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Ficus Species (ficus + species)
Selected AbstractsLeaf Processing by Wild Chimpanzees: Physically Defended Leaves Reveal Complex Manual SkillsETHOLOGY, Issue 8 2002Nadia Corp The manual processing of eight species of leaf was investigated in the M-group chimpanzees of Mahale Mountains National Park, Tanzania. Leaf species varied in the extent to which physical defences made consumption difficult. In all, 96 distinct techniques for leaf processing were identified, but two species with defended leaves (Ficus asperifolia and F. exasperata) required 2.5 as many techniques as did any of the six undefended species. Moreover, chimpanzees made more multiple leaf detachments, and made more subsequent modifications of the leaves, when dealing with the leaves of these two Ficus species, compared with the undefended leaf species. This greater complexity was associated with evidence of flexible, hierarchical organization of the process: iteration of modules consisting of several processing elements, facultative omission of modules, or substitutions of alternative modules. Comparison with data from mountain gorillas is made, and is consistent with similar cognitive architecture in the two species. We consider that, not only is hierarchical organization currently associated with mechanical difficulty in food processing, but that over evolutionary time-scales difficulties in food processing may have selected for cognitive advance. [source] Numerical taxonomic evaluation of calcium oxalate and calcium carbonate crystals in the leaves of certain Ficus species (Moraceae)FEDDES REPERTORIUM, Issue 5-6 2004S. M. Sharawy Dr. The type and the distribution of calcium oxalate and calcium carbonate crystals were investigated in the leaves of 33 taxa of Ficus belonging to the three subgenera Urostigma, Ficus and Sycomorus for a speculation to the inter-subgeneric affinity. Numerical analysis of 55 characters grouped the taxa under 13 groups. The sizes of the latter with respect to the number of taxa they contain were calculated. Some resultant groups comprised taxa from different subgenera. So far as the present data are concerned and in agreement with previous workers, the var. decora of Ficus elastica and var. comosa of Ficus benjamina are better raised to the specific levels F. decoraHort and F. comosaRoxb. respectively. (© 2004 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) Numerisch-taxonomische Auswertung von Calciumoxalat- und Calciumcarbonat-Kristallen in einigen Arten der Gattung Ficus (Moraceae) An den Blättern von 33 Taxa der Gattung Ficus aus den drei Subgenera Urostigma, Ficus und Sycomorus wurden die Art und die Verteilung von Calciumoxalat- und Calciumcarbonat-Kristallen untersucht, um ihre inter-subgenerische Verwandtschaft zu ermitteln. Num-merische Analysen von 55 Eigenschaften gestatten eine Unterteilung in 13 Gruppen. Der Umfang letzterer in Bezug auf die Anzahl der sie umfassenden Taxa wurde betrachtet. Einige dieser Gruppen umfassen Taxa aus unterschiedlichen Subgenera. Auf Grund der hier gewonnenen Daten und in Übereinstimmung mit früheren Bearbeitern werden Ficus elastica var. decora und F. benjamina var. comosa in den Artrang F. decoraHort bzw. F. comosaRoxb. erhoben. [source] Development and characterization of microsatellite markers for a monoecious Ficus species, Ficus insipida, and cross-species amplification among different sections of FicusMOLECULAR ECOLOGY RESOURCES, Issue 3 2006H. VIGNES Abstract The animal-mediated pollination and seed-dispersal mutualisms of Ficus species give them key roles in tropical ecosystems, but may make them vulnerable to habitat fragmentation. The development of highly polymorphic markers is needed to analyse their genetic diversity and investigate the effects of fragmentation on gene flow. Of thirteen microsatellite loci isolated from Ficus insipida, a monoecious species in French Guiana, eleven were polymorphic (two to six alleles each). High levels of variation were found among loci; expected heterozygosities ranged from 0.151 to 0.715. All markers revealed a broad cross-species affinity when tested in 23 other Ficus species. [source] Development and characterization of microsatellite markers for two dioecious Ficus speciesMOLECULAR ECOLOGY RESOURCES, Issue 2 2005MONIKA ZAVODNA Abstract Microsatellite markers for Ficus montana and Ficus septica were developed using genomic libraries enriched for di-, tri- and tetranucleotide repeats. The subsets of five and three best scorable primer