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- ter Steege, Hans, et al.
(author)
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Mapping density, diversity and species-richness of the Amazon tree flora
- 2023
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In: COMMUNICATIONS BIOLOGY. - 2399-3642. ; 6:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Using 2.046 botanically-inventoried tree plots across the largest tropical forest on Earth, we mapped tree species-diversity and tree species-richness at 0.1-degree resolution, and investigated drivers for diversity and richness. Using only location, stratified by forest type, as predictor, our spatial model, to the best of our knowledge, provides the most accurate map of tree diversity in Amazonia to date, explaining approximately 70% of the tree diversity and species-richness. Large soil-forest combinations determine a significant percentage of the variation in tree species-richness and tree alpha-diversity in Amazonian forest-plots. We suggest that the size and fragmentation of these systems drive their large-scale diversity patterns and hence local diversity. A model not using location but cumulative water deficit, tree density, and temperature seasonality explains 47% of the tree species-richness in the terra-firme forest in Amazonia. Over large areas across Amazonia, residuals of this relationship are small and poorly spatially structured, suggesting that much of the residual variation may be local. The Guyana Shield area has consistently negative residuals, showing that this area has lower tree species-richness than expected by our models. We provide extensive plot meta-data, including tree density, tree alpha-diversity and tree species-richness results and gridded maps at 0.1-degree resolution. A study mapping the tree species richness in Amazonian forests shows that soil type exerts a strong effect on species richness, probably caused by the areas of these forest types. Cumulative water deficit, tree density and temperature seasonality affect species richness at a regional scale.
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- Luize, Bruno Garcia, et al.
(author)
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Geography and ecology shape the phylogenetic composition of Amazonian tree communities
- 2024
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In: JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY. - 0305-0270 .- 1365-2699.
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Aim: Amazonia hosts more tree species from numerous evolutionary lineages, both young and ancient, than any other biogeographic region. Previous studies have shown that tree lineages colonized multiple edaphic environments and dispersed widely across Amazonia, leading to a hypothesis, which we test, that lineages should not be strongly associated with either geographic regions or edaphic forest types. Location: Amazonia. Taxon: Angiosperms (Magnoliids; Monocots; Eudicots). Methods: Data for the abundance of 5082 tree species in 1989 plots were combined with a mega-phylogeny. We applied evolutionary ordination to assess how phylogenetic composition varies across Amazonia. We used variation partitioning and Moran's eigenvector maps (MEM) to test and quantify the separate and joint contributions of spatial and environmental variables to explain the phylogenetic composition of plots. We tested the indicator value of lineages for geographic regions and edaphic forest types and mapped associations onto the phylogeny. Results: In the terra firme and v & aacute;rzea forest types, the phylogenetic composition varies by geographic region, but the igap & oacute; and white-sand forest types retain a unique evolutionary signature regardless of region. Overall, we find that soil chemistry, climate and topography explain 24% of the variation in phylogenetic composition, with 79% of that variation being spatially structured (R-2 = 19% overall for combined spatial/environmental effects). The phylogenetic composition also shows substantial spatial patterns not related to the environmental variables we quantified (R-2 = 28%). A greater number of lineages were significant indicators of geographic regions than forest types. Main Conclusion: Numerous tree lineages, including some ancient ones (>66 Ma), show strong associations with geographic regions and edaphic forest types of Amazonia. This shows that specialization in specific edaphic environments has played a long-standing role in the evolutionary assembly of Amazonian forests. Furthermore, many lineages, even those that have dispersed across Amazonia, dominate within a specific region, likely because of phylogenetically conserved niches for environmental conditions that are prevalent within regions.
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- Householder, John Ethan, et al.
(author)
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One sixth of Amazonian tree diversity is dependent on river floodplains
- 2024
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In: NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION. - 2397-334X.
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Amazonia's floodplain system is the largest and most biodiverse on Earth. Although forests are crucial to the ecological integrity of floodplains, our understanding of their species composition and how this may differ from surrounding forest types is still far too limited, particularly as changing inundation regimes begin to reshape floodplain tree communities and the critical ecosystem functions they underpin. Here we address this gap by taking a spatially explicit look at Amazonia-wide patterns of tree-species turnover and ecological specialization of the region's floodplain forests. We show that the majority of Amazonian tree species can inhabit floodplains, and about a sixth of Amazonian tree diversity is ecologically specialized on floodplains. The degree of specialization in floodplain communities is driven by regional flood patterns, with the most compositionally differentiated floodplain forests located centrally within the fluvial network and contingent on the most extraordinary flood magnitudes regionally. Our results provide a spatially explicit view of ecological specialization of floodplain forest communities and expose the need for whole-basin hydrological integrity to protect the Amazon's tree diversity and its function.
