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As iniciativas de governança comunitária no manejo florestal ainda estão longe de se tornarem efetivamente arranjos institucionais descentralizados do poder público, ainda há uma forte dependência do Estado no apoio à organização, planejamento e meios de uso dos recursos naturais. Essa dependência também é evidenciada em parceria com organizações não governamentais, o que tem demonstrado pouca efetividade nas ações e no empoderamento comunitário a longo prazo. Na Amazônia Paraense são poucos os exemplos de casos que resultaram no protagonismo de povos e comunidades tradicionais, no tocante ao uso comum dos recursos florestais. Esta pesquisa tem por objetivo descrever a experiência de cinco comunidades ribeirinhas da Reserva Extrativista Verde para Sempre, localizada no município de Porto de Moz, no Oeste do Estado do Pará, onde tiveram a iniciativa de implementar um modelo de gestão dos recursos de base comunitária, com exploração florestal na lógica de um manejo adaptativo, de acordo com suas condições e necessidades. Aqui é apresentado como foi construído de forma participativa esse modelo denominado de “governança local”, que possibilitou o processo de condução direta da gestão pelas comunidades, onde as mesmas articularam com os atores envolvidos por meio de uma parceria formal, sem descaracterizar os interesses dos usuários. Os resultados revelaram que as comunidades estudadas têm avançado satisfatoriamente no alcance de suas metas, sendo consideradas iniciativas promissoras que podem ser multiplicadas. Constatou-se que a partir desse caso considerado emblemático, o órgão gestor da RESEX tem adotado uma postura de cogestão colaborativa, ao ponto de poder reconhecer esse modelo de governança e possibilitar a resignificação do manejo florestal comunitário, hoje considerado tecnicista. O artigo compartilha percepções socioambientais e lições aprendidas de cinco anos de observação empírica (2010-2015), a fim de contribuir para esse debate que ainda em seu início.

Introdução: A degeneração progressiva dos neurónios do Locus Coeruleus associada à diminuição de recetores adrenérgicos, alvos da Noradrenalina, conduz a uma diminuição da função cerebral, provocando uma baixa resposta hemodinâmica e atividade neuronal. A disfunção noradrenérgica pode, ainda, interromper a capacidade de monitorizar estímulos externos e alterar o processo cognitivo da atenção, como acontece na Doença de Alzheimer e na Doença de Parkinson. Objetivos: A investigação procurou unir estudos estruturais e funcionais do Locus Coeruleus, incluindo estudos pupilométricos na avaliação da atenção seletiva visual, que atendessem à resposta cerebral bem como à progressão da doença, com a finalidade de correlacionar o processo cognitivo de atenção com a imagem obtida por Ressonância Magnética do Locus Coeruleus. Materiais e Métodos: A estratégia de pesquisa foi desenvolvida para encontrar todos os potenciais artigos relevantes num conjunto de fontes, como: as bases de dados bibliográficas de biomedicina; bases de registos de ensaios clínicos randomizados e quase randomizados; repositórios científicos e sites agregadores de bases bibliográficas. Resultados: Estudos que avaliaram o Locus Coeruleus por Ressonância Magnética demonstram variações morfológicas dependentes da idade e estudos funcionais, juntamente com testes pupilométricos, apresentaram alterações na neuromodulação percutindo-se na seletividade da atenção. Conclusão: A compilação da análise dos estudos forneceu dados para o estudo do Locus Coeruleus e a relação com o processo cognitivo de atenção. Cientificamente, todos os aspetos morfológicos e funcionais sugerem possibilitar a análise da disfunção noradrenérgica sob o campo da imagem de Ressonância Magnética para compreender a incapacidade do Locus Coeruleus em monitorizar estímulos externos e alterar o processo cognitivo da atenção.

To date, a variety of species potential distribution mapping approaches have been used, and the agreement in maps produced with different methodological approaches should be assessed. The aims of this study were: (1) to model Maritime pine potential distributions for the present and for the future under two climate change scenarios using the machine learning Maximum Entropy algorithm (MaxEnt); (2) to update the species ecological envelope maps using the same environmental data set and climate change scenarios; and (3) to perform an agreement analysis for the species distribution maps produced with both methodological approaches. The species distribution maps produced by each of the methodological approaches under study were reclassified into presence–absence binary maps of species to perform the agreement analysis. The results showed that the MaxEnt-predicted map for the present matched well the species’ current distribution, but the species ecological envelope map, also for the present, was closer to the species’ empiric potential distribution. Climate change impacts on the species’ future distributions maps using the MaxEnt were moderate, but areas were relocated. The 47.3% suitability area (regular-medium-high), in the present, increased in future climate change scenarios to 48.7%–48.3%. Conversely, the impacts in species ecological envelopes maps were higher and with greater future losses than the latter. The 76.5% suitability area (regular-favourable-optimum), in the present, decreased in future climate change scenarios to 58.2%–51.6%. The two approaches combination resulted in a 44% concordance for the species occupancy in the present, decreasing around 30%–35% in the future under the climate change scenarios. Both methodologies proved to be complementary to set species’ best suitability areas, which are key as support decision tools for planning afforestation and forest management to attain fire-resilient landscapes, enhanced forest ecosystems biodiversity, functionality and productivity.

