Produtividade, compostos bioativos e atividade antioxidante em Eryngium foetidum L

Pós-graduação em Agronomia (Horticultura) - FCA

Influence of seasonal changes in daily activity and annual life cycle of Geotrigona mombuca (Hymenoptera, Apidae) in a Cerrado habitat, São Paulo, Brazil

The foraging activity of Geotrigona mombuca Smith, 1863 was studied under natural conditions aiming to verify the influence of seasonal changes on daily flight activity and annual cycle of the colony. Daily flight activity was monitored for a year based on the observation and counting of foragers leaving and entering the hive, as well as the kind of material transported and meteorological factors such as day time, temperature and relative humidity. The influence of seasonal changes was evidenced by alterations on daily rhythm of flight activity and by differences on transportation of food resources, building material and garbage. These data indicate that forager behavior is related to daily microclimate conditions and it is synchronized with the requirements of colony annual cycle, which determines an intense pollen collection in the summer. Thus, the recomposition of the intranidal population in spring and summer can be ensured, which is characterized both for a higher intensity of flight activity and increase in garbage and resin transport, as well as the swarming process in the spring. In this way, an action targeting the preservation or management of the species in a natural environment should consider that survival and reproduction of the colony depends greatly on the amount of available pollen in late winter.

Variabilidade fenótipica e interação com polinizadores ao longo de um gradiente latitudinal em Zeyheria montana Mart. (Bignoniaceae)

Pós-graduação em Ciências Biológicas (Botânica) - IBB

Avaliação dos potenciais fitotóxico e citotóxico de pyrostegia venusta (Ker Gawl.) miers (bignoniaceae)

Pyrostegia venusta (Ker-Gawl.) Miers (Bignoniaceae) is a species with a wide distribution in nearly all of Southern and Southeastern Brazil, has long been used in folk medicine and is considered an invasive plant. The phytotoxic potential of a hydroalcoholic extract of the flowers of P. venusta was evaluated by the germination (pre and post-emergence) and the phytotoxicity bioassays (mitotic index) on the test plant Lactuca sativa (Asteraceae) (lettuce). A phytochemical screening was performed to identify the components of the floral extract. Different concentrations of the extract caused changes in the germination parameters, the root length and the mitotic index. The phytochemical screening indicated the presence of substances such as terpenes, sterols, flavonoids, tannins and saponins, which are compounds that may be associated directly with the results of cytotoxicity and phytotoxicity observed. P. venusta has allelochemical components capable of impairing the germination and root growth of lettuce.

A phylogenetic analysis of the Cryptocarya group (Lauraceae), and relationships of Dahlgrenodendron, Sinopora, Triadodaphne, and Yasunia

A phylogenetic analysis based on nuclear ITS and plastid trnK intron sequences confirms that Dahlgrenodendron, Sinopora, Triadodaphne, and Yasunia are members of the Cryptocarya group, as expected from morphology. Dahlgrenodendron from South Africa is sister to Aspidostemon from Madagascar. Triadodaphne inaequitepala is nested within Endiandra (both from Australasia), and Yasunia from South America is nested among South American Beilschmiedia species. Sinopora is a member of the Beilschmiedia clade, but its precise position is still uncertain. Among large genera of the group, Cryptocarya is clearly monophyletic, and Endiandra appears to be as well, if T. inaequitepala is included. Beilschmiedia is paraphyletic with respect to (at least) Potameia and Yasunia. Most well-supported clades within genera are geographically homogeneous, except a clade including the Chilean Cryptocarya alba and two New Caledonian species. Both Beilschmiedia and Cryptocarya have reached the Americas more than once. Four-locular anthers are plesiomorphic in the Cryptocarya group; two-locular anthers have arisen by fusion of the two pollen sacs of a theca. In the plesiomorphic fruit type, the ovary is completely enclosed in receptacular tissue; a superior fruit, seated free on its pedicel, is a synapomorphy of the Beilschmiedia clade.

Reproductive biology and pollination of Utricularia reniformis A.St.-Hil. (Lentibulariaceae)

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

Efeito de maturadores sobre a germinação e crescimento inicial de corda-de-viola

Pós-graduação em Agronomia (Produção Vegetal) - FCAV

Avaliação de genótipos de maracujazeiro e viabilidade econômica da cv. Roxinho do Kênia para exportação

Pós-graduação em Agronomia (Horticultura) - FCA

Growth and yield of anthurium in response to gibberellic acid

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

Low abundance of long-tongued pollinators leads to pollen limitation in four specialized hawkmoth-pollinated plants in the Atlantic Rain forest, Brazil

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

In vitro conservation of Dendrobium germplasm

Dendrobium is a large genus in the family Orchidaceae that exhibits vast diversity in floral characteristics, which is of considerable importance to orchid breeders, biotechnologists and collectors. Native species have high value as a result of their medicinal properties, while their hybrids are important as ornamental commodities, either as cut flowers or potted plants and are thus veritable industrial crops. Thus, preservation of Dendrobium germplasm is valuable for species conservation, breeding programs and the floriculture industry. Cryopreservation represents the only safe, efficient and cost-effective long-term storage option to facilitate the conservation of genetic resources of plant species. This review highlights 16 years of literature related to the preservation of Dendrobium germplasm and comprises the most comprehensive assessment of thorough studies performed to date, which shows reliable and reproducible results. Air-drying, encapsulation-dehydration, encapsulation-vitrification, vitrification and droplet-vitrification are the current cryopreservation methodologies that have been used to cryopreserve Dendrobium germplasm. Mature seeds, pollen, protoplasts, shoot primordia, protocorms and somatic embryos or protocorm-like bodies (PLBs) have been cryopreserved with different levels of success. Encapsulation-vitrification and encapsulation-dehydration are the most used protocol, while PLBs represent the main explant explored.

Leaf and inflorescence peduncle anatomy: a contribution to the taxonomy of Rapateaceae

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Development and evolution of the gynoecium in Myrteae (Myrtaceae)

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Comparative anatomy of reproductive structures in Cyclanthaceae (Pandanales)

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Dinâmica da secreção de néctar em Zeyheria montana Mart. (Bignoniaceae) relacionada à atividade dos beija-fores polinizadores

The Cerrado is home to important biodiversity areas in the state of Sao Paulo. Therefore, research on the reproduction of species of this biome are essential to help conservation programs. Pollination is the main mechanism by which outcrossing plants perpetuate their populations, and the attractive, such as nectar, are of vital importance to many anthophilous animals and essential to the maintenance of interactions with pollinators. In this context, the objective of this study was to investigate the ecological dynamics of secretion and sugar composition of floral nectar in Zeyheria montana, an ornithophilous exclusive Cerrado species, visited preferentially by Colibri serrirostris, also exclusive to this biome. This dynamic was assessed in isolated flowers in pre-anthesis, using microsyringes to collect nectar and manual refractometer to measure the concentration. Experiments were carried out to evaluate production throughout anthesis, including the assessment of total daily production, the effect of successive removal, the rate of production during the day and night and changes in concentration and composition of sugars, which was performed in HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography). The rate of nectar production was about three times greater at night with a concentration two times lower, resulting in a supply of large amounts of dilute nectar in the early morning hours, peak of visitation for hummingbirds. Moreover, the production of nectar was more pronounced before the anthesis, and is available to visitors already in newly opened flowers, which are preferentially visited by C. serrirostris. There was an increase in the nectar production of flowers in the group with successive manual removal upon the control group, suggesting that the withdrawal by visitors stimulates the production, ensuring the availability of the resource including flowers previously visited... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)