Molecular phylogeography of the nose-horned viper (Vipera ammodytes, Linnaeus (1758)): evidence for high genetic diversity and multiple refugia in the Balkan peninsula

The nose-horned viper (Vipera ammodytes) occurs in a large part of the south-eastern Europe and Asia Minor. Phylogenetic relationships were reconstructed for a total of 59 specimens using sequences from three mitochondrial regions (16S and cytochrome b genes, and control region, totalling 2308 bp). A considerable number of clades were observed within this species, showing a large genetic diversity within the Balkan peninsula. Splitting of the basal clades was evaluated to about 4 million years ago. Genetic results are in contradiction with presently accepted taxonomy based on morphological characters: V. a. gregorwallneri and V. a. ruffoi do not display any genetic difference compared with the nominotypic subspecies (V. a. ammodytes), involving that these subspecies can be regarded as synonyms. High genetic divergence in the central part of the Balkan peninsula is not concordant with low morphological differentiation. Finally, the extensive genetic diversity within the Balkan peninsula and the colonisation routes are discussed

Phylogenetic relationships of Apodemus Kaup, 1829 (Rodentia: Muridae) species in the Eastern Mediterranean inferred from mitochondrial DNA, with emphasis on iranian species

Wood mice of the genus Apodemus are widely distributed in Eurasia, with the Eastern Mediterranean being considered as a hotspot. Indeed, numerous species have been documented in Iran, including A. witherbyi, A. hyrcanicus, A. uralensis, A. avicennicus, A. hermonensis, and A. arianus. In this study, 129 specimens were collected from different Iranian localities and two specimens from Afghanistan. The animals were identified taxonomically and their phylogenetic relationships were investigated using cytochrome b mitochondrial DNA sequences. Five species of the genus Apodemus were identified in Iran, including A. hyrcanicus, A. witherbyi, A. cf. ponticus, A. uralensis, and A. mystacinus, beside, A. pallipes from Afghanistan. This study found no evidence of A. flavicollis or A. sylvaticus in Iran, despite their occurrence in Turkey, shedding doubt on the status of A. flavicollis in Iran, Asia Minor, and the Levant. Phylogenetic analyses imply that A. witherbyi has priority over A. avicennicus, A. hermonensis, and A. iconicus. Estimation of the divergence time for these taxa suggests a separation at around 7.2 Ma for the subgenera Karstomys (including A. mystacinus and A. epimelas) and Sylvaemus (including A. flavicollis, A. sylvaticus, A. uralensis, A. pallipes, A. hyrcanicus, A. witherbyi, and A. cf. ponticus). Within the subgenus Karstomys, the divergence times for A. mystacinus and A. epimelas were between 3.0 and 6.1 Ma, and divergence times within the subgenus Sylvaemus were between 5.2 and 6.9 Ma for A. witherbyi and other species in this subgenus. It is postulated that vicariance events including the uplifting of the Zagros Mountains and Anatolian Plateau in the middle Miocene and climate oscillations during the Messinian Salinity Crisis besides formation of the Hyrcanian tertiary forests during the Neogene probably played substantial roles in the radiation and distribution of the genus Apodemus in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Les gladiateurs grecs en Asie Mineure durant le Haut-Empire romain à Éphèse, Aphrodisias, Attaleia et Side.

Entièrement réalisé grâce au programme LaTeX (http://www.latex-project.org/)

Genetic structure and systematic relationships within the Ophrys fuciflora aggregate (Orchidaceae: Orchidinae): high diversity in Kent and a wind-induced discontinuity bisecting the Adriatic

A recent phylogenetic study based on multiple datasets is used as the framework for a more detailed examination of one of the ten molecularly circumscribed groups identified, the Ophrys fuciflora aggregate. The group is highly morphologically variable, prone to phenotypic convergence, shows low levels of sequence divergence and contains an unusually large proportion of threatened taxa, including the rarest Ophrys species in the UK. The aims of this study were to (a) circumscribe minimum resolvable genetically distinct entities within the O. fuciflora aggregate, and (b) assess the likelihood of gene flow between genetically and geographically distinct entities at the species and population levels. Fifty-five accessions sampled in Europe and Asia Minor from the O. fuciflora aggregate were studied using the AFLP genetic fingerprinting technique to evaluate levels of infraspecific and interspecific genetic variation and to assess genetic relationships between UK populations of O. fuciflora s.s. in Kent and in their continental European and Mediterranean counterparts. The two genetically and geographically distinct groups recovered, one located in England and central Europe and one in south-eastern Europe, are incongruent with current species delimitation within the aggregate as a whole and also within O. fuciflora s.s. Genetic diversity is higher in Kent than in the rest of western and central Europe. Gene flow is more likely to occur between populations in closer geographical proximity than those that are morphologically more similar. Little if any gene flow occurs between populations located in the south-eastern Mediterranean and those dispersed throughout the remainder of the distribution, revealing a genetic discontinuity that runs north-south through the Adriatic. This discontinuity is also evident in other clades of Ophrys and is tentatively attributed to the long-term influence of prevailing winds on the long-distance distribution of pollinia and especially seeds. A cline of gene flow connects populations from Kent and central and southern Europe; these individuals should therefore be considered part of an extensive meta-population. Gene flow is also evident among populations from Kent, which appear to constitute a single metapopulation. They show some evidence of hybridization, and possibly also introgression, with O. apifera.

