Generic identity of Camptorrhiza indica (Colchicaceae) based on cytogenetics and molecular phylogenetics

The tribe Iphigenieae (Colchicaceace, Liliales) includes two genera, viz. Camptorrhiza and Iphigenia, which are distributed in Africa, India, and Australasia. Iphigenia is represented by 12 species, of which six occur in India while Camptorrhiza comprises one species each in Africa (C. strumosa) and India (C. indica). The genus Camptorrhiza possesses a knee-shaped tuber attached to the corms, filaments with a thick bulge in the middle and styles with single stigma. Iphigenia on the other hand lacks knee-shaped tuber, bears linear filaments and has styles with three stigmas. Camptorrhiza indica possesses ovoid corms, linear filaments and styles with a single stigma. These characters are intermediate between Iphigenia and Camptorrhiza and hence we studied the cytogenetics and phylogenetic placement of this species to ascertain its generic identity. Somatic chromosome count (2n = 22) and karyotypic features of C. indica are very similar to that of Iphigenia species. Molecular phylogenetic studies based on atpB-rbcL, rps16, trnL, and trnL-F regions showed that C. indica is nested within a lineage of Indian Iphigenia species. Thus, C. indica was reduced to a species of Iphigenia, i.e., I. ratnagirica. Camptorrhiza is now a monotypic genus restricted only to southern Africa. A key to the Indian Iphigenia species is provided. In addition, a new combination Wurmbea novae-zelandiae is proposed for Iphigenia novae-zelandiae.

Predatory and trophobiont-tending ants respond differently to fig and fig wasp volatiles

The interaction between figs and their pollinating or parasitic fig wasps is mediated largely by chemical communication. These fig wasps are often preyed upon by predatory ants. In this study, we found that predatory ants (Oecophylla smaragdina) patrolling Ficus racemosa trees were attracted to the odour from fig syconia at different developmental phases, as well as to the odours of fig wasps, whereas other predatory ants (Technomyrmex albipes) responded only to odours of syconia from which fig wasps were dispersing and to fig wasp odour. However, trophobiont-tending ants (Myrmicaria brunnea) patrolling the same trees and exposed to the same volatiles were unresponsive to fig or fig wasp odours. The predatory ants demonstrated a concentration-dependent response towards volatiles from figs receptive to pollinators and those from which wasps were dispersing while the trophobiont-tending ants were unresponsive to such odours at all concentrations. Naive predatory ants failed to respond to the volatiles to which the experienced predatory ants responded, indicating that the response to fig-related odours is learned. We suggest that predatory ants could use fig-associated volatiles to enhance their probability of wasp encounter and can eavesdrop on signals meant for pollinators. (C) 2009 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.

Who really ate the fruit? A novel approach to camera trapping for quantifying frugivory by ruminants

Tropical forest ruminants disperse several plants; yet, their effectiveness as seed dispersers is not systematically quantified. Information on frequency and extent of frugivory by ruminants is lacking. Techniques such as tree watches or fruit traps adapted from avian frugivore studies are not suitable to study terrestrial frugivores, and conventional camera traps provide little quantitative information. We used a novel time-delay camera-trap technique to assess the effectiveness of ruminants as seed dispersers for Phyllanthus emblica at Mudumalai, southern India. After being triggered by animal movement, cameras were programmed to take pictures every 2 min for the next 6 min, yielding a sequence of four pictures. Actual frugivores were differentiated from mere visitors, who did not consume fruit, by comparing the number of fruit remaining across the time-delay photograph sequence. During a 2-year study using this technique, we found that six terrestrial mammals consumed fallen P. emblica fruit. Additionally, seven mammals and one bird species visited fruiting trees but did not consume fallen fruit. Two ruminants, the Indian chevrotain Moschiola indica and chital Axis axis, were P. emblica's most frequent frugivores and they accounted for over 95% of fruit removal, while murid rodents accounted for less than 1%. Plants like P. emblica that are dispersed mainly by large mammalian frugivores are likely to have limited ability to migrate across fragmented landscapes in response to rapidly changing climates. We hope that more quantitative information on ruminant frugivory will become available with a wider application of our time-delay camera-trap technique.

