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Many Genera (many + genus)
Selected AbstractsCotylea (Polycladida): a cladistic analysis of morphologyINVERTEBRATE BIOLOGY, Issue 2 2008Kate A. Rawlinson Abstract. Polyclad flatworms are acoelomate bilaterians found in benthic communities worldwide, predominantly in marine environments. Current polyclad systematics is unstable, with two non-concordant classification schemes resulting in a poor understanding of within-group relationships. Here we present the first phylogenetic framework for the suborder Cotylea using a morphological matrix. Representatives of 34 genera distributed among all cotylean families (except four, excluded due to their dubious taxonomic status) were investigated. The number of families included ranges from a conservative eight to a revisionary 11. Outgroup analysis indicated that the suborder is monophyletic and defined by the presence of a ventral adhesive structure, a short posteriorly positioned vagina, and cement glands. Of the eight to 11 families included, we confirmed that three were monophyletic: Boniniidae, Prosthiostomidae, and Pseudocerotidae. Boniniidae was consistently recovered as the sister group to other Cotylea, based on the retention of the plesiomorphic Lang's vesicle. The clade consisting of Anonymus, Marcusia, and Pericelis is sister to the Boniniidae and the rest of the Cotylea. Above this clade there is little resolution at the base of the sister group. The Euryleptidae are found to be paraphyletic and give rise to the Pseudocerotidae. Neither classification scheme received unequivocal support. The intrafamilial relationships of the diverse Pseudocerotidae and Euryleptidae were examined. Color pattern characters (used for species identification) were highly homoplasious but increased cladogram resolution within genera. The monophyly of seven genera within the Pseudocerotidae and Euryleptidae was not supported and many genera showed no autapomorphies, highlighting the need for taxonomic revision of these families. [source] A REEXAMINATION OF THE SYSTEMATICS OF THE ACROCHAETIALES (RHODOPHYTA) USING LARGE-SUBUNIT RDNA SEQUENCE DATAJOURNAL OF PHYCOLOGY, Issue 2000J.T. Harper The taxonomic history of the red algal order Acrochaetiales is chaotic. There is no consensus in the literature as to how many genera should be recognized or in the assignment of the over 400 species to these genera. Morphological and anatomical studies have provided a suite of possible characters to delineate genera within this order, but there have been major discrepancies in the assessment and use of these features. The phylogenetic placement of the Acrochaetiales has also been the focus of debate. Once thought to be the most ancestral florideophyte lineage, recent molecular systematic studies have illustrated that this order is a derived lineage closely related to the Nemaliales and Palmariales. Phylogenies using sequences of the small-subunit (SSU) rDNA have strongly supported two very divergent lineages within a possibly polyphyletic Acrochaetiales. The relationships between these two groups and among other closely related rhodophyte orders were not resolved. We have generated large-subunit (LSU) rDNA sequence data for representatives of the Acrochaetiales and related taxa. Distance and parsimony phylogenies based on LSU and combined SSU and LSU data will be presented. The increased phylogenetic signal afforded by this approach will shed light on previous conundrums in the systematics of this group. [source] Biodiversity recovery during rainforest reforestation as indicated by rapid assessment of epigaeic ants in tropical and subtropical AustraliaAUSTRAL ECOLOGY, Issue 4 2009SCOTT D. PIPER Abstract There is growing interest in the potential for reforestation to assist the recovery of rainforest biodiversity. There is also a need to identify taxonomically tractable groups for use as cost-effective indicators when monitoring the status of biodiversity within reforested sites. Insects are an important component of terrestrial biodiversity but often require considerable resources to sample at species level. Ant genera and generic-based functional groups have been suggested as possible indicators of environmental disturbance. Here we ask to what extent the development of biodiversity is indicated by epigaeic ant genera and functional groups, across different types of reforestation in tropical and subtropical Australia. In each region, we used pitfall traps to sample the ants in replicate sites of: unmanaged regrowth, monoculture and mixed species plantations and ,ecological restoration' plantings, together with reference sites in pasture and rainforest. We recorded 35 epigaeic ant genera (and 4623 individuals) from 50 tropical sites, and 39 genera (and 9904 individuals) from 54 subtropical sites, with 47 genera overall. Community composition of both genera and functional groups differed between pasture and rainforest, although many genera were widespread in both. Reforested sites were intermediate between pasture and rainforest in both regions, and showed a gradient associated with decreasing grass and increasing tree and litter cover. Older monoculture plantations and ecological restoration plantings had the most rainforest-like ant assemblages, and mixed-species cabinet timber plots the least, of the reforested sites. We conclude that ground-active ant genera and functional groups sampled in rapid surveys by pitfall-trapping showed only a modest ability to discriminate among different types of reforestation. Species-level identification, perhaps together with expanded sampling effort, could be more informative, but would require resourcing beyond the scope of rapid assessments. [source] Effect of the applied organic load rate on biodegradable polymer production by mixed microbial cultures in a sequencing batch reactorBIOTECHNOLOGY & BIOENGINEERING, Issue 1 2006Davide Dionisi Abstract This article studies the operation of a new process for the production of biopolymers (polyhydroxyalkanoates, PHAs) at different applied organic load rates (OLRs). The process is based on the aerobic enrichment of activated sludge to obtain mixed cultures able to store PHAs at high rates and yields. A mixture of acetic, lactic, and propionic acids at different concentrations (in the range 8.5,31.25 gCOD/L) was fed every 2 h in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR). The resulting applied OLR was in the range 8.5,31.25 gCOD/L/day. Even though, as expected, the increase in the OLR caused an increase in biomass concentration (up to about 8.7 g COD/L), it also caused a relevant decrease of maximal polymer production rate. This decrease in polymer production rate was related to the different extent of "feast and famine" conditions, as function of the applied OLR and of the start-up conditions. As a consequence the best performance of the process was obtained at an intermediate OLR (20 gCOD/L/day) where both biomass productivity and PHA storage were high enough. However, at this high OLR the process was unstable and sudden decrease of performance was also observed. The sludge characterized by the highest PHA storage response was investigated by 16S rDNA clone library. The clone library contained sequences mostly from PHA producers (e.g., Alcaligenes and Comamonas genera); however many genera and among them, one of the dominant (Thauera), were never described before in relation to PHA storage response. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] | ||||||||||