Objectives The aim of this article is to provide a comprehensive literature review, gathering the strongest evidence about the risks and benefits and the prescription of physical exercise during pregnancy. Content Regular physical exercise during pregnancy is associated with numerous benefits. In general women are not adequately advised on this matter. Along with their concerns regarding the potential associated risks, it contributes to the abandonment or refusal to start exercising during pregnancy. A systematic review was conducted in MEDLINE including articles considered to have the highest level of scientific evidence. Fifty-seven articles, including 32 meta-analysis, 9 systematic reviews and 16 randomized controlled trials were included in the final literature review. Summary Exercise can help preventing relevant pregnancy related disorders, such as gestational diabetes, excessive gestational weight gain, hypertensive disorders, urinary incontinence, fetal macrosomia, lumbopelvic pain, anxiety and prenatal depression. Exercise is not related with an increased risk of maternal or perinatal adverse outcomes. Compliance with current guidelines is sufficient to achieve the main benefits, and exercise type and intensity should be based on woman’s previous fitness level. Outlook Exercise in pregnancy is safe for both mother and fetus, contributing to prevent pregnancy related disorders. Exercise type and intensity should be adapted to woman’s previous fitness level, medical history and characteristics of the ongoing pregnancy.

A mamografia digital é, atualmente, o pilar do programa de rastreio do cancro da mama, contudo a densidade mamária afeta negativamente a sua performance de diagnóstico, diminuindo a sua sensibilidade devido ao efeito – designado em Radiologia “efeito máscara”. Com o objetivo de superar este inconveniente, a tomossíntese tem conseguido bons resultados em mulheres com elevada densidade mamária, devido à sua capacidade de reduzir as falsas imagens resultantes da sobreposição dos tecidos. Este estudo pretende explorar a literatura no que diz respeito à integração da tomossíntese nos programas de rastreio para avaliação de mulheres com elevada densidade mamária, com base nos indicadores clínicos: taxa de rechamada – recall rate, fração de falsos positivos (FFP) e taxa de deteção de lesões. Da pesquisa na literatura resultaram 79 estudos, dos quais 11 foram incluídos para análise. Verifica-se que a utilização da tomossíntese mais mamografia está associada à redução da recall rate, em todas as categorias ACR, mas maioritariamente na categoria C (Starikov A. et al, 2016) atingindo 8,83% para a tomossíntese e 10,98% para a mamografia (Alsheik N. et al, 2019), e 10,4% para a tomossíntese e 19,9% para a mamografia no estudo de Conant E. et al, 2019. A FFP também beneficia duma diminuição, porém, aumenta com o aumento das categorias ACR sendo cerca de 5 vezes superior na categoria D. A taxa de deteção de lesões também aumentou com a adoção da tomossíntese sendo cerca de 1,41 vezes superior em cada 1000 mulheres, e com maior expressão em mulheres com tecido mamário denso. Conclui-se que o uso isolado da tomossíntese ou a sua adição à mamografia demonstra resultados muito positivos, dado que esta modalidade de imagem contribui para a deteção de lesões de menores dimensões e, consequentemente, aumento da taxa de deteção de lesões, aumento da especificidade, diminuição da recall rate e FFP. Por este motivo a tomossíntese demonstra ser uma técnica promissora e pode representar uma resposta eficaz nos programas de rastreio.

Stevia rebaudianaBertoni, Asteraceae, is an herbaceous perennial plant native to Paraguay. This species is considered since ancient times a medicinal plant with important bioactive compounds and pharmacologic and food properties, namely diterpenes glycosides. The high natural sweetener potential stevioside and rebaudioside A produced byS. rebaudianaplants are suitable sucrose substitutes, and their obtention is influenced by environmental, phytosociological, and genetic factors. The plants’ genetic profile and sweet potential depiction are needed for suitable plant selection for improvement and deployment. Thirty-oneS. rebaudianaaccessions grown in the same plot where leaves samples were collected in early 2019, were genotyped using six microsatellite markers, including two steviol glycosides biosynthesis functionally involved markers. Additionally, an aqueous extract of each sample was obtained in a water bath and purified by SPE for stevioside and rebaudioside A quantification by normal phase HPLC. Stevioside and rebaudioside A contents varied between 0.53–7.36% (w w−1) and 0.37–3.60% (w w−1), respectively. Two genotypes displayed interesting ratios of rebaudioside A/stevioside (number 3 and 33). The level of genetic similarity between genotypes was tested through a pairwise similarity coefficient, and two groups of individuals had the same fingerprinting. Strong relatedness was found within genotypes, possibly due to cloning, thus, influx of new germplasm ought to be made to prevent mating between relatives, and for further selection and genetic improvement.