Comparative life-history traits in a fig wasp community: implications for community structure

1. Whether life-history traits can determine community composition and structure is an important question that has been well explored theoretically, but has received scant empirical attention. Life-history traits of a seven-member community of galler and parasitoid fig wasp species (Chalcidoidea), developing within the inflorescences (syconia) of Ficus racemosa (Moraceae) in India, were determined and used to examine community structure and ecology. 2. Gallers were pro-ovigenic (all eggs are mature upon adult emergence) whereas parasitoids were synovigenic (eggs mature progressively during adult lifespan). Initial egg load was correlated with body size for some species, and there was a trade-off between egg number and egg size across all species. Although all species completed their development and left the syconium concurrently, they differed in their adult and pre-adult lifespans. Providing sucrose solutions increased parasitoid lifespan but had no effect on the longevity of some galler species. While feeding regimes and body size affected longevity in most species, an interaction effect between these variables was detected for only one species. 3. Life-history traits of wasp species exhibited a continuum in relation to their arrival sequence at syconia for oviposition during syconium development, and therefore reflected their ecology. The largest number of eggs, smallest egg sizes, and shortest longevities were characteristic of the earliest-arriving galling wasps at the smallest, immature syconia; the converse characterised the later-arriving parasitoids at the larger, already parasitised syconia. Thus life history is an important correlate of community resource partitioning and can be used to understand community structure. 4. This is the first comprehensive study of life-history traits in a fig wasp community. The comparative approach revealed constraints and flexibility in trait evolution.

The chemical ecology of seed dispersal in monoecious and dioecious figs

In the nursery pollination system of figs (Ficus, Moraceae), flower-bearing receptacles called syconia breed pollinating wasps and are units of both pollination and seed dispersal. Pollinators and mammalian seed dispersers are attracted to syconia by volatile organic compounds (VOCs). In monoecious figs, syconia produce both wasps and seeds, while in (gyno)dioecious figs, male (gall) fig trees produce wasps and female (seed) fig trees produce seeds. VOCs were collected using dynamic headspace adsorption methods on freshly collected figs from different trees using Super Q® collection traps. VOC profiles were determined using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS).The VOC profile of receptive and dispersal phase figs were clearly different only in the dioecious mammal-dispersed Ficus hispida but not in dioecious bird-dispersed F. exasperata and monoecious bird-dispersed F. tsjahela. The VOC profile of dispersal phase female figs was clearly different from that of male figs only in F. hispida but not in F. exasperata, as predicted from the phenology of syconium production which only in F. hispida overlaps between male and female trees. Greater difference in VOC profile in F. hispida might ensure preferential removal of seed figs by dispersal agents when gall figs are simultaneously available.The VOC profile of only mammal-dispersed female figs of F. hispida had high levels of fatty acid derivatives such as amyl-acetates and 2-heptanone, while monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes and shikimic acid derivatives were predominant in the other syconial types. A bird- and mammal-repellent compound methyl anthranilate occurred only in gall figs of both dioecious species, as expected, since gall figs containing wasp pollinators should not be consumed by dispersal agents.

Interrelations of soil micro-orgamisms and mulberry I.Phytohormone production by soil and rhizosphere bacteria and their effect on plant growth

Bacteria isolated from the rhizosphere of mulberry (Morus indica) as well as from control soil were tested for their effects on the growth of mulberry seedlings and for phytohormone production. About 12.8 per cent of the rhizosphere and 9.7 per cent of the soil isolates produced phytohormones in cultures. Rhizosphere isolates were more active in hormone synthesis than their soil counterparts. Soaking mulberry stem cuttings in culture filtrates of phytohormone synthesisers hastened their rooting. Culture filtrates of many isolates — hormone producers or not — stimulated or inhibited the growth of shoot and/or root of plants. Many cultures could also inhibit the germination of mulberry seeds.

A hitchhiker's guide to a crowded syconium: how do fig nematodes find the right ride?

