Biology Teachers'Conceptions of the Diversity of Life and the Historical Development of Evolutionary Concepts

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

História da construção do conceito de evolução biológica: possibilidades de uma percepção dinâmica da ciência pelos professores de biologia

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

A evolução biológica no ensino médio no Estado de São Paulo: competências curriculares, orientações didáticas e indicadores de aprendizagem

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Estudo filogenético de populações de Ceratobasidium noxium, agente causal do mal-do-fio do caqui (Diospyrus kaki) e do chá (Camellia sinensis) no Estado de São Paulo, patogenicidade cruzada e reação de variedades de caqui ao patógeno

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

The Genome Sequence of Taurine Cattle: A Window to Ruminant Biology and Evolution

To understand the biology and evolution of ruminants, the cattle genome was sequenced to about sevenfold coverage. The cattle genome contains a minimum of 22,000 genes, with a core set of 14,345 orthologs shared among seven mammalian species of which 1217 are absent or undetected in noneutherian (marsupial or monotreme) genomes. Cattle-specific evolutionary breakpoint regions in chromosomes have a higher density of segmental duplications, enrichment of repetitive elements, and species-specific variations in genes associated with lactation and immune responsiveness. Genes involved in metabolism are generally highly conserved, although five metabolic genes are deleted or extensively diverged from their human orthologs. The cattle genome sequence thus provides a resource for understanding mammalian evolution and accelerating livestock genetic improvement for milk and meat production.

A search for markers of sugarcane evolution

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

The evolution of jumping performance in anurans: morphological correlates and ecological implications

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

The 5S rDNA family evolves through concerted and birth-and-death evolution in fish genomes: an example from freshwater stingrays

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Trends in the karyotypic evolution of the Neotropical catfish family Heptapteridae Bockmann 1998 (Teleostei: Siluriformes)

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Realized evolvability: quantifying phenotypic evolution in a Drosophila clade

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

EVOLUTION PATTERNS OF THE SOIL ORGANIC-MATTER IN SOME AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS IN THE BRAZILIAN CERRADO REGION

Several changes in the soil humus characteristics were observed after clearing the Central Brazil virgin forest. When compared with the original ''Cerrado'' forest, the soils from the agricultural systems showed increased values for cation exchange capacity, total organic matter and non-extractable humin. The humic acid fraction underwent some changes suggesting increased oxidation and decreased aliphatic content. The soil organic N tends to accumulate in the insoluble humus fractions.The above changes were much less intense when the virgin forest was transformed into pastures. Under these conditions, the most significant changes were the reduction of readily biodegradable soil organic matter fractions.In view of the intensity of the lixiviation processes in the area studied, the above changes may be connected with the reduction in aggregate stability observed in the cleared sites.In general, the characteristics of the humus formations in the ''Cerrado'' region suggested high resistance to external factors, which is in part attributed to the active insolubilization of humic colloids by the Al and Fe oxides. In the absence of erosive processes in the cleared sites, additional humus stability may conform both to selective biodegradation and/or lixiviation of the humic colloids, or to the effects of the fire used in soil management.

Reproductive biology in the primitive relic Angiosperm Drimys brasiliensis (Winteraceae)

From field observations on Drimys brasiliensis, principally in the Botucatu region of São Paulo State, Brazil, new data on the reproductive biology, the rhythm of growth, and the development of lateral cymose inflorescences, flowers and fruits are presented. Pollination accelerates the rate of flower-development for about 4-6 days. Pollination experiments show that D. brasiliensis is not self-sterile; because of mechanical devices the sticky pollen grains do not normally come into contact with the stigmata unless an animal pollen vector is involved. The pollinators are diurnal Coleoptera, Diptera and Thysanoptera which eat from the pollen, lick from the stigmatic exudates and (in case of the flies) probably also from the staminal glands. Fruit- and seedeaters are birds which seem to be the main dispersal agents. Establishment of new individuals normally is through seedlings, but also by vegetative propagation through plagiotropous branches which may root and separate from the mother plant. The morphological, developmental and reproductive aspects in D. brasiliensis are discussed in a wider context, compared with data from other Magnoliidae, and related to aspects of early Angiosperm evolution. © 1980 Springer-Verlag.

Morphological evolution in the graminid clade: Comparative floral anatomy of the grass relatives Flagellariaceae and Joinvilleaceae

New comparative data are presented on the reproductive morphology and anatomy of two genera closely related to grasses, Flagellaria and Joinvillea, in which the flowers are superficially similar, especially in stamen morphology. This investigation demonstrates some anatomical differences between the two genera. For example, both genera depart from the 'typical' condition of tepal vasculature (three-traced outer tepals and one-traced inner tepals): in Flagellaria, each tepal receives a single vascular bundle and, in Joinvillea, each tepal is supplied by three vascular bundles. Joinvillea possesses supernumerary carpel bundles, as also found in the related family Ecdeiocoleaceae, but not in Flagellaria or grasses. In the anther, the tapetum degenerates early in Flagellaria, and is relatively persistent in Joinvillea, in which the pollen grains remain closely associated with the tapetum inside the anther locule, indicating a correlation between peripheral pollen (a feature that is common in grasses) and a persistent tapetum. This study highlights the presence of a pollen-tube transmitting tissue (PTTT) or solid style in the gynoecium of Flagellaria, as also in many Poaceae, but not in Joinvillea or Ecdeiocoleaceae. We speculate that the presence of a PTTT could represent one of the factors that facilitated the subsequent evolution of the intimately connected gynoecia that characterize grasses. © 2012 The Linnean Society of London.

Chromosomal evolution of neotropical cichlids: The role of repetitive DNA sequences in the organization and structure of karyotype

Cichlids are important in the aquaculture and ornamental fish trade and are considered models for evolutionary biology. However, most studies of cichlids have investigated African species, and the South American cichlids remain poorly characterized. Studies in neotropical regions have focused almost exclusively on classical cytogenetic approaches without investigating physical chromosomal mapping of specific sequences. The aim of the present study is to investigate the genomic organization of species belonging to different tribes of the subfamily Cichlinae (Cichla monoculus, Astronotus ocellatus, Geophagus proximus, Acaronia nassa, Bujurquina peregrinabunda, Hoplarchus psittacus, Hypselecara coryphaenoides, Hypselecara temporalis, Caquetaia spectabilis, Uaru amphiacanthoides, Pterophyllum leopoldi, Pterophyllum scalare, and Symphysodon discus) and reexamine the karyotypic evolutionary patterns proposed for this group. Variations in some cytogenetic markers were observed, although no trends were found in terms of the increase, decrease, or maintenance of the basal diploid chromosome number 2n = 48 in the tribes. Several species were observed to have 18S rDNA genetic duplications, as well as multiple rDNA loci. In most of the taxa analyzed, the 5S rDNA was located in the interstitial region of a pair of homologous chromosomes, although variations from this pattern were observed. Interstitial telomere sites were also observed and appear to be involved in chromosomal rearrangement events and the accumulation of repeat-rich satellite DNA sequences. Our data demonstrated the karyotypic diversity that exists among neotropical cichlids, suggesting that most of this diversity is due to the repetitive sequences present in heterochromatic regions and that repeat sequences have greatly influenced the karyotypic evolution of these fishes. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.