Research Highlights: Modelling species’ distribution and productivity is key to support integrated landscape planning, species’ afforestation, and sustainable forest management. Background and Objectives: Maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Aiton) forests in Portugal were lately affected by wildfires and measures to overcome this situation are needed. The aims of this study were: (1) to model species’ spatial distribution and productivity using a machine learning (ML) regression approach to produce current species’ distribution and productivity maps, (2) to model the species’ spatial productivity using a stochastic sequential simulation approach to produce the species’ current productivity map, (3) to produce the species’ potential distribution map, by using a ML classification approach to define species’ ecological envelope thresholds, and (4) to identify present and future key factors for the species’ afforestation and management. Materials and Methods: Spatial land cover/land use data, inventory, and environmental data (climate, topography, and soil) were used in a coupled ML regression and stochastic sequential simulation approaches to model species’ current and potential distributions and productivity. Results: Maritime pine spatial distribution modelling by the ML approach provided 69% fitting efficiency, while species productivity modelling achieved only 43%. The species’ potential area covered 60% of the country’s area, where 78% of the species’ forest inventory plots (1995) were found. The change in the Maritime pine stands’ age structure observed in the last decades is causing the species’ recovery by natural regeneration to be at risk. Conclusions: The maps produced allow for best site identification for species afforestation, wood production regulation support, landscape planning considering species’ diversity, and fire hazard mitigation. These maps were obtained by modelling using environmental covariates, such as climate attributes, so their projection in future climate change scenarios can be performed.

Research Highlights: This study assesses the genetic diversity and structure of the ice-cream-bean (Inga edulis Mart., Fabaceae) in wild and cultivated populations from the Peruvian Amazon. This research also highlights the importance of protecting the biodiversity of the forest in the Peruvian Amazon, to preserve the genetic resources of species and allow further genetic improvement. Background and Objectives: Ice-cream-bean is one of the most commonly used species in the Amazon region for its fruits and for shading protection of other species (e.g., cocoa and coffee plantations). Comprehensive studies about the impact of domestication on this species&rsquo, genetic diversity are needed, to find the best conservation and improvement strategies. Materials and Methods: In the current study, the genetic structure and diversity were assessed by genotyping 259 trees, sampled in five wild and 22 cultivated I. edulis populations in the Peruvian Amazon, with microsatellite markers. Pod length was measured in wild and cultivated trees. Results: The average pod length in cultivated trees was significantly higher than that in wild trees. The expected genetic diversity and the average number of alleles was higher in the wild compared to the cultivated populations, thus, a loss of genetic diversity was confirmed in the cultivated populations. The cultivated trees in the Loreto region had the highest pod length and lowest allelic richness, nevertheless, the wild populations&rsquo, genetic structure was not clearly differentiated (significantly different) from that of the cultivated populations. Conclusions: A loss of genetic diversity was confirmed in the cultivated populations. The species could have been simultaneously domesticated in multiple locations, usually from local origin. The original I. edulis Amazonian germplasm should be maintained. Cultivated populations&rsquo, new germplasm influx from wild populations should be undertaken to increase genetic diversity.

Workers around the world spend nearly a quarter of their time at work Occupational health is gaining great importance due to the profound impact on people long term health. The health status of the primary sector workforce is a great unknown for medical geography where health maps and spatial patterns have not been able to explain years of changing disease rates. This article proposes a new approach based on a solid characterization of the health status, which is the target node of an information theory-based Bayesian network machine-learnt from 13,000 medical examinations undertook to rural workers in Spain between 2012 and 2016. From the main health risks identified, a supervised binary logistic regression is used to produce a classification of adverse medical conditions giving rise to not healthy workers. Finally, Area-to-Point Poisson kriging is computed to provide a spatial analysis representing the incidence rate and spatial patterns of the main adverse medical conditions over the Spanish territory. The study illustrates how to overcome the challenges of working with discrete occupational data. Conceptually, high cholesterol and high glucose can be pinpointed with accuracy as the two main health risks for the working population in the primary sector.