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- Araujo, Mario Jorge, et al.
(author)
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Comparison of Sample Preparation Methods for Shotgun Proteomic Studies in Aquaculture Species
- 2021
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In: Proteomes. - : MDPI. - 2227-7382. ; 9:4
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Proteomics has been recently introduced in aquaculture research, and more methodological studies are needed to improve the quality of proteomics studies. Therefore, this work aims to compare three sample preparation methods for shotgun LC-MS/MS proteomics using tissues of two aquaculture species: liver of turbot Scophthalmus maximus and hepatopancreas of Mediterranean mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis. We compared the three most common sample preparation workflows for shotgun analysis: filter-aided sample preparation (FASP), suspension-trapping (S-Trap), and solid-phase-enhanced sample preparations (SP3). FASP showed the highest number of protein identifications for turbot samples, and S-Trap outperformed other methods for mussel samples. Subsequent functional analysis revealed a large number of Gene Ontology (GO) terms in turbot liver proteins (nearly 300 GO terms), while fewer GOs were found in mussel proteins (nearly 150 GO terms for FASP and S-Trap and 107 for SP3). This result may reflect the poor annotation of the genomic information in this specific group of animals. FASP was confirmed as the most consistent method for shotgun proteomic studies; however, the use of the other two methods might be important in specific experimental conditions (e.g., when samples have a very low amount of protein).
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- Sousa, Maria Ligia, et al.
(author)
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Antiproliferative Effects of the Natural Oxadiazine Nocuolin A Are Associated With Impairment of Mitochondrial Oxidative Phosphorylation
- 2019
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In: Frontiers in Oncology. - : FRONTIERS MEDIA SA. - 2234-943X. ; 9
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Natural products are interesting sources for drug discovery. The natural product oxadiazine Nocuolin A (NocA) was previously isolated from the cyanobacterial strain Nodularia sp. LEGE 06071 and here we examined its cytotoxic effects against different strains of the colon cancer cell line HCT116 and the immortalized epithelial cell line hTERT RPE-1. NocA was cytotoxic against colon cancer cells and immortalized cells under conditions of exponential growth but was only weakly active against non-proliferating immortalized cells. NocA induced apoptosis by mechanism(s) resistant to overexpression of BCL family members. Interestingly, NocA affected viability and induced apoptosis of HCT116 cells grown as multicellular spheroids. Analysis of transcriptome profiles did not match signatures to any known compounds in CMap but indicated stress responses and induction of cell starvation. Evidence for autophagy was observed, and a decrease in various mitochondrial respiration parameter within 1 h of treatment. These results are consistent with previous findings showing that nutritionally compromised cells in spheroids are sensitive to impairment of mitochondrial energy production due to limited metabolic plasticity. We conclude that the antiproliferative effects of NocA are associated with effects on mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation.
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- Sousa, Maria Ligia, et al.
(author)
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Portoamides A and B are mitochondrial toxins and induce cytotoxicity on the proliferative cell layer of in vitro microtumours
- 2020
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In: Toxicon. - : PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD. - 0041-0101 .- 1879-3150. ; 175, s. 49-56
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Cyanobacteria are known to produce many toxins and other secondary metabolites. The study of their specific mode of action may reveal the biotechnological potential of such compounds. Portoamides A and B (PAB) are cyclic peptides isolated from the cyanobacteria Phormidium sp. due to their growth repression effect on microalgae and were shown to be cytotoxic against certain cancer cell lines. In the present work, viability was assessed on HCT116 colon cancer cells grown as monolayer culture and as multicellular spheroids (MTS), non-carcinogenic cells and on zebrafish larvae. HCT116 cells and epithelial RPE-1(hTERT) cells showed very similar degrees of sensitivities to PAB. PAB were able to penetrate the MTS, showing a four-fold high IC50 compared to monolayer cultures. The toxicity of PAB was similar at 4 degrees C and 37 degrees C suggesting energy-independent uptake. PAB exposure decreased ATP production, mitochondrial maximal respiration rates and induced mitochondrial membrane hyperpolarization. PAB induced general organelle stress response, indicated by an increase of the mitochondrial damage sensor PINK-1, and of phosphorylation of eIF2 alpha, characteristic for endoplasmic reticulum stress. In summary, these findings show general toxicity of PAB on immortalized cells, cancer cells and zebrafish embryos, likely due to mitochondrial toxicity.
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