Investigation of Sources, Diversity, and Variability of Bacterial Aerosols in Athens, Greece: A Pilot Study

We characterized the composition, diversity, and potential bacterial aerosol sources in Athens’ urban air by DNA barcoding (analysis of 16S rRNA genes) during three seasons in 2019. Air samples were collected using the recently developed Rutgers Electrostatic Passive Sampler (REPS). It is the first field application of REPS to study bacterial aerosol diversity. REPS samplers captured a sufficient amount of biological material to demonstrate the diversity of airborne bacteria and their variability over time. Overall, in the air of Athens, we detected 793 operational taxonomic units (OTUs), which were fully classified into the six distinct taxonomic categories (Phylum, Class, Order, etc.). These OTUs belonged to Phyla Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Cyanobacteria, and Fusobacteria. We found a complex community of bacterial aerosols with several opportunistic or potential pathogens in Athens’ urban air. Referring to the available literature, we discuss the likely sources of observed airborne bacteria, including soil, plants, animals, and humans. Our results on bacterial diversity are comparable to earlier studies, even though the sampling sites are different or geographically distant. However, the exact functional and ecological role of bioaerosols and, even more importantly, their impact on public health and the ecosystem requires further air monitoring and analysis.

The genus Deschampsia and the epithet “ alpina”

The epithet “alpina” has been recurrently used in the genus Deschampsia to name plants located in northern regions of Europe, Asia and North America, as a species (Deschampsia alpina (L.) Roem. & Schult.), but also in infraspecific categories (Deschampsia cespitosa subsp. alpina Tzvel. and Deschampsia cespitosa var. alpina Schur.). The morphological and molecular available evidence suggests the existence of a single species, Deschampsia cespitosa (L.) P. Beauv., in which individuals belonging to the same morphological gradient have received different names in different taxonomic categories throughout its wide distribution range. An evaluation of the available names indicates that all uses of the epithet “alpina” are illegitimate. A new combination is proposed at the infraspecific level as Deschampsia cespitosa subsp. neoalpina Chiapella, Xue & Greimler.

High taxonomic resolution surveys and trait-based analyses reveal multiple benthic regimes in North Sulawesi (Indonesia)

As coral reef communities change and reorganise in response to increasing disturbances, there is a growing need for understanding species regimes and their contribution to ecosystem processes. Using a case study on coral reefs at the epicentre of tropical marine biodiversity (North Sulawesi, Indonesia), we explored how application of different biodiversity approaches (i.e., use of major taxonomic categories, high taxonomic resolution categories and trait-based approaches) affects the detection of distinct fish and benthic communities. Our results show that using major categories fails to identify distinct coral reef regimes. We also show that monitoring of only scleractinian coral communities is insufficient to detect different benthic regimes, especially communities dominated by non-coral organisms, and that all types of benthic organisms need to be considered. We have implemented the use of a trait-based approach to study the functional diversity of whole coral reef benthic assemblages, which allowed us to detect five different community regimes, only one of which was dominated by scleractinian corals. Furthermore, by the parallel study of benthic and fish communities we provide new insights into key processes and functions that might dominate or be compromised in the different community regimes.

Benthic molluscs collected in Western Antarctica during the “Caldas”, “Admiral Padilla” and “Admiral Campos” expeditions, southern summers 2014-2015, 2016-2017 and 2018-2019

