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- Muscarella, Robert, et al.
(författare)
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The global abundance of tree palms
- 2020
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Ingår i: Global Ecology and Biogeography. - : Wiley. - 1466-822X .- 1466-8238. ; 29:9, s. 1495-1514
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- AimPalms are an iconic, diverse and often abundant component of tropical ecosystems that provide many ecosystem services. Being monocots, tree palms are evolutionarily, morphologically and physiologically distinct from other trees, and these differences have important consequences for ecosystem services (e.g., carbon sequestration and storage) and in terms of responses to climate change. We quantified global patterns of tree palm relative abundance to help improve understanding of tropical forests and reduce uncertainty about these ecosystems under climate change.LocationTropical and subtropical moist forests.Time periodCurrent.Major taxa studiedPalms (Arecaceae).MethodsWe assembled a pantropical dataset of 2,548 forest plots (covering 1,191 ha) and quantified tree palm (i.e., ≥10 cm diameter at breast height) abundance relative to co‐occurring non‐palm trees. We compared the relative abundance of tree palms across biogeographical realms and tested for associations with palaeoclimate stability, current climate, edaphic conditions and metrics of forest structure.ResultsOn average, the relative abundance of tree palms was more than five times larger between Neotropical locations and other biogeographical realms. Tree palms were absent in most locations outside the Neotropics but present in >80% of Neotropical locations. The relative abundance of tree palms was more strongly associated with local conditions (e.g., higher mean annual precipitation, lower soil fertility, shallower water table and lower plot mean wood density) than metrics of long‐term climate stability. Life‐form diversity also influenced the patterns; palm assemblages outside the Neotropics comprise many non‐tree (e.g., climbing) palms. Finally, we show that tree palms can influence estimates of above‐ground biomass, but the magnitude and direction of the effect require additional work.ConclusionsTree palms are not only quintessentially tropical, but they are also overwhelmingly Neotropical. Future work to understand the contributions of tree palms to biomass estimates and carbon cycling will be particularly crucial in Neotropical forests.
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| 2. |
- Barbosa, Simone C., et al.
(författare)
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The Importance of Cyclic Structure for Labaditin on Its Antimicrobial Activity Against Staphylococcus aureus
- 2016
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Ingår i: Colloids and Surfaces B. - : Elsevier BV. - 0927-7765 .- 1873-4367. ; 148, s. 453-459
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Antimicrobial resistance has reached alarming levels in many countries, thus leading to a search for new classes of antibiotics, such as antimicrobial peptides whose activity is exerted by interacting specifically with the microorganism membrane. In this study, we investigate the molecular-level mechanism of action for Labaditin (Lo), a 10-amino acid residue cyclic peptide from Jatropha multifida with known bactericidal activity againstStreptococcus mutans. We show that Lo is also effective against Staphylococcus aureus(S. aureus) but this does not apply to its linear analogue (L1). Using polarization-modulated infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (PM-IRRAS), we observed with that the secondary structure of Lo was preserved upon interacting with Langmuir monolayers from a phospholipid mixture mimicking S. aureus membrane, in contrast to L1. This structure preservation for the rigid, cyclic Lo is key for the self-assembly of peptide nanotubes that induce pore formation in large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs), according to permeability assays and dynamic light scattering measurements. In summary, the comparison between Labaditin (Lo) and its linear analogue L1 allowed us to infer that the bactericidal activity of Lo is more related to its interaction with the membrane. It does not require specific metabolic targets, which makes cyclic peptides promising for antibiotics without bacteria resistance.
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| 4. |
- Quadri, Marialuisa, et al.
(författare)
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LRP10 genetic variants in familial Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies : a genome-wide linkage and sequencing study
- 2018
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Ingår i: The Lancet Neurology. - 1474-4422. ; 17:7, s. 597-608
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Most patients with Parkinson's disease, Parkinson's disease dementia, and dementia with Lewy bodies do not carry mutations in known disease-causing genes. The aim of this study was to identify a novel gene implicated in the development of these disorders. Methods: Our study was done in three stages. First, we did genome-wide linkage analysis of an Italian family with dominantly inherited Parkinson's disease to identify the disease locus. Second, we sequenced the candidate gene in an international multicentre series of unrelated probands who were diagnosed either clinically or pathologically with Parkinson's disease, Parkinson's disease dementia, or dementia with Lewy bodies. As a control, we used gene sequencing data from individuals with abdominal aortic aneurysms (who were not examined neurologically). Third, we enrolled an independent series of patients diagnosed clinically with Parkinson's disease and controls with no signs or family history of Parkinson's disease, Parkinson's disease dementia, or dementia with Lewy bodies from centres in Portugal, Sardinia, and Taiwan, and screened them for specific variants. We also did mRNA and brain pathology studies in three patients from the international multicentre series carrying disease-associated variants, and we did functional protein studies in in-vitro models, including neurons from induced pluripotent stem-like cells. Findings: Molecular studies were done between Jan 1, 2008, and Dec 31, 2017. In the initial kindred of ten affected Italian individuals (mean age of disease onset 59·8 years [SD 8·7]), we detected significant