A Taxonomically-verified and Vouchered Checklist of the Vascular Plants of the Republic of Guinea.

The Checklist of the Vascular Plants of the Republic of Guinea (CVPRG) is a specimen-based, expert-validated knowledge product, which provides a concise synthesis and overview of current knowledge on 3901 vascular plant species documented from Guinea (Conakry), West Africa, including their accepted names and synonyms, as well as their distribution and status within Guinea (indigenous or introduced, endemic or not). The CVPRG is generated automatically from the Guinea Collections Database and the Guinea Names Backbone Database, both developed and maintained at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in collaboration with the staff of the National Herbarium of Guinea. A total of 3505 indigenous vascular plant species are reported of which 3328 are flowering plants (angiosperms); this represents a 26% increase in known indigenous angiosperms since the last floristic overview.

Increasing Frequency of Affirmed Name and Pronoun Documentation in a Pediatric Emergency Department.

Background And Objectives: In a previous study of 204 transgender and gender diverse youth in our region, 44% reported being made to feel uncomfortable in the emergency department (ED) because of their gender identity. The objective of our study was to conduct a 2 year quality improvement project to increase affirmed name and pronoun documentation in the pediatric ED.

Methods: Using process mapping, we identified 5 key drivers and change ideas.

Tectonics, climate and the diversification of the tropical African terrestrial flora and fauna.

Tropical Africa is home to an astonishing biodiversity occurring in a variety of ecosystems. Past climatic change and geological events have impacted the evolution and diversification of this biodiversity. During the last two decades, around 90 dated molecular phylogenies of different clades across animals and plants have been published leading to an increased understanding of the diversification and speciation processes generating tropical African biodiversity.

Glacial refugia and speciation in a group of wind-pollinated and -dispersed, endemic Alpine species of Helictotrichon (Poaceae).

In the Alps phylogeographic studies indicate for small insect-pollinated herbs that climatic fluctuations caused significant population migrations and fragmentations into glacial refugia at the periphery of the Alps. Here we investigate whether this holds also for wind-pollinated and -dispersed species. We therefore analysed the phylogeographic pattern (nuclear and chloroplast dataset) of a clade of the four species of the Helictotrichon parlatorei species group (Poaceae) endemic to the Alps.

Exploring the floristic diversity of tropical Africa.

Background: Understanding the patterns of biodiversity distribution and what influences them is a fundamental pre-requisite for effective conservation and sustainable utilisation of biodiversity. Such knowledge is increasingly urgent as biodiversity responds to the ongoing effects of global climate change. Nowhere is this more acute than in species-rich tropical Africa, where so little is known about plant diversity and its distribution.

RAINBIO: a mega-database of tropical African vascular plants distributions.

The tropical vegetation of Africa is characterized by high levels of species diversity but is undergoing important shifts in response to ongoing climate change and increasing anthropogenic pressures. Although our knowledge of plant species distribution patterns in the African tropics has been improving over the years, it remains limited. Here we present RAINBIO, a unique comprehensive mega-database of georeferenced records for vascular plants in continental tropical Africa.

Polymorphic microsatellite loci for Haumania danckelmaniana and transferability to H. liebrechtsiana (Marantaceae).

Premise Of The Study: Microsatellite markers were developed for the species Haumania danckelmaniana (Marantaceae) from central tropical Africa.

Methods And Results: Microsatellite isolation was performed simultaneously on three different species of Marantaceae through a procedure that combines multiplex microsatellite enrichment and next-generation sequencing. From 80 primers selected for initial screening, 20 markers positively amplified in H.

Comparative phylogeography of eight herbs and lianas (Marantaceae) in central African rainforests.

Vegetation history in tropical Africa is still to date hardly known and the drivers of population differentiation and speciation processes are little documented. It has often been postulated that population fragmentations following climate changes have played a key role in shaping the geographic distribution patterns of genetic diversity and in driving speciation. Here we analyzed phylogeographic patterns (chloroplast-DNA sequences) within and between eight (sister) species of widespread rainforest herbs and lianas from four genera of Marantaceae (Halopegia, Haumania, Marantochloa, Megaphrynium), searching for concordant patterns across species and concordance with the Pleistocene refuge hypothesis.

Loss of Dictyostelium ATG9 results in a pleiotropic phenotype affecting growth, development, phagocytosis and clearance and replication of Legionella pneumophila.

Infection of Dictyostelium discoideum with Legionella pneumophila resulted in a large number of differentially regulated genes among them three core autophagy genes, ATG8, ATG9 and ATG16. Macroautophagy contributes to many physiological and pathological processes and might also constitute an important mechanism in cell-autonomous immunity. For further studies we selected the highly conserved ATG9.

Pollination syndromes in African Marantaceae.

Background And Aims: The Marantaceae (550 spp.) is the most derived family in the order Zingiberales and exhibits a complex explosive pollination mechanism. To understand the evolutionary significance of this unique process of pollen transfer, comparative morphological and ecological studies were conducted in Gabon.