This research is part of the results of the three first expeditions of Colombia to West Antarctica and it focused on the systematics and taxonomic diversity of the benthic community of molluscs collected between 5 and 400 m deep. The Sampling sites where mollusks were collected were located along the Gerlache and Bransfield straits, around the Palmer Archipelago and the South Shetland Islands, adjacent to the Antarctic Peninsula. The list of identified species that are deposited in the Museum of Marine Natural History of Colombia - Makuriwa, of the Institute of Marine and Coastal Research “José Benito Vives de Andréis” -Invemar, is presented. This inventory consisted of 15 specimens distributed in 10 taxa, of which 7 were shelled gastropods (including 5 microgastropods) and 3 were bivalves. Four microgastropods were placed in greater taxonomic categories due to the low knowledge of these taxa in the region (Anatoma sp., Cingulopsoidea sp., Truncatelloidea sp. and Eatoniella sp.). The other gastropod species (3) were Margarella antarctica, Prosipho turritus and Nacella concinna. The bivalves found were Philobrya sublaevis, Adacnarca nitens and Thracia meridionalis. The identified species have previously been recorded in West Antarctica. Some of them, like the bivalves, show a circumantarctic distribution. Nacella concinna was the most abundant taxon. In coherence with the general objective of the “BioGerlache-Antarctica” project, the results generate contributions to the biological inventories of Antarctica, contributing to expand the information to define possible conservation areas in the future.

Contrastive intonation effects on word recall for information-structural alternatives across the sexes

Focus highlights the fact that contextual alternatives are relevant for the interpretation of an utterance. For example, if someone says: “The meeting is on TUESDAY,” with focus marked by a pitch accent on “Tuesday,” the speaker might want to correct the assumption that the meeting is on Monday (an alternative date). Intonation as one way to signal focus was manipulated in a delayed-recall paradigm. Recall of contextual alternatives was tested in a condition where a set of alternatives was evoked by contrastive intonation. A control condition used intonation contours reported for broad focus in German. It was hypothesized that contrastive intonation improves recall, just as focus-sensitive particles (e.g., ‘only’) do, compared to sentences without such particles. Participants listened to short texts introducing a list of three elements from taxonomic categories. One of the three elements was re-mentioned in a subsequent critical sentence, realized with either a broad (H+!H*) or with a contrastive intonation contour (L+H*). Cued recall of the list elements was tested block-wise. Results show that contrastive intonation enhances recall for focus alternatives. In addition, it was found that the observed recall benefit is predominantly driven by females. The results support the assumption that contextual alternatives are better encoded in memory irrespective of whether focus is expressed prosodically or by a focus-sensitive particle. The results further show that females are more sensitive to pragmatic information conveyed through prosody than males.

Taxonomy of compulsory and incentive legal consequences (legal measures) of committing illegal acts

The article is prepared for the purpose of publishing the results of scientific research obtained in the process of applying the taxonomic methodology for systematization of measures of legal influence. The methodology used the approaches of philosophical and legal theorization, a dog and systemic functional. One way of conclusion is proposed for the first time to use the taxonomies of legal measures. The study highlighted three aspects of legal measures: relational, predicate and functional. The relational manifestation of taxonomy allowed to identify the substrate of the external form of legal influence, which is the measure. It has been established that the form and method of legal influence is the dominant element of each legal measure. The predicative dimension of taxonomy allowed to form a taxonomic system of information in which the following taxonomic categories and taxa are distinguished: type - social events; subtype - legal measures; class - public and private legal measures; gender - separation of legal measures according to their sectoral affiliation; subgenre: the allocation of incentives and coercive measures; supervision - legal measures in their various forms and other measures that have no signs of legal liability.

Helminth parasites and diet of Leptodactylus petersii (Steindachner, 1864) (Anura: Leptodactylidae) from Amapá state, Eastern Amazon, Brazil

SummaryLeptodactylus petersii is a species of anuran found in both terrestrial and aquatic habitats and occurs from South America to southern North America and the West Indies. Studies involving the fauna of anuran parasites offer complementary information related to ecology. Thus, since there are few studies on the natural history of this species, this research aims to analyze the diet and the presence of endoparasitic helminths of Leptodactylus petersii from the state of Amapá, Brazil. We found 10 different taxonomic categories of prey in stomach contents, with the categories Hymenoptera (Formicidae) with 32.26 % (n = 12) being the most representative. Among the 12 individuals of L. petersii that were analyzed for helminth parasites, 83.3 % were infected with at least one species of helminths allocated to Phylum Nematoda. Our results report a new occurrence site for Rhabdias breviensis, originally described for Leptodactylus petersii in the state of Pará, as well as the second report of Ortleppascaris sp. in Brazil.

