Measuring and analyzing color and texture information in anatomical leaf cross sections: An approach using computer vision to aid plant species identification

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

Phylogeny of Triatoma sherlocki (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Triatominae) Inferred from Two Mitochondrial Genes Suggests Its Location Within the Triatoma brasiliensis Complex

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

Canine distemper virus infection in a lesser grison (Galictis cuja): first report and virus phylogeny

Doenças infecciosas em animais selvagens têm aumentado devido às alterações em seu habitat e ao maior contato com animais domésticos. A cinomose já foi descrita em diversas espécies de carnívoros selvagens, representando uma ameaça à conservação da vida selvagem. Nesse estudo é descrito o primeiro caso de infecção pelo vírus da cinomose em um furão (Galictis cuja). Um indivíduo de vida livre, sem sinais clínicos aparentes, apresentou morte súbita após um dia em cativeiro. Foi realizado o diagnóstico molecular para detecção do vírus da cinomose canina, sendo o resultado positivo. A filogenia do vírus indicou que cães domésticos foram a provável fonte de infecção.

First Identification of Canine Distemper Virus in Hoary Fox (Lycalopex vetulus): Pathologic Aspects and Virus Phylogeny

Canine distemper virus (CDV) has been reported in several wild animal species, but there have been no reports of CDV in hoary fox (Lycalopex vetulus). This paper characterizes the first case of natural CDV infection in hoary fox, including the clinical and pathologic aspects of the disease as well as the viral strain phylogeny.

Molecular phylogeny of the armored catfish family Callichthyidae (Ostariophysi, Siluriformes)

The family Callichthyidae comprises eight genera of fishes widely distributed across the Neotropical region. In the present study, sequences of the mitochondrial genes 12S rRNA, 16S rRNA, ND4, tRNA(His), and tRNA(Scr) were obtained from 28 callichthyid specimens. The sample included 12 species of Corydoras, three species of Aspidoras, two species of Brochis, Dianema, Lepthoplosternum, and Megalechis, and two local populations of Callichthys and Hoplosternum. Sequences of Nematogenys inermis (Nematogenyidae), Trichomycterus areolatus, and Henonemus punctatus (Trichomycteridae), Astroblepus sp. (Astroblepidae), and Neopleeostomus paranensis, Delturus parahybae, and Hemipsilichthys nimius (Loricariidae) were included as the outgroup. Phylogenetic analyses were performed by using the methods of maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood. The results of almost all analyses were very similar. The family Callichthyidae is monophyletic and comprises two natural groups: the subfamilies Corydoradinae (Aspidoras, Brochis, and Corydoras) and Callichthyinae (Callichthys, Dianema, Hoplosternum, Lepthoplosternum, and Megalechis), as previously demonstrated by morphological studies. The relationships observed within these subfamilies are in several ways different from those previously proposed on the basis of morphological data. Molecular results were compared with the morphologic and cytogenetic data available on the family. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Competition and phylogeny determine community structure in Mullerian co-mimics

Until recently, the study of negative and antagonistic interactions (for example, competition and predation) has dominated our understanding of community structure, maintenance and assembly(1). Nevertheless, a recent theoretical model suggests that positive interactions (for example, mutualisms) may counterbalance competition, facilitating long-term coexistence even among ecologically undifferentiated species(2). Mullerian mimics are mutualists that share the costs of predator education(3) and are therefore ideally suited for the investigation of positive and negative interactions in community dynamics. The sole empirical test of this model in a Mullerian mimetic community supports the prediction that positive interactions outweigh the negative effects of spatial overlap(4) (without quantifying resource acquisition). Understanding the role of trophic niche partitioning in facilitating the evolution and stability of Mullerian mimetic communities is now of critical importance, but has yet to be formally investigated. Here we show that resource partitioning and phylogeny determine community structure and outweigh the positive effects of Mullerian mimicry in a species-rich group of neotropical catfishes. From multiple, independent reproductively isolated allopatric communities displaying convergently evolved colour patterns, 92% consist of species that do not compete for resources. Significant differences in phylogenetically conserved traits (snout morphology and body size) were consistently linked to trait-specific resource acquisition. Thus, we report the first evidence, to our knowledge, that competition for trophic resources and phylogeny are pivotal factors in the stable evolution of Mullerian mimicry rings. More generally, our work demonstrates that competition for resources is likely to have a dominant role in the structuring of communities that are simultaneously subject to the effects of both positive and negative interactions.

Molecular phylogeny of Aphyocharacinae (Characiformes, Characidae) with morphological diagnoses for the subfamily and recognized genera

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

Phylogeny, ultrastructure, histopathology and prevalence of Myxobolus oliveirai sp. nov., a parasite of Brycon hilarii (Characidae) in the Pantanal wetland, Brazil

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

Myxobolus cordeiroi n. sp., a parasite of Zungaro jahu (Siluriformes: Pimelodiade) from Brazilian Pantanal: Morphology, phylogeny and histopathology

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

Phylogeny of leafcutter ants in the genus Atta Fabricius (Formicidae: Attini) based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences

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

The shared influence of phylogeny and ecology on the reproductive patterns of Myrteae (Myrtaceae)

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

Phylogeny of Celastraceae Subfamily Salacioideae and Tribe Lophopetaleae Inferred from Morphological Characters and Nuclear and Plastid Genes

The phylogeny of Celastraceae subfamily Salacioideae (ca. 255 species in the Old and New World tropics) and tribe Lophopetaleae (ca. 29 species in southern Asia and the Austral-Pacific) was inferred using morphological characters together with plastid (matK, trnL-F) and nuclear (ITS and 26S rDNA) genes. Brassiantha, a monotypic genus endemic to New Guinea, is inferred to be more closely related to the clade of Dicarpellum (New Caledonia) and Hypsophila (Queensland, Australia) than it is to Hippocrateoideae or Salacioideae. This unambiguously supported resolution indicates that a nectary disk positioned outside the stamens has been convergently derived in these two lineages. The clade of Kokoona and Lophopetalum is resolved as more closely related to Breria and Elaeodendron than it is to Hippocrateoideae or Salacioideae. Sarawakodendron, a monotypic genus endemic to Borneo, is resolved as sister to Salacioideae. Salacioideae are inferred to have an Old World origin that was followed by a single successful radiation within Central and South America. We infer that capsular fruits are primitive within the clade of Hippocrateoideae + Sarawakodendron + Salacioideae, with berries a synapomorphy for Salacioideae. Based on the resolution of Sarawakodendron as sister to Salacioideae, we hypothesize that the filaments of Sarawakodendron arils are homologous to the spiral filaments in the mucilagenous pulp of Salacioideae.

Phylogeny of Celastraceae subfamily Hippocrateoideae inferred from morphological characters and nuclear and plastid loci

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Phylogeny, Ecology, and Heart Position in Snakes

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