality on physiologically integrated clones of the invasive Carpobrotus edulis

Aims One of the key traits associated with clonal growth in plants is the capacity for physiological integration, which allows resource sharing between connected ramets within a clonal system. Resource transport is expected to occur following a source–sink relationship: from ramets established in rich patches to ramets growing in poor patches. However, some experiments have shown that acropetal transport (from basal to apical modules) usually exceeds basipetal transport (from apical to basal ramets). In this study, we aimed to determine the resource transport directionality in physiologically integrated modules of the invader Carpobrotus edulis. Methods We conducted two manipulative experiments under common garden conditions that studied the effect of different nutrient levels located at different positions (basal, medial, apical) on connected and disconnected clonal systems of C. edulis. We compared the biomass partitioning patterns and final biomass of ramets to elucidate whether the effect of physiological integration is affected by the directionality of the resource transport. Important Findings Results indicate a prevalent acropetal transport of resources in C. edulis, with a developmentally-programmed division of labor where basal ramets were specialized in obtaining soil-based resources and apical ramets specialized in aboveground growth. This biomass-partitioning pattern was not affected by the nutrient conditions in which basal or apical ramets were growing, although the highest benefit was achieved by apical ramets growing under the most stressed conditions. This developmentally-programmed division of labor is expected to increase the lateral growth of C. edulis, and therefore could have meaningful implications for the expansion of this invasive species.

Partitioning Pattern of Natural Products Based on Molecular Properties Descriptors Representing Drug-Likeness

A cheminformatics procedure for a partitioning model based on 135 natural compounds including Flavonoids, Saponins, Alkaloids, Terpenes and Triterpenes with drug-like features based on a descriptors pool was developed. The knowledge about the applicability of natural products as a unique source for the development of new candidates towards deadly infectious disease is a contemporary challenge for drug discovery. We propose a partitioning scheme for unveiling drug-likeness candidates with properties that are important for a prompt and efficient drug discovery process. In the present study, the vantage point is about the matching of descriptors to build the partitioning model applied to natural compounds with diversity in structures and complexity of action towards the severe diseases, as the actual SARS-CoV-2 virus. In the times of the de novo design techniques, such tools based on a chemometric and symmetrical effect by the implied descriptors represent another noticeable sign for the power and level of the descriptors applicability in drug discovery in establishing activity and target prediction pipeline for unknown drugs properties.

Strain-partitioning and mechanics of deformation during oblique indentation: Inferences from the SE external Dinarides post- middle Miocene evolution

<p>Late-stage orogenic evolution often leads to multiple segmented slab systems, where the relative motion along oblique plate boundaries partitions the crustal strain into strike-slip and reverse faulting. The strain partitioning patterns and mechanics of deformation are thought to be closely related to the rheology inherited from previous tectonic events that affected various orogenic areas. The SE External Dinarides is one place to study such strain partitioning in a less understood tectonic setting. The Dinarides orogenic build-up is characterised by top SW thrusting during Late Cretaceous to Oligocene times. Subsequently, the N to NE indentation of the Adria microplate took place in this area after an early - middle Miocene period of generalized extension and was characterised by N-S to NNE-SSW oriented contraction, which is oblique to the inherited NW-SE oriented structural grain. We have studied the interplay between various structures creating strain partitioning during the Adria indentation in a SE External Dinarides region situated between the Trebinje city in SE Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Tivat city of SW Montenegro.</p><p>The post- middle Miocene orogenic evolution is characterised by regional NNW-SSE to N-S dextral strike-slip faulting associated with strain partitioning by the reactivation of NW-SE inherited rheological weak zones (former thrusts, nappe contacts or rheologically weak sediments). Kinematic analyses along individual structures define the strain partitioning pattern by a number of fault groups. The kinematically constrained mechanics of deformation (correlated to strain partition groups) in focus areas depict a gradual SE-ward transfer of deformation in the external thrust sheets of Montenegro. Such migration of deformation is done by an interplay between strike-slip, high-angle reverse faults and thrusts, which are locally associated with moderate block rotations (CW and CCW). The overall analysis demonstrates that oblique motions in advanced orogenic stages do not constrain a single paleostress field, and therefore they should be analysed by an improved kinematic approach aimed to understand strain partitioning and their effects superposed over an inherited structural grain.</p>

Late Quaternary slip rate of the Aksay segment and its rapidly decreasing gradient along the Altyn Tagh fault

Constraining the fault slip rate on a fault can reveal the strain accumulation and partitioning pattern. The Aksay segment, the eastern segment of the Altyn Tagh fault, as the starting area where the slip rate of the Altyn Tagh fault decreases, is a strain partitioning zone. The spatial and temporal distribution of its fault slip rate is of great significance to clarify the strain-partitioning pattern of the eastern Altyn Tagh fault. In this study, we determined the slip rates at four sites along the Aksay segment. The results demonstrated that the slip rate decreases dramatically, with an overwhelmingly high slip gradient of ∼9.8 mm/yr/100 km (a 9.8 mm/yr reduction of slip rate occurs over a distance of 100 km) within a distance of ∼50 km. The slip rate gradient along strike at the Aksay segment is four times that of the Subei segment to the eastward termination of the Altyn Tagh fault. Our results indicate that the slip rate gradient along the Altyn Tagh fault is not uniform and decreases eastward with variable slip rate gradients on different segments, resulting in the uplift of the mountains oblique to the Altyn Tagh fault.