P>1Organisms with low mobility, living within ephemeral environments,need to find vehicles that can disperse them reliably to new environments. The requirement for specificity in this passenger-vehicle relationship is enhanced within a tritrophic interaction when the environment of passenger and vehicle is provided by a third organism. Such relationships pose many interesting questions about specificity within a tritrophic framework. 2. Central to understanding how these tritrophic systems have evolved, is knowing how they function now. Determining the proximal cues and sensory modalities used by passengers to find vehicles and to discriminate between reliable and non-reliable vehicles is, therefore, essential to this investigation. 3. The ancient, co-evolved and highly species-specific nursery pollination mutualism between figs and fig wasps is host to species-specific plant-parasitic nematodes which use fig wasps to travel between figs. Since individual globular fig inflorescences, i.e. syconia, serve as incubators for hundreds of developing pollinating and parasitic wasps, a dispersal-stage nematode within such a chemically,complex and physically crowded environment is faced with the dilemma of choosing the right vehicle for dispersal into a new fig. Such a system therefore affords excellent opportunities to investigate mechanisms that contribute to the evolution of specificity between the passenger and the vehicle. 4. In this study of fig-wasp-nematode tritrophic interactions in Ficus racemosa within which seven wasp species can breed, we demonstrate using two-choice as well as cafeteria assays that plant-parasitic nematodes (Schistonchus racemosa) do not hitch rides randomly on available eclosing wasps within the fig syconium, but are specifically attracted, at close range, i.e. 3 mm distance, to only that vehicle which can quickly, within a few hours, reliably transfer it to another fig. This vehicle is the female pollinating wasp. Male wasps and female parasitic wasps are inappropriate vehicles since the former are wingless and die within the fig, while the latter never enter another fig. Nematodes distinguished between female pollinating wasps and other female parasitic wasps using volatiles and cuticular hydrocarbons. Nematodes could not distinguish between cuticular hydrocarbons of male and female pollinators but used other cues, such as volatiles, at close range, to find female pollinating wasps with which they have probably had a long history of chemical adaptation. 5. This study opens up new questions and hypotheses about the evolution and maintenance of specificity in fig-wasp-nematode tritrophic interactions.

Reducing the babel in plant volatile communication: using the forest to see the trees

While plants of a single species emit a diversity of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to attract or repel interacting organisms, these specific messages may be lost in the midst of the hundreds of VOCs produced by sympatric plants of different species, many of which may have no signal content. Receivers must be able to reduce the babel or noise in these VOCs in order to correctly identify the message. For chemical ecologists faced with vast amounts of data on volatile signatures of plants in different ecological contexts, it is imperative to employ accurate methods of classifying messages, so that suitable bioassays may then be designed to understand message content. We demonstrate the utility of `Random Forests' (RF), a machine-learning algorithm, for the task of classifying volatile signatures and choosing the minimum set of volatiles for accurate discrimination, using datam from sympatric Ficus species as a case study. We demonstrate the advantages of RF over conventional classification methods such as principal component analysis (PCA), as well as data-mining algorithms such as support vector machines (SVM), diagonal linear discriminant analysis (DLDA) and k-nearest neighbour (KNN) analysis. We show why a tree-building method such as RF, which is increasingly being used by the bioinformatics, food technology and medical community, is particularly advantageous for the study of plant communication using volatiles, dealing, as it must, with abundant noise.

Temporal associations in fig-wasp-ant interactions: diel and phenological patterns

In a complex multitrophic plant-animal interaction system in which there are direct and indirect interactions between species, comprehending the dynamics of these multiple partners is very important for an understanding of how the system is structured. We investigated the plant Ficus racemosa L. (Moraceae) and its community of obligatory mutualistic and parasitic fig wasps (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) that develop within the fig inflorescence or syconium, as well as their interaction with opportunistic ants. We focused on temporal resource partitioning among members of the fig wasp community over the development cycle of the fig syconia during which wasp oviposition and development occur and we studied the activity rhythm of the ants associated with this community. We found that the seven members of the wasp community partitioned their oviposition across fig syconium development phenology and showed interspecific variation in activity across the day-night cycle. The wasps presented a distinct sequence in their arrival at fig syconia for oviposition, with the parasitoid wasps following the galling wasps. Although fig wasps are known to be largely diurnal, we documented night oviposition in several fig wasp species for the first time. Ant activity on the fig syconia was correlated with wasp activity and was dependent on whether the ants were predatory or trophobiont-tending species; only numbers of predatory ants increased during peak arrivals of the wasps.