Fruit production, as an elementary chemical characteristic of the fruit, was evaluated in 16 Opuntia ficus-indica Portuguese ecotypes cultivated in a marginal soil without tillage, in the second and third years after plantation. The O. ficus-indica ecotypes were compared with the Italian cultivars ‘Bianca’ and ‘Gialla’. Significant differences were found among the O. ficus-indica ecotypes in biomass-related parameters and fruit yield, and different groups were established. Two spineless ecotypes (OFI-12 and OFI-13) had highest biomass production, with 9.9 Mg/ha dry matter on average. This was not significantly different from the ‘Gialla’ cultivar, which averaged 11.9 Mg/ha, for a density of 2,667 plants/ha, in the third year after plantation. Among Portuguese ecotypes, the fruit yields ranged from 2.4 to 10.1 Mg/ha fresh weight. The cultivars ‘Gialla’ and ‘Bianca’ had the highest fruit yield (13.8 and 13.6 Mg/ha fresh weight, respectively). The ‘Gialla’ cultivar and the group of ecotypes with orange pulp produced fruits of larger size and weight compared to the ‘Bianca’ cultivar and the group of ecotypes with white pulp info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Climate change is already a reality, and habitat loss is affecting relentlessly tree species distributions. The strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo L., Ericaceae) is a Mediterranean evergreen tree used in this article as a case study to evince its expected threatening situation in the upcoming age. This research work seeks to identify the bioclimatic and physiographic variables that have the most impact on the strawberry tree’s spatial distribution in Portugal, acquiring vital knowledge for the design of accurate conservation and afforestation plans for the use and conservation of strawberry tree, working as a guide under a climate change scenario. For that, twenty-one bioclimatic variables, two physiographic attributes (altitude and slope), and the Emberger Index (EI) were used together with 318 observations of strawberry trees, to build a scalable Bayesian procedure, based on machine learning techniques, aimed to assess the species’ future habitat evolution through three temporal scenarios: (i) Control Run (1960–1990); (ii) 2050 and (iii) 2070. The results indicate for 2050 a 30% loss of the humid sub-region and a 35% increase in the semi-arid sub-region towards the north. In 2070, it is expected a 2% recuperation for the sub-humid area, but an 8% loss of the humid sub-area. Under these extreme climate change conditions, it is anticipated an almost complete loss of habitat for the strawberry tree in the south of Portugal. The expected ecological evolvability may trigger future migration paths and new refuges’ settlement in the northern sub-region for the succeeding decades and suggesting after 2070 the possibility of habitat switch and species drifting.

SUMMARYIn marginal lands Opuntia ficus-indica (OFI) could be used as an alternative fruit and forage crop. The plant vigour and the biomass production were evaluated in Portuguese germplasm (15 individuals from 16 ecotypes) by non-destructive methods, 2 years following planting in a marginal soil and dryland conditions. Two Italian cultivars (Gialla and Bianca) were included in the study for comparison purposes. The biomass production and the plant vigour were estimated by measuring the cladodes number and area, and the fresh (FW) and dry weight (DW) per plant. We selected linear models by using the biometric data from 60 cladodes to predict the cladode area, the FW and the DW per plant. Among ecotypes, significant differences were found in the studied biomass-related parameters and several homogeneous groups were established. Four Portuguese ecotypes had higher biomass production than the others, 3.20 Mg ha−1 on average, a value not significantly different to the improved ‘Gialla’ cultivar, which averaged 3.87 Mg ha−1. Those ecotypes could be used to start a breeding program and to deploy material for animal feeding and fruit production.

Species ecological envelope maps were obtained for the two main Portuguese wood-production species (Eucalyptus globulus Labill. and Pinus pinaster Aiton) and projected future climate change scenarios. A machine learning approach was used to understand the most influential environmental variables that may explain current species distribution and productivity. Background and Objectives: The aims of the study were: (1) to map species potential suitability areas using ecological envelopes in the present and to project them in the future under climate change scenarios, (2) to map species current distributions, (3) to map species current productivity, and (4) to explore the most influential environmental variables on species current distribution and productivity. Materials and Methods: Climate, elevation data, and soil data sets were used to obtain present and future species ecological envelopes under two climate change scenarios. The official land cover maps were used to map species distributions. Forest inventory data were used to map the species productivity by geostatistical techniques. A Bayesian machine learning approach, supported by species distributions and productivity data, was used to explore the most influential environmental variables on species distribution and productivity and to validate species ecological envelopes. Results: The species ecological envelope methodology was found to be robust. Species&rsquo, ecological envelopes showed a high potential for both species&rsquo, afforestation. In the future, a decrease in the country&rsquo, s area potentiality was forecasted for both species. The distribution of maritime pine was found to be mainly determined by precipitation-related variables, but the elevation and temperature-related variables were very important to differentiate species productivity. For eucalypts, species distribution was mainly explained by temperature-related variables, as well as the species productivity. Conclusions: These findings are key to support recommendations for future afforestation and will bring value to policy-makers and environmental authorities in policy formulation under climate change scenarios.

In Opuntia spp., the cladode tissues contain many polysaccharides and secondary metabolites that interfere with obtaining high-quality deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), using currently available methods. To circumvent this problem, three commercial kits, three modified versions of the conventional cetyltrimethylammonium bromide method (CTAB) method and one combined method were tested in Opuntia ficus-indica, O. robusta, O. dillenii and O. elata species. We obtained a rapid and simple protocol that allows the extraction of DNA from all the tested species with good DNA yield and purity, namely, the combined method. With this method (DNeasy® Plant Mini Kit combined with the CTAB method), DNA yields from 13.2 ± 7.8 to 15.9 ± 11.3 µg g−1 of fresh tissue were obtained in the four Opuntia species. The purity, evaluated by the ratio A260/A280 ratio, ranged from 1.67 ± 0.12 to 2.01 ± 0.25, revealing low levels of problematic metabolites. The extracted DNA quality was confirmed by amplifying a set of nuclear microsatellites obtained for the genus. Reliable reproducible bands and electropherogram profiles were obtained. The combined method has potential to be universal for good-quality DNA extraction in cacti, particularly in the Opuntia genus and other difficult-to-extract species.