Spatially Explicit Modeling of Community Occupancy using Markov Random Field Models with Imperfect Observation: Mesocarnivores in Apostle Islands National Lakeshore

We developed a spatially explicit community occupancy model based on Markov random fields that accounts for spatial auto-correlation and interspecific interactions in occupancy while also accounting for interspecific interaction in detection. Simulation showed the model can distinguish different mechanisms of environmental sorting competition and spatial-autocorrelation. We applied our model to camera trap data from a Fisher(Pekania pennanti)-Marten(Martes americana) and Coyote(Canis latrans)-Fox(Vulpes vulpes) system in Apostle Island National Lakeshore. Results showed the observed partitioning pattern between marten and fisher distributions could be better explained by a flipped mainland-island source-sink pattern rather than competition, while we detected some evidence that on top of the mainland-island source-sink pattern, there was a positive association between fox and coyote that deserved further study.

Partitioning of macronutrients and nutritional efficiency in fertigated prata banana

Adequate nutritional management of any plant species requires quantifying the nutrients accumulated in the plant and knowing their allocation in the different organs. The objective of this study was to evaluate the partitioning, accumulation, export of macronutrients and the nutritional efficiency of fertigated Prata banana plants. A historical survey of annual fruit productivity was conducted in 66 plots of Prata banana, selecting four that met the annual productivity classes (< 30.0; 30.0 = 37.5; 37.5 = 45.0 and > 45.0 t ha-1). The dry matter weights of the different organs of parent plant and follower, as well as the respective contents of macronutrients, were used to estimate the accumulation, partitioning, export, sequence of accumulation of macronutrients and nutritional efficiency using the coefficient of biological utilization (CBU). The partitioning of macronutrient accumulation varied with productivity class and plant organ. The average distribution of nutrients in the parent plant and in the follower ranged from 67.5 to 82.8 % and from 17.2 to 32.5 %, respectively. Macronutrient exports per ton of bunch were 4.334, 1.660, 0.361, 0.224, 0.148 and 0.119 kg t-1 for K, N, P, Mg, S and Ca, respectively. Banana mats have a nutrient partitioning pattern for different yields, that is, this work provides evidence that there is an “ideal compartmentalization” that promotes higher productivity; however, more research is needed to support this statement. The most exported nutrients per ton of bunch were K and N. The descending order of accumulation was: K > N > Ca > Mg > P > S. It was observed that the CBUs of N and P were less sensitive to productivity variations, while those of Ca and Mg were the most sensitive.

Partitioning of Interstitial Segregants during Decohesion: A DFT Case Study of the Σ3 Symmetric Tilt Grain Boundary in Ferritic Steel

The effect of hydrogen atoms at grain boundaries in metals is usually detrimental to the cohesion of the interface. This effect can be quantified in terms of the strengthening energy, which is obtained following the thermodynamic model of Rice and Wang. A critical component of this model is the bonding or solution energy of the atoms to the free surfaces that are created during decohesion. At a grain boundary in a multicomponent system, it is not immediately clear how the different species would partition and distribute on the cleaved free surfaces. In this work, it is demonstrated that the choice of partitioning pattern has a significant effect on the predicted influence of H and C on grain boundary cohesion. To this end, the Σ 3 ( 112 ) [ 1 1 ¯ 0 ] symmetric tilt grain boundary in bcc Fe with different contents of interstitial C and H was studied, taking into account all possible distributions of the elements, as well as surface diffusion effects. H as a single element has a negative influence on grain boundary cohesion, independent of the details of the H distribution. C, on the other hand, can act both ways, enhancing or reducing the cohesion of the interface. The effect of mixed H and C compositions depends on the partition pattern. However, the general trend is that the number of detrimental cases increases with increasing H content. A decomposition of the strengthening energy into chemical and mechanical contributions shows that the elastic contribution dominates at high C contents, while the chemical contribution sets the trend for high H contents.

A new genus and species of the trematode family Gyliauchenidae Fukui, 1929 from an unexpected, but plausible, host, Kyphosus cornelii (Perciformes: Kyphosidae)

The Enenteridae Yamaguti, 1958 and Gyliauchenidae Fukui, 1929 exhibit an interesting pattern of host partitioning in herbivorous fishes of the Indo-West Pacific. Enenterids are known almost exclusively from fishes of the family Kyphosidae, a group of herbivorous marine fishes common on tropical and temperate reefs. In contrast, gyliauchenids are found in most of the remaining lineages of marine herbivorous fishes, but until the present study, had never been known from kyphosids. Here we report on the first species of gyliauchenid known from a kyphosid. Endochortophagus protoporus gen. nov., sp. nov. was recovered from the Western buffalo bream, Kyphosus cornelii (Whitley, 1944), collected off Western Australia. Kyphosus cornelii also hosts an enenterid, Koseiria allanwilliamsi Bray &amp; Cribb, 2002, and is thus the first fish known in which enenterids and gyliauchenids co-occur. Molecular phylogenetic analyses place the new species close to those of Affecauda Hall &amp; Chambers, 1999 and Flagellotrema Ozaki, 1936, but there is sufficient morphological evidence, combined with the unusual host, to consider it distinct from these genera. We discuss factors which may have contributed to the host partitioning pattern observed between enenterids and gyliauchenids.