Only the B biotype of Bemisia tabaci is present on vegetables in São Paulo State, Brazil

Bemisia tabaci (Genn.) é considerada uma das mais importantes pragas em cultivos de hortaliças e ornamentais em todo o mundo. Baseado na análise da seqüência mitocondrial (citocromo oxidase I - mtCOI) foi proposto recentemente que B. tabaci deva ser considerado um complexo críptico de espécies, contendo 11 grupos e 24 espécies. Dois destes grupos: Middle East-Asia Minor e Mediterranean englobam os biótipos B e Q, respectivamente. Avaliou-se a sequência mtCOI de espécimes de B. tabaci coletados em regiões do estado de São Paulo, Brasil. Por PCR-RFLP utilizando-se a enzima Taq I, pôde-se observar somente o padrão típico de clivagem para o biótipo B. Comparando-se com sequências consenso, todas as moscas brancas foram classificadas no grupo Middle East-Asia Minor e puderam ser separadas em quatro haplótipos, indicando prevalência do biótipo B em áreas de pimentão (Capsicum annuum L.), tomate (Solanum lycopersicum L.), cucurbitáceas e berinjela (Solanum melongena L.) do Estado de São Paulo.

At least two indigenous species of the Bemisia tabaci complex are present in Brazil

Bemisia tabaci is one of the most important global agricultural insect pests, being a vector of emerging plant viruses such as begomoviruses and criniviruses that cause serious problems in many countries. Although knowledge of the genetic diversity of B. tabaci populations is important for controlling this pest and understanding viral epidemics, limited information is available on this pest in Brazil. A survey was conducted in different locations of São Paulo and Mato Grosso states, and the phylogenetic relationships of B. tabaci individuals from 43 populations sampled from different hosts were analysed based on partial mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase 1 gene (mtCOI) sequences. According to the recently proposed classification of the B. tabaci complex, which employs the 3.5% mtCOI sequence divergence threshold for species demarcation, most of the specimens collected were found to belong to the Middle East-Asia Minor 1 species, which includes the invasive populations of the commonly known B biotype, within the Africa/Middle East/Asia Minor high-level group. Three specimens collected from Solanun gilo and Ipomoea sp. were grouped together and could be classified in the New World species that includes the commonly known A biotype. However, six specimens collected from Euphorbia heterophylla, Xanthium cavanillesii and Glycine maxima could not be classified into any of the 28 previously proposed species, although according to the 11% mtCOI sequence divergence threshold, they belong to the New World high-level group. These specimens were classified into a new recently proposed species named New World 2 that includes populations from Argentina. Middle East-Asia Minor 1, New World and New World 2 were differentiated by RFLP analysis of the mtCOI gene using TaqI enzyme. Taq I analysis in silico also differentiates these from Mediterranean species, thus making this method a convenient tool to determine population dynamics, especially critical for monitoring the presence of this exotic pest in Brazil. © 2012 Blackwell Verlag, GmbH.

Sofistas e filósofos na administração imperial: o olhar de Eunápio sobre a unidade política do império Romano no século IV D. C

Pós-graduação em História - FCHS

Diversidade de bemisia tabaci na américa latina e detecção de seus endossimbiontes

Pós-graduação em Agronomia (Proteção de Plantas) - FCA

Indigenous American species of the Bemisia tabaci complex are still widespread in the Americas

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Diversity and Localization of Bacterial Endosymbionts from Whitefly Species Collected in Brazil

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

“Studio antropologico dei resti umani appartenenti alla Famiglia principesca degli Aragona Tagliavia di Castelvetrano: l’importanza delle ossa nell’analisi storica in contesto archeologico – funerario”

Per comprendere le vicende di una famiglia illustre e nobile il cui ruolo politico e sociale in Sicilia si data alle soglie del XIV secolo, non possiamo astenerci dal ricordare i fatti e gli eventi che hanno dominato la storia siciliana e determinato l’ascesa di Castelvetrano come centro signorile per eccellenza. E’ necessario, quindi, collocare geograficamente e storicamente l’isola per inserirla all’interno di un preciso quadro socio-politico. All’origine della sua storia sono sicuramente da individuare sia il legame intercorso nei secoli tra l’Asia e l’Europa, in particolare tra l’Asia Minore bizantina e l’area mediterranea unificata proprio dall’impero di Bisanzio, sia le lotte per l’egemonia tra Chiesa e Impero, (che abbastanza presto sarà impero d’Occidente) lotte che vedono entrambe le parti impegnate a contendersi il ruolo di guida politica, morale e spirituale dell’intera cristianità medievale, ritenendo ogni altro potere subordinato al proprio.