Olea europaea ssp. europaea (Oleaceae) grows in Mediterranean countries. The Galega represents one of the most common Portuguese olive tree cultivars, and is used in five out of the six PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) regions. The fruits are used for olive oil and for fruit canning, besides which the cultivar is drought tolerant. The cultivar certification is done through phenotypic characteristics, but environmental influence might blur informativeness, and molecular markers could help in clarifying cultivar accessions certification. A total of 75 putative Galega accessions considered as belonging to the Galega cultivar, three previously phenotypically identified as GGN (Galega Grada Normal), GGS (Galega Grada de Serpa) and GGE (Galega Grada de Evora), and one as a non-Galega blind control were analyzed. Twenty RAPD primers amplified 144 bands and 32% were polymorphic. A low expected heterozygosity was estimated (10%), as expected for clonal propagated plants. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) clearly identified two groups. Group A was comprised of all the putative Galega accessions including GGN, but not individual #502. Group B included NG, GGE, GGS and #502. The analysis of molecular variance confirmed a very high differentiation between the two groups (88%), but also some within groups’ diversity (12%). Group A individuals cluster closely to GGN. Assuming that the GGN individual represents a Galega cultivar tree, we might assume that all the A group trees are Galega cultivar accessions. Nevertheless, some within group variability exists, may be due to the accumulation of somatic mutations and/or a putative origin from different, but related genotypes. Finally, the GGS, the GGE, and the #502 plot together with the individual identified as non Galega cultivar tree. Group B trees certainly had a very different genetic origin compared to the group A genotypes, which confirms some differences found in the morphologic characteristics compared to the ordinary Galega cultivar, reflected in the name differences. The pairwise matrix computed with the Dice similarity index was also used to obtain a dendrogram. Results were similar, but slightly different from the PCA. Three clusters were obtained. This indicates that the B group could be split into two sub-groups. A future study using a broader sampling and higher discriminant molecular markers, such as microsatellites, would help to reveal the phylogeny among the 3 cultivars (GGN, GGS and GGE) and to clarify if the intra-variability of those cultivars is geographically related.

The strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo L.) is an underutilized, drought tolerant, fire resistant species with a south western distribution in Europe, and with ecological and putative socio-economical impact in Portugal and Mediterranean countries. Our aim was to develop an appropriate set of molecular markers to enable genetic diversity to be assessed and to fingerprint Arbutus unedo genotypes for breeding and conservation purposes in Portugal. Twenty-seven trees from a broad geographic range were screened with 20 random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD primers) and 11 microsatellite markers (SSR). The RAPDs generated 124 bands, 57.3% of which were polymorphic, with an expected heterozygosity of 27%. We cross-amplified 11 SSR primers developed for Vaccinium spp., and 5 were found to be polymorphic in A. unedo, with 75% of expected heterozygosity, a number of alleles of 11.6, a null allele frequency of 7.6% and a polymorphic information content of 71%. Although the SSRs were more polymorphic and informative than the RAPDs, both markers displayed high genetic variability with the gathered data. No geographic pattern was observed in the genetic variation distribution based on both marker systems, and the lack of correlation between genetic and geographical matrices was confirmed by Mantel tests. Likely, no correlation was found between pairwise SSR and RAPD band-sharing matrices. These results and their implications on A. unedo breeding and conservation programs are discussed.

To assess the genetic patterns of colonisation of metalliferous areas by the pseudometallophyte Cistus ladanifer with AFLP genome scan, to compare those estimates with previous cpSSR results, and to identify loci potentially linked to tolerance to metalliferous soils. Thirty-three populations were screened with AFLP markers. Statistical analyses included estimation of genetic diversity, hierarchical analysis of molecular variation and Bayesian analysis of geographical partitioning of genetic diversity. Mantel tests and Spearman’s correlation index were used to compare results obtained with AFLP and cpSSR. Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) models were applied to correlate allele frequency distribution and soil variables (pH, Ca:Mg ratio and total contents of different trace metals). Metallicolous and non-metallicolous populations of C. ladanifer showed neither different levels of genetic diversity, nor genetic differentiation between population types. Incongruence in genetic diversity estimates between AFLP and cpSSR due to marker-specific properties was observed. Nonetheless, pairwise distance matrices computed with both markers were concordant. GEE analyses showed that the Mn total soil content has an important effect on the allele distribution in C. ladanifer. In contrast, the Ca:Mg ratio seems to have no selective effect. Moreover, we identified a particular band with a putative role in the species’ tolerance to high Mn concentrations in the soil. The soil type had no influence over this species’ genetic structure. GEE showed their usefulness in revealing the association between soil variables and AFLP loci.