Biodiversity and India's Degraded Lands

''Ecosystem people'' of the world subsist by producing or gathering a diversity of biological resources from their immediate vicinity. Their quality of life is intimately linked to the maintenance of modest levels of biodiversity in their own circumscribed resource catchments. Their resource base has been extensively degraded by pressures created by ''biosphere people''; i.e. the Third World elite and citizens of industrial countries, who can draw resources from all over the world and are thus, indifferent to environmental degradation in the Third World. Because ''ecosystem people'' have a genuine stake in biodiversity maintenance in their immediate surrounding, it is important that conservation efforts include maintenance and restoration of at least modest levels of biodiversity throughout the Third World. In the case of India this may be achieved by (a) dedicating the bulk of reserve forests to production of nontimber forest produce (NTFP), to support rural economy; (b) organizing effective community-based management systems to fulfill subsistence biomass requirements of peasants and tribals; (c) encouraging a switchover from shifting cultivation to horticulture; (d) supporting traditional practices of growing a variety of plant species, including keystone resources like Ficus spp, in rural habitats and on roadsides, farm and canal bunds; and (e) promoting tree farming on private lands to fulfill commercial needs.

Kinetic evolution studies of silver nanoparticles in a bio-based green synthesis process

Silver nanoparticles are being extensively studied due to their widespread applications and unique properties. In the present study, the growth kinetics of silver nanoparticles as synthesized on reduction of silver nitrate solution by aqueous extract of Azadirachta indica leaves was investigated. The formation of silver nanoparticles was preliminarily monitored by measuring the absorption maxima at different time intervals after adding the reducing agent to the silver salt solution (0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5 and 4 h). At different time points characterization studies were conducted using X-ray diffraction studies, FT-IR techniques, zeta potential studies and transmission electron microscopy. The total available silver in the reaction medium was determined at different durations using ICP-OES. The changes in reduction potential in the medium were also monitored using potentiometric analysis. The results confirm a definite change in the medium pertaining to formation of the stable nanoparticles after 2 h, and a significant increase in the agglomeration tendency after 4 h of interaction. The growth kinetic data of the nanoparticles till 3.5 h was found to fit the LSW model confirming diffusion limited growth. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Nature's Swiss Army Knives: Ovipositor Structure Mirrors Ecology in a Multitrophic Fig Wasp Community

Background: Resource partitioning is facilitated by adaptations along niche dimensions that range from morphology to behaviour. The exploitation of hidden resources may require specially adapted morphological or sensory tools for resource location and utilisation. Differences in tool diversity and complexity can determine not only how many species can utilize these hidden resources but also how they do so. Methodology and Principal Findings: The sclerotisation, gross morphology and ultrastructure of the ovipositors of a seven-member community of parasitic wasps comprising of gallers and parasitoids developing within the globular syconia (closed inflorescences) of Ficus racemosa (Moraceae) was investigated. These wasps also differ in their parasitism mode (external versus internal oviposition) and their timing of oviposition into the expanding syconium during its development. The number and diversity of sensilla, as well as ovipositor teeth, increased from internally ovipositing to externally ovipositing species and from gallers to parasitoids. The extent of sclerotisation of the ovipositor tip matched the force required to penetrate the syconium at the time of oviposition of each species. The internally ovipositing pollinator had only one type of sensillum and a single notch on the ovipositor tip. Externally ovipositing species had multiple sensilla types and teeth on their ovipositors. Chemosensilla were most concentrated at ovipositor tips while mechanoreceptors were more widely distributed, facilitating the precise location of hidden hosts in these wasps which lack larval host-seeking behaviour. Ovipositor traits of one parasitoid differed from those of its syntopic galler congeners and clustered with those of parasitoids within a different wasp subfamily. Thus ovipositor tools can show lability based on adaptive necessity, and are not constrained by phylogeny. Conclusions/Significance: Ovipositor structure mirrored the increasingly complex trophic ecology and requirements for host accessibility in this parasite community. Ovipositor structure could be a useful surrogate for predicting the biology of parasites in other communities.