pairs were characterized on 24 F. montana and 36 F. septica individuals, respectively. For F. montana, loci showed five to 14 alleles per locus and expected heterozygosities ranged between 0.23 and 0.87. For F. septica, loci showed three to five alleles per locus and expected heterozygosities ranged between 0.36 and 0.49. Four primer pairs (two from each subset) cross-amplified in the other species, indicating transportability of the markers within the genus Ficus. [source] Characterization of agrobacteria from weeping fig (Ficus benjamina)PLANT PATHOLOGY, Issue 5 2001A. Zoina Ficus benjamina plants, galled both at epi- and hypogeous parts, were observed in Italy and in The Netherlands, and these were the first records of the appearance of weeping fig crown gall in Europe. A total of 241 Agrobacterium isolates was obtained from 41 tumours and studied for their morphological, physiological and phytopathological characters. Two main groups of agrobacteria were distinguished by their colony morphology and through classical biovarietal tests that allowed allocation of 86 isolates into biovar 1 and 155 into an intermediate biovar rather different from any of the three biovars defined for agrobacteria. Most of the isolates were unable to utilize mannopine, nopaline or octopine as C and N sources; only 62 strains utilized nopaline. However, when nonopine-utilizing strains were inoculated into F. benjamina, only nopaline was detected in the developing tumours. BIOLOG ML 1Ō system analysis applied to 50 representative strains allowed identification of the biovar 1 isolates as Agrobacterium tumefaciens and most of the intermediate biovar isolates as the newly proposed species Agrobacterium fici. Analysis of sensitivity to a set of 14 antibiotics confirmed the allocation of the 50 strains into two well defined main clusters matching the BIOLOG identification. Out of 141 tumorigenic isolates, 66 were sensitive in vitro to agrocine 84, but four of these strains showed scarce or no sensitivity to the antagonist A. radiobacter K84 when tested in fig plants. The two types of agrobacteria could usually be isolated from the same tumours. Tumorigenic strains were able to induce tumours in six herbaceous plant species, in eight to 10 out of 12 woody plants and in six to eight out of nine Ficus species, indicating a wide host-range Ti plasmid. Agrobacteria were able to survive and move in the vascular system of galled ficus plants and to induce tumour growth in stem-cutting propagated plants. Moreover, agrobacteria were detected in many healthy F. benjamina plants as part of the endophytic microflora. These findings suggest potential for spread of the disease through latently infected plant propagation material produced as cuttings or by tissue culture. [source] Fig-eating by vertebrate frugivores: a global reviewBIOLOGICAL REVIEWS, Issue 4 2001MIKE SHANAHAN ABSTRACT The consumption of figs (the fruit of Ficus spp.; Moraceae) by vertebrates is reviewed using data from the literature, unpublished accounts and new field data from Borneo and Hong Kong. Records of frugivory from over 75 countries are presented for 260 Ficus species (approximately 30% of described species). Explanations are presented for geographical and taxonomic gaps in the otherwise extensive literature. In addition to a small number of reptiles and fishes, 1274 bird and mammal species in 523 genera and 92 families are known to eat figs. In terms of the number of species and genera of fig-eaters and the number of fig species eaten we identify the avian families interacting most with Ficus to be Columbidae, Psittacidae, Pycnonotidae, Bucerotidae, Sturnidae and Lybiidae. Among mammals, the major fig-eating families are Pteropodidae, Cercopithecidae, Sciuridae, Phyllostomidae and Cebidae. We assess the role these and other frugivores play in Ficus seed dispersal and identify fig-specialists. In most, but not all, cases fig specialists provide effective seed dispersal services to the Ficus species on which they feed. The diversity of fig-eaters is explained with respect to fig design and nutrient content, phenology of fig ripening and the diversity of fig presentation. Whilst at a gross level there exists considerable overlap between birds, arboreal mammals and fruit bats with regard to the fig species they consume, closer analysis, based on evidence from across the tropics, suggests that discrete guilds of Ficus species differentially attract subsets of sympatric frugivore communities. This dispersal guild structure is determined by