Molecular Study of Selected Taxonomically Critical Taxa of the Genus Iris L. from the Broader Alpine-Dinaric Area

Some wild, morphologically diverse taxa of the genus Iris in the broad Alpine-Dinaric area have never been explored molecularly, and/or have ambiguous systematic status. The main aims of our research were to perform a molecular study of critical Iris taxa from that area (especially a narrow endemic accepted species I. adriatica, for which we also analysed genome size) and to explore the contribution of eight microsatellites and highly variable chloroplast DNA (ndhJ, rpoC1) markers to the understanding of the Iris taxa taxonomy and phylogeny. Both the microsatellite-based UPGMA and plastid markers-based maximum likelihood analysis discriminated three main clusters in the set of 32 analysed samples, which correspond well to the lower taxonomic categories of the genus, and support separate status of ambiguous regional taxa (e.g., I. sibirica subsp. erirrhiza, I. x croatica and I. x rotschildii). The first molecular data on I. adriatica revealed its genome size (2C = 12.639 ± 0.202 pg) and indicated the existence of ecotypes. For future molecular characterisation of the genus we recommend the utilisation of microsatellite markers supplemented with a combination of plastid markers.

Accommodating trait overlap and individual variability in species diagnosis of Ischnosiphon (Marantaceae)

Recognition and delimitation of taxonomic categories of biological organisms are still challenging and full of controversy. We used Ischnosiphon as a model to unravel the importance of morphometrics as individual-based variables to disentangle the morphological variability of plant species. Ischnosiphon spp. continue to be problematic for users, taxonomists and ecologists, due mainly to the huge morphological variability, the species criteria and circumscription proposed for many taxa and the many habitat and vegetative macro-morphological characters lacking in most currently available exsiccates. Twenty-three morphometric variables were sampled from 228 individuals, belonging to 22 Ischnosiphon spp. Principal components and discriminant multivariate analyses were used to describe and identify patterns of morphological variation in Ischnosiphon. Individual-landmark assessment analysed with multivariate methods captured morphometric intraspecific diversity and morphological variability in Ischnosiphon spp., along with the continuous variation of important morphological traits. By examining the morphology of Ischnosiphon spp. through individual-landmark assessment, we demonstrate that different morphological species concepts used today in the identification of the species are difficult to apply. We propose a replicable and analytical framework to accommodate individual variability in species diagnosis in morphologically diverse plant groups.

Testing the “(Neo-)Darwinian” Principles against Reticulate Evolution: How Variation, Adaptation, Heredity and Fitness, Constraints and Affordances, Speciation, and Extinction Surpass Organisms and Species

Variation, adaptation, heredity and fitness, constraints and affordances, speciation, and extinction form the building blocks of the (Neo-)Darwinian research program, and several of these have been called “Darwinian principles”. Here, we suggest that caution should be taken in calling these principles Darwinian because of the important role played by reticulate evolutionary mechanisms and processes in also bringing about these phenomena. Reticulate mechanisms and processes include symbiosis, symbiogenesis, lateral gene transfer, infective heredity mediated by genetic and organismal mobility, and hybridization. Because the “Darwinian principles” are brought about by both vertical and reticulate evolutionary mechanisms and processes, they should be understood as foundational for a more pluralistic theory of evolution, one that surpasses the classic scope of the Modern and the Neo-Darwinian Synthesis. Reticulate evolution moreover demonstrates that what conventional (Neo-)Darwinian theories treat as intra-species features of evolution frequently involve reticulate interactions between organisms from very different taxonomic categories. Variation, adaptation, heredity and fitness, constraints and affordances, speciation, and extinction therefore cannot be understood as “traits” or “properties” of genes, organisms, species, or ecosystems because the phenomena are irreducible to specific units and levels of an evolutionary hierarchy. Instead, these general principles of evolution need to be understood as common goods that come about through interactions between different units and levels of evolutionary hierarchies, and they are exherent rather than inherent properties of individuals.