Anmerkungen zu den (spät)persischen Samaria-Bullen aus dem Wadi ed-Dalije. Hellenisches, Persisches und Lokaltraditionen im Grenzgebiet der Provinz Jehud

The present article deals exemplarily with the remarkable iconographic attestations connected with the Wadi ed-Daliye (WD) findings. The discussed bullae were attached to papyri which provide a clear dating of the hoard between 375-335 BCE. Considering style and convention the preserved motives are to be classified as Persian, Greek or Greco-Persian. A major goal of the following presentation is the contextualization of the very material; this is achieved by taking into account local parallels as well as relevant attestations of the dominant / “imperial” cultures of Persia and Greece. The correlation of motives with the (often more complex, more detailed or more contoured) examples stemming from the “source-cultures” follows a clear agenda: It is methodologically based on the approach that was employed by Silvia Schroer and Othmar Keel throughout the project „Die Ikonographie Palästinas/Israels und der Alte Orient (IPIAO). Eine Religionsgeschichte in Bildern” (2005, 23ff). The WD-findings demand a careful analysis since the influencing cultures behind the imagery are deeply rooted in the field of Greek mythology and iconography. Special attention has to be drawn to the bullae, as far as excavated, from a huge Punic temple archive of Carthago (Berges 1997 and 2002) as well as those from the archive of the satrap seat in Daskyleion in the Northwest of Asia Minor (Kaptan 2002), which are chronologically close (end 5th and 4th century BCE) to the WD-finds. Not each and every single motive and artifact of the WD-corpus comprising more than 120 items can be dealt with in detail throughout the following pages. We refer to the editio princeps by Leith (1990, 1997) respectively to the concerning chapter in Keel’s Corpus volume II (Keel 2010, 340-379). The article gives a brief history of research (2.), some basic remarks on the development of style (3.) and a selection of detail-studies (4.). A crosscheck with other relevant corpora of stamp-seals (5.) as well as a compressed synthesis (6.) are contributions in order to characterize and classify the unique iconographic assemblage. There are rather few references to the late Persian coins from Samaria (Meshorer/Qedar 1999), which have been impressed about contemporaneous with the WD-bullae (372-333 BCE), as there is an article by Patrick Wyssmann in this volume about that specific corpus. Through the perspective of the late Persian iconography, Samaria appears as a dazzling metropolis at the crossroads of Greek and Persian culture, which is far away from a strict and revolutionary religious orthodoxy

Exaltación y concordia doméstica : La esclavitud en dos ficciones cristianas: Hechos de Pedro y Hechos de Pablo

Los Hechos apócrifos de los apóstoles nos hablan de la transición entre el siglo II y el siglo III en las comunidades cristianas. Nuestro objetivo será analizar el rol de los esclavos y de la categoría de esclavitud en los dos Hechos apócrifos provenientes de Asia Menor: los Hechos de Pedro y los Hechos de Pablo. Luego realizaremos una comparación de posturas particulares a fin de inscribirlas y analizarlas a la luz de los procesos históricos que atravesaban las iglesias en ese momento

Exaltación y concordia doméstica : La esclavitud en dos ficciones cristianas: Hechos de Pedro y Hechos de Pablo

Los Hechos apócrifos de los apóstoles nos hablan de la transición entre el siglo II y el siglo III en las comunidades cristianas. Nuestro objetivo será analizar el rol de los esclavos y de la categoría de esclavitud en los dos Hechos apócrifos provenientes de Asia Menor: los Hechos de Pedro y los Hechos de Pablo. Luego realizaremos una comparación de posturas particulares a fin de inscribirlas y analizarlas a la luz de los procesos históricos que atravesaban las iglesias en ese momento

Exaltación y concordia doméstica : La esclavitud en dos ficciones cristianas: Hechos de Pedro y Hechos de Pablo

Los Hechos apócrifos de los apóstoles nos hablan de la transición entre el siglo II y el siglo III en las comunidades cristianas. Nuestro objetivo será analizar el rol de los esclavos y de la categoría de esclavitud en los dos Hechos apócrifos provenientes de Asia Menor: los Hechos de Pedro y los Hechos de Pablo. Luego realizaremos una comparación de posturas particulares a fin de inscribirlas y analizarlas a la luz de los procesos históricos que atravesaban las iglesias en ese momento