International audience; AbstractKey messageSlash and burn practices affect tropical forests. Our results showed strong introgression between Inga ingoides and Inga edulis in the species contact area. Interspecific hybridization could be sought to improve yield and tolerance to flooding and further increase the economic potential of the poorly drained Amazonian soils and minimize deforestation.ContextInga species are important components of tropical American forests, as well as a local food source. Little is known about the genetic structure of these species; in particular the amount of introgression among species remains unknown.AimsWe assessed the degree of genetic divergence and introgression among populations of I. ingoides (Rich.) Willd. and I. edulis Mart. (Fabaceae) from three Peruvian Amazon tributary rivers.MethodsUsing microsatellite markers we determined the genetic structure of populations using an analysis of molecular variance and a Bayesian analysis of population structure in areas affected by seasonal river fluctuations and in ‘terra firme’ forests.ResultsOverall genetic differentiation was weak. The degree of genetic variation was similar in the two species. A putatively strong introgression was detected between the two species and an intense gene flow was identified among populations. This indicates that an intense gene flow had happened in the past, leading also to a small differentiation among populations within species.ConclusionSelection of natural hybrids or artificial hybridization between I. edulis and I. ingoides could be applied to improve legume size and yield in the later species, while maintaining tolerance to flooding. Improved I. ingoides could be used in multipurpose agroforestry on open areas along the rivers, instead of using the usual slash and burn practice to create inland open areas.

We compared the genetic variation of Pinus pinaster populations using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) and chloroplast simple-sequence repeat (cpSSR) loci. Populations' levels of diversity within groups were found to be similar with AFLPs, but not with cpSSRs. The high interlocus variance associated with the AFLP loci could account for the lack of differences in the former. Although AFLPs revealed much lower genetic diversity than cpSSRs, the levels of among-population differentiation found with the two types of marker were similar, provided that loci showing fewer than four null-homozygotes, in any population, were pruned from the AFLP data. Moreover, the French and Portuguese populations were clearly differentiated from each other, with both markers. The Mantel test showed that the genetic distance matrix calculated using the AFLP data was correlated with the matrix derived from the cpSSRs. Because of the concordance found between markers we conclude that gene flow was indeed the predominant force shaping nuclear and chloroplastic genetic variation of the populations within regions, at the geographical scale studied.

RESUMO: Objetivos – Determinar a sensibilidade e especificidade das ponderações Difusão (DWI) e T2 Fluid-Attenuated Inversion Recovery (FLAIR) na avaliação de lesões da substância branca (SB) e verificar em que medida se complementam, por forma a criar um conjunto de boas práticas na RM cranioencefálica de rotina. Metodologia – Recorrendo-se a uma metodologia quantitativa, efetuou-se uma análise retrospetiva da qual foram selecionados 30 pacientes, 10 sem patologia e 20 com patologia (2 com EM, 7 com Leucoencefalopatia, 6 com doença microangiopática e 5 com patologia da substância branca indefinida). Obteve-se uma amostra de 60 imagens, nomeadamente: 30 imagens ponderadas em DWI e 30 em T2 FLAIR. Recorrendo ao programa Viewdex®, três observadores avaliaram um conjunto de imagens segundo sete critérios: visibilidade, deteção, homogeneidade, localização, margens e dimensões da lesão e capacidade de diagnóstico. Com os resultados obtidos recorreu-se ao cálculo de sensibilidade e especificidade pelas Curvas ROC, bem como à análise estatística, nomeadamente, Teste-T, Índice de Concordância Kappa e coeficiente de correlação de Pearson entre as variáveis em estudo. Resultados – Os resultados de sensibilidade e de especificidade obtidos para a ponderação T2 FLAIR foram superiores (0,915 e 0,038, respetivamente) aos da ponderação DWI (0,08 e 0,100, respetivamente). Não se verificaram variâncias populacionais significativas. Obteve-se uma elevada correlação linear entre as variáveis com um valor r situado entre 0,8 e 0,99. Verificou-se também uma variabilidade considerável entre os observadores. Conclusões – Dados os baixos valores de sensibilidade e especificidade obtidos para a DWI, sugere-se que esta deva ser incluída no protocolo de rotina de crânio como auxiliar no diagnóstico diferencial com outras patologias. ABSTRACT: Objectives – To determine the sensitivity and specificity of diffusion weighted (DWI) and Fluid-Attenuated Inversion Recovery (T2 FLAIR) in the evaluation of white matter lesions and to verify what is his extended complement in order to create a set of best practices in the MRI routine of the brain. Methodology – Was carried out a quantitative study with a retrospective analysis. From database, were selected 30 patients, 20 with and 10 without disease. We obtained a sample of 60 images, including 30-weighted images of T2 FLAIR and 30 of DWI. Using the program Viewdex®, the set of images were observed by three observers. The images were assessed according seven criteria: visibility, detection, consistency, location, size and margins of the lesion and diagnostic capability. We used the calculation of sensitivity and specificity by ROC curves, as well as statistical analysis, namely, T-test, Kappa index and the Pearson’s correlation coefficient between the variables under study. Results – The sensitivity and specificity obtained for the weighted T2 FLAIR were higher (0.915 and 0.038 respectively) to the weighting DWI (0.08 and 0.100 respectively). There were no significant population variances. We obtained a high linear correlation between variables with an r value located between 0.8 and 0.99. There was a considerable variability among observers. Conclusions – Although the values of sensitivity and specificity for DWI have been lower than expected, we suggest that this sequence should be included in the routine protocol of the brain to help the differential diagnosis with other pathologies.