When should fig fruit produce volatiles? Pattern in a ripening process

Ripe fruit need to signal their presence to attract dispersal agents. Plants may employ visual and/or olfactory sensory channels to signal the presence of ripe fruit. Visual signals of ripe fruit have been extensively investigated. However, the volatile signatures of ripe fruit that use olfactorily-oriented dispersers have been scarcely investigated. Moreover, as in flowers, where floral scents are produced at times when pollinators are active (diurnal versus nocturnal), whether plants can modulate the olfactory signal to produce fruit odours when dispersers are active in the diel cycle is completely unknown. We investigated day night differences in fruit odours in two species of figs, Ficus racemosa and Ficus benghalensis. The volatile bouquet of fruit of F.racemosa that are largely dispersed by bats and other mammals was dominated by fatty acid derivatives such as esters. In this species in which the ripe fig phase is very short, and where the figs drop off soon after ripening, there were no differences between day and night in fruit volatile signature. The volatile bouquet of fruit of F. benghalensis that has a long ripening period, however, and that remain attached to the tree for extended periods when ripe, showed an increase in fatty acid derivatives such as esters and of benzenoids such as benzaldehyde at night when they are dispersed by bats, and an elevation of sesquiterpenes during the day when they are dispersed by birds. For the first time we provide data that suggest that the volatile signal produced by fruit can show did l differences based on the activity period of the dispersal agent. (C) 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

An inventory of the ethnobotanicals used as anti-diabetic by a rural community of Dhemaji district of Assam, Northeast India

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Traditional remedies used for treating diabetic ailments are very important in the primary health care of the people living in rural Dhemaji district of Assam, north-east India. Novel information gathered from the current survey is important in preserving folk indigenous knowledge. Materials and methods: Interviews were conducted amongst 80 households comprising of 240 individuals using semi-structured questionnaires. The focus was on plants used in treating diabetes mellitus. Results: The current survey documented 21 plant species (20 families) which are reportedly used to treat diabetes mellitus by the rural people in the study area. To the best of our knowledge, Amomum linguiforme, Cinnamomum impressinervium, Colocasia esculenta, Dillenia indica, Euphorbia ligularia, Garcinia pedunculata, Solanum indicum, Sterculia villosa and Tabernaemontana divaricata are recorded for the first time based on globally published literature as medicinal plants used for treating diabetes mellitus and related symptoms. Conclusions: The wide variety of plants that are used to treat diabetes mellitus in this area supports the traditional value that medicinal plants have in the primary health care system of the rural people of Dhemaji district of Assam. The finding of new plant uses in the current study reveals the importance of the documentation of such ethnobotanical knowledge. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Herbal medicines used in the treatment of diabetes mellitus in Arunachal Himalaya, northeast, India

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Medicinal plants have played an important role in treating and preventing a variety of diseases throughout the world. Khampti tribal people living in the far-flung Lohit district of the Eastern Arunachal Himalaya, India still depend on medicinal plants and most of them have a general knowledge of medicinal plants which are used for treating a variety of ailments. This survey was undertaken in Lohit district in order to inventory the medicinal plants used in folk medicine to treat diabetes mellitus. Materials and methods: Field investigations were conducted in seventeen remote villages of Lohit district starting from April 2002 to May 2004 through interviews among 251 key informants who were selected randomly during our household survey. To elucidate community domains and determine differences in indigenous traditional knowledge of medicinal plants with anti-diabetic efficacy, we repeated our field survey starting from April 2008 to May 2010 with one hundred traditional healers locally called as ``Chau ya'' in Khampti of Lohit district. ``Chau ya'' traditional healers who know and use medicinal plants for treating diabetes mellitus were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. Results: This study reports an ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants in Lohit district of Arunachal Pradesh reputed for the treatment of diabetes mellitus. Forty-six plant species were identified in the study area to treat diabetes mellitus by the Khamptis ``Chau ya'' traditional healers. Comparative published literature survey analysis of this study with other ethnobotanical surveys of plants used traditionally in treating diabetes mellitus suggests that eleven plant species make claims of new reports on antidiabetic efficacy. These plant species are Begonia roxburghii, Calamus tenuis, Callicarpa arborea, Cuscuta reflexa, Dillenia indica, Diplazium esculentum, Lectuca gracilis, Millingtonia hortensis, Oxalis griffithii, Saccharum spontaneum, and Solanum viarum. Some of the plants reported in this study have an antidiabetic effect on rodent models but none have sufficient clinical evidence of effectiveness. Conclusions: The wide variety of medicinal plants that are used to treat diabetes mellitus in this area supports the importance of plants in the primary healthcare system of the rural people of Lohit district of Arunachal Pradesh. The finding of new plant uses in the current study reveals the importance of the documentation of such ethnobotanical knowledge. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.