linkage of Parkinson's disease to chromosome 14 and nominated LRP10 as the disease-causing gene. Among the international series of 660 probands, we identified eight individuals (four with Parkinson's disease, two with Parkinson's disease dementia, and two with dementia with Lewy bodies) who carried different, rare, potentially pathogenic LRP10 variants; one carrier was found among 645 controls with abdominal aortic aneurysms. In the independent series, two of these eight variants were detected in three additional Parkinson's disease probands (two from Sardinia and one from Taiwan) but in none of the controls. Of the 11 probands from the international and independent cohorts with LRP10 variants, ten had a positive family history of disease and DNA was available from ten affected relatives (in seven of these families). The LRP10 variants were present in nine of these ten relatives, providing independent—albeit limited—evidence of co-segregation with disease. Post-mortem studies in three patients carrying distinct LRP10 variants showed severe Lewy body pathology. Of nine variants identified in total (one in the initial family and eight in stage 2), three severely affected LRP10 expression and mRNA stability (1424+5delG, 1424+5G→A, and Ala212Serfs*17, shown by cDNA analysis), four affected protein stability (Tyr307Asn, Gly603Arg, Arg235Cys, and Pro699Ser, shown by cycloheximide-chase experiments), and two affected protein localisation (Asn517del and Arg533Leu; shown by immunocytochemistry), pointing to loss of LRP10 function as a common pathogenic mechanism. Interpretation: Our findings implicate LRP10 gene defects in the development of inherited forms of α-synucleinopathies. Future elucidation of the function of the LRP10 protein and pathways could offer novel insights into mechanisms, biomarkers, and therapeutic targets. Funding: Stichting ParkinsonFonds, Dorpmans-Wigmans Stichting, Erasmus Medical Center, ZonMw—Memorabel programme, EU Joint Programme Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND), Parkinson's UK, Avtal om Läkarutbildning och Forskning (ALF) and Parkinsonfonden (Sweden), Lijf and Leven foundation, and cross-border grant of Alzheimer Netherlands–Ligue Européene Contre la Maladie d'Alzheimer (LECMA).
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| 5. |
- Tavares, Julia, et al.
(författare)
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Basin-wide variation in tree hydraulic safety margins predicts the carbon balance of Amazon forests
- 2023
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Nature. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 617:7959, s. 111-117
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Tropical forests face increasing climate risk(1,2), yet our ability to predict their response to climate change is limited by poor understanding of their resistance to water stress. Although xylem embolism resistance thresholds (for example, ?(50)) and hydraulic safety margins (for example, HSM50) are important predictors of drought-induced mortality risk(3-5), little is known about how these vary across Earth's largest tropical forest. Here, we present a pan-Amazon, fully standardized hydraulic traits dataset and use it to assess regional variation in drought sensitivity and hydraulic trait ability to predict species distributions and long-term forest biomass accumulation. Parameters ?(50) and HSM50 vary markedly across the Amazon and are related to average long-term rainfall characteristics. Both ?(50) and HSM50 influence the biogeographical distribution of Amazon tree species. However, HSM50 was the only significant predictor of observed decadal-scale changes in forest biomass. Old-growth forests with wide HSM50 are gaining more biomass than are low HSM(50 )forests. We propose that this may be associated with a growth-mortality trade-off whereby trees in forests consisting of fast-growing species take greater hydraulic risks and face greater mortality risk. Moreover, in regions of more pronounced climatic change, we find evidence that forests are losing biomass, suggesting that species in these regions may be operating beyond their hydraulic limits. Continued climate change is likely to further reduce HSM50 in the Amazon(6,7), with strong implications for the Amazon carbon sink.
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| 6. |
- Whitten, Devin D., et al.
(författare)
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The Photometric Metallicity and Carbon Distributions of the Milky Way's Halo and Solar Neighborhood from S-PLUS Observations of SDSS Stripe 82
- 2021
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 912:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report photometric estimates of effective temperature, T (eff), metallicity, [Fe/H], carbonicity, [C/Fe], and absolute carbon abundances, A(C), for over 700,000 stars from the Southern Photometric Local Universe Survey (S-PLUS) Data Release 2, covering a substantial fraction of the equatorial Sloan Digital Sky Survey Stripe 82. We present an analysis for two stellar populations: (1) halo main-sequence turnoff stars and (2) K-dwarf stars of mass 0.58 < M/M (circle dot) < 0.75 in the Solar Neighborhood. Application of the Stellar Photometric Index Network Explorer (SPHINX) to the mixed-bandwidth (narrow- plus wide-band) filter photometry from S-PLUS produces robust estimates of the metallicities and carbon abundances in stellar atmospheres over a wide range of temperatures, 4250 < T (eff)(K) < 7000. The use of multiple narrow-band S-PLUS filters enables SPHINX to achieve substantially lower levels of catastrophic failures (i.e., large offsets in metallicity estimates relative to spectroscopic determinations) than previous efforts using a single metallicity-sensitive narrow-band filter. We constrain the exponential slope of the Milky Way's K-dwarf halo metallicity distribution function (MDF), lambda (10,[Fe/H]) = 0.85 +/- 0.21, over the metallicity range -2.5 < [Fe/H] < -1.0; the MDF of our local-volume K-dwarf sample is well-represented by a gamma distribution with parameters alpha = 2.8 and beta = 4.2. S-PLUS photometry obtains absolute carbon abundances with a precision of similar to 0.35 dex for stars with T (eff) < 6500 K. We identify 364 candidate carbon-enhanced metal-poor stars, obtain assignments of these stars into the Yoon-Beers morphological groups in the A(C)-[Fe/H] space, and we derive the CEMP frequencies.
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