International audience; • Introduction Tree genetic improvement programs usually lack, in general, pedigree information. Since molecular markers can be used to estimate the level of genetic similarity between individuals, we genotyped a sample of a Portuguese Eucalyptus globulus breeding population—a reference population of 125 individuals—with 16 microsatellites (SSR). • Materials and methods Using genotypes from the reference population, we developed a simulation approach to recurrently generate (105 replicates) virtual offspring with different relatedness: selfed, half-sib, full-sib and unrelated individuals. Four commonly used pairwise similarity coefficients were tested on these groups of simulated offspring. Significant deficits in heterozygosity were found for some markers in the reference population, likely due to the presence of null alleles. Therefore, the impact of null alleles in the relatedness estimates was also studied. We conservatively assumed that all homozygotes in the reference population were carriers of null alleles. • Results All estimators were unbiased, but one of them was better adjusted to our data set, even when null alleles were considered. The estimator’s accuracy and precision were validated with individuals of known pedigree obtained from controlled crosses made with the same reference population’s parents. Additionally, a clustering algorithm based on the estimator of choice was constructed, in order to infer the relatedness among 24 E. globulus elite individuals. We detected four putatively related elite individuals’ pairs (six pairs considering the presence of null alleles). • Conclusions This work demonstrates that in the absence of pedigree information, our approach could be useful to identify relatives and minimize consanguinity in breeding populations.

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Relatedness among parents, variation in clonal fertility and background pollination deviate the realized genetic gain and the gene diversity of open pollinated seed orchard from expectation, in particular in wind pollinated species such as Pinus pinaster Aiton. This work investigates the genetic variation, the mating system and the pollen contamination in a P. pinaster clonal seed orchard (CSO), by screening the 60 clones from the CSO and the seeds collected from 21 mother-trees with three nuclear microsatellites. The expected diversity was similar, but the observed heterozygosity decreased 20% in the progenies compared with the parental trees. The outcrossing rate was 90.1%, the biparental inbreeding 21.7% computed through a multilocus approach, and the observed selfing 3.9%. The observed gene flow from outside the CSO was 52.4%. From the results we concluded that the observed gene flow and the biparental inbreeding were high, and care should be taken in the implementation and management of future CSO, in particular clones should be checked for relatedness and the ramet number could be directly proportional to their breeding value., L'apparentement entre parents, la variation de fertilité entre clones et la pollution pollinique font dévier le gain génétique réalisé et la diversité génétique des valeurs attendues en verger à graines de clones à pollinisation libre, en particulier pour une espèce à pollinisation anémophile comme Pinus pinaster Aiton. Ce travail étudie la variation génétique, le système de reproduction et la contamination du pollen d'un verger à graines de clones (VGC) de P. pinaster, en génotypant les 60 clones du VGC et les graines récoltées sur 21 arbres-mères pour trois marqueurs microsatellites nucléaires. La diversité attendue s'est révélée similaire mais l'hétérozygotie observée a diminué de 20 % chez les descendants par rapport aux parents. Le taux d'allofécondation était de 90,1 %, la consanguinité biparentale calculée grâce à une approche multilocus était de 21,7 % et le taux d'autofécondation observé était de 52,4 %. D'après ces résultats, nous avons conclu que les flux de gènes observés et la consanguinité biparentale étaient élevés et que des précautions devaient être prises dans la mise en place et la gestion de futurs VGC, l'apparentement entre clones devrait en particulier être vérifié et le nombre de copies d'un individu pourrait être directement proportionnel à sa valeur génétique.

Some 1339 trees from 48 Pinus pinaster stands were characterized by five chloroplast microsatellites, detecting a total of 103 distinct haplotypes. Frequencies for the 16 most abundant haplotypes (pk > 0.01) were spatially interpolated over a lattice made by 430 grid points. Fitting of spatially interpolated values on raw haplotype frequencies at the same geographical location was tested by regression analysis. A range-wide 'diversity map' based on interpolated haplotype frequencies allowed the identification of one 'hotspot' of diversity in central and southeastern Spain, and two areas of low haplotypic diversity located in the western Iberian peninsula and Morocco. Principal component analysis (PCA) carried out on haplotypes frequency surfaces allowed the construction of a colour-based 'synthetic' map of the first three PC components, enabling the detection of the main range-scale genetic trends and the identification of three main 'gene pools' for the species (i) a 'southeastern' gene pool, including southeastern France, Italy, Corsica, Sardinia, Pantelleria and northern Africa; (ii) an 'Atlantic' gene pool, including all the western areas of the Iberian peninsula; and (iii) a 'central' gene pool, located in southeastern Spain. Multivariate and amova analyses carried out on interpolated grid point frequency values revealed the existence of eight major clusters ('gene zones'), whose genetic relationships were related with the history of the species. In addition, demographic models showed more ancient expansions in the eastern and southern ranges of maritime pine probably associated to early postglacial recolonization. The delineation of the gene zones provides a baseline for designing conservation areas in this key Mediterranean pine. © 2007 The Authors.