interspecific differences in fig design and presentation. Throughout our examination of the fig-frugivore interaction we consider phylogenetic factors and make comparisons between large-scale biogeographical regions. Our dataset supports previous claims that Ficus is the most important plant genus for tropical frugivores. We explore the concept of figs as keystone resources and suggest criteria for future investigations of their dietary importance. Finally, fully referenced lists of frugivores recorded at each Ficus species and of Ficus species in the diet of each frugivore are presented as online appendices. In situations where ecological information is incomplete or its retrieval is impractical, this valuable resource will assist conservationists in evaluating the role of figs or their frugivores in tropical forest sites. [source] Genetic Evidence for Natural Hybridization between Species of Dioecious Ficus on Island Populations1BIOTROPICA, Issue 3 2003Tracey L. Parrish ABSTRACT Natural hybrids between Ficus septica and two closely related dioecious species, F. fistulosa and F. hispida, were confirmed using amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLP) and chloroplast DNA markers. Ficus species have a highly species-specific pollination mutualism with agaonid wasps. Therefore, the identification of cases in which breakdown in this sophisticated system occurs and the circumstances under which it happens is of interest. Various studies have confirmed that Ficus species are able to hybridize and that pollinator-specificity breakdown can occur under certain conditions. This study is the first example in which hybrid identity and the presence of hybrids in the natural distribution of parental species for Ficus have been confirmed with molecular markers. Hybrid individuals were identified on three island locations in the Sunda Strait region of Indonesia. These findings support Janzen's (1979) hypothesis that breakdown in pollinator specificity is more likely to occur on islands. We hypothesized that hybrid events could occur when the population size of pollinator wasps was small or had been small in one of the parental species. Later generation hybrids were identified, indicating that backcrossing and introgression did occur to some extent and that therefore, hybrids could be fertile. The small number of hybrids found indicated that there was little effect of hybridization on parental species integrity over the study area. Although hybrid individuals were not common, their presence at multiple sites indicated that the hybridization events reported here were not isolated incidences. Chloroplast DNA haplotypes of hybrids were not derived solely from one species, suggesting that the seed donor was not of the same parental species in all hybridization events. [source] Laying the foundations for a new classification of Agaonidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea), a multilocus phylogenetic approachCLADISTICS, Issue 4 2010Astrid Cruaud A phylogeny of the Agaonidae (Chalcidoidea) in their restricted sense, pollinators of Ficus species (Moraceae), is estimated using 4182 nucleotides from six genes, obtained from 101 species representing 19 of the 20 recognized genera, and four outgroups. Data analysed by parsimony and Bayesian inference methods demonstrate that Agaonidae are monophyletic and that the previous classification is not supported. Agaonidae are partitioned into four groups: (i) Tetrapus, (ii) Ceratosolen + Kradibia, (iii) some Blastophaga + Wiebesia species, and (iv) all genera associated with monoecious figs and a few Blastophaga and Wiebesia. The latter group is subdivided into subgroups: (i) Pleistodontes, (ii) Blastophaga psenes and neocaledonian Dolichoris, (iii) some Blastophaga and Wiebesia species, and (iv) Platyscapa, all afrotropical genera and all genera associated with section Conosycea. Eleven genera were recovered as monophyletic, six were para- or polyphyletic, and two cannot be tested with our data set. Based on our phylogeny we propose a new classification for the Agaonidae. Two new subfamilies are proposed: Tetrapusiinae for the genus Tetrapus, and Kradibiinae for Ceratosolen + Kradibia. Liporrhopalum is synonymized with Kradibia and the subgenus Valisia of Blastophaga is elevated to generic rank. These changes resulted in 36 new combinations. Finally, we discuss the hypothesis of co-speciation between the pollinators and their host species by comparing the two phylogenies. ,© The Willi Hennig Society 2009. [source] | ||||||||||