Pinus pinaster is a conifer native to western Europe and northern Africa. Following on-going breeding programmes, provenance and progeny trials were established in some of the countries of the species' range (France, Portugal and Spain) and quantitative traits were measured growth, stem form, survival and pest and disease resistance, amongst others. Populations from the wide range of P. pinaster were recently screened with molecular markers in order to assess their genetic diversity. Data were obtained using allozymes, chloroplast (cpSSRs) and nuclear (nuSSRs) microsatellites and amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs). Based on mtDNA-RFLP analysis, three maternal lineages (named "western", "eastern" and "Moroccan") were identified and no population showed a mixed composition. In this study, the imprint that differentiation in putatively isolated glacial refugia (identified by the different maternal lineages) might have left on the nuclear genome was analysed using a wide range of molecular markers and adaptive traits. Multivariate ordination of populations based on nuclear molecular markers (allozymes and nuSSRs) showed a clear clustering of provenances sharing a given mtDNA lineage. However, that clustering was found to be less tight when only quantitative traits were investigated. In P. pinaster, the within-population estimates of gene diversity using different traits were not correlated. Therefore, caution is advisable when designing conservation strategies based on molecular marker studies or a limited number of populations. After these results, we recommend a conservation strategy characterised by gene flow consistent with the current population structure, careful seed transfer among maternal lineages (if any), selection of populations for conservation based on the originality of their allelic composition and definition of Management Units (MUs) based on adaptive traits. © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

International audience; Maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Ait.) is the first conifer used for reforestation in France and now covers 2.4 million ha of the Iberian Peninsula. In order to preserve the genetic resources of this economically and ecologically important species prior knowledge of the distribution of genetic diversity is needed. In this paper, a genetic diversity study was performed using nuclear simple sequence repeats (SSRs or microsatellites). Classical parameters of diversity (allelic richness and heterozygosity) and differentiation were estimated for 47 populations of P. pinaster. Most of the populations (40) were collected in France, six populations were also collected in the Iberian Peninsula and one Moroccan population was also included in the study. The population genetic parameters indicated that some populations should be a focus of conservation efforts (higher level of diversity, higher allelic richness and presence of rare alleles). A diagnostic test for sample origin was developed to distinguish Corsican from Landes populations.; Que nous indiquent les microsatellites nucléaires sur la conservation des ressources génétiques du pin maritime et sur les stratégies de certification de provenances ? Le pin maritime (Pinus pinaster Ait.) est le premier conifère utilisé pour le reboisement en France et couvre environ 2,4 millions d'hectares dans la péninsule Ibérique. Dans le but de conserver les ressources génétiques de cette espèce, importante du point de vue économique et écologique, une connaissance préalable de la distribution de sa diversité génétique est nécessaire. Dans ce papier, une étude de diversité génétique a été menée en utilisant des marqueurs microsatellites. Les paramètres classiques de diversité (richesse allélique et hétérozygotie) et de différenciation ont été calculés au sein de 47 populations. La plupart des populations (40) ont été échantillonnées en France, six populations ont été choisies dans la Péninsule Ibérique et une population marocaine a également été incluse dans l'analyse. Les résultats de génétique des populations montrent que certaines populations pourraient être intéressantes pour la conservation des ressources génétiques de l'espèce (niveau d'hétérozygotie ou de richesse allélique plus élevée que les autres populations, présence d'allèles rares). Nous avons montré que les résultats de cette analyse fournissent un test diagnostic pour distinguer les populations d'origine landaise des populations d'origine corse.

Genetic variation in 12 Pinus pinaster (maritime pine) populations spanning most of the distribution range of the species in Portugal was evaluated using six polymorphic chloroplast microsatellite (cpSSR) loci. Thirty-two haplotypes were found. There were indications of very weak differentiation among populations (Weir’s θcoefficient, 0.023), and the R ST value, derived from the stepwise mutation model (SMM), was not significantly different from zero. The pattern, in which similarities in allele size, in base pairs, do not contribute to the genetic structure, may be due to the recent mixing of genetic material from different stands through plantations. Overall, a high level of haplotypic variation within populations was detected. Using the SMM estimator (mean genetic distance of individuals within populations, D 2 sh –––) we divided the populations into two groups, with above and below average values. The first group contained 5 populations, mainly from the central part of the country, which possess, in general, high levels of haplotypic diversity. Among them, 2 populations were divergent from the others based on the pair-wise Nei’s distance. The results indicate that there is no discernible geographic genetic pattern for the Portuguese populations of P. pinaster investigated. The history of expansion of the species range in Portugal during the twentieth century (mainly due to human activity) and extensive gene flow among populations associated with the expansion could explain this finding.