Distinctive prokaryotic microbiomes in sympatric plant roots from a Yucatan cenote.

Objective: Cenotes are flooded caves in Mexico's Yucatan peninsula. Many cenotes are interconnected in an underground network of pools and streams forming a vast belowground aquifer across most of the peninsula. Many plants in the peninsula grow roots that reach the cenotes water and live submerged in conditions similar to hydroponics.

Saliva is a reliable and accessible source for the detection of SARS-CoV-2.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of saliva sampling as a non-invasive and safer tool to detect severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and to compare its reproducibility and sensitivity with nasopharyngeal swab samples (NPS). The use of sample pools was also investigated.

Methods: A total of 2107 paired samples were collected from asymptomatic healthcare and office workers in Mexico City.

Plastid DNA diversity is higher in the island endemic Guadalupe cypress than in the continental Tecate cypress.

Background: Callitropsis guadalupensis (Guadalupe cypress) is endemic to Guadalupe Island, Mexico, where it is the dominant species of the only forest. The species has suffered declining numbers following the introduction of goats to the island over 150 years ago. Callitropsis guadalupensis is closely related to Callitropsis forbesii (Tecate cypress), distributed in small isolated populations in mainland Baja California and southern California.

Tropical montane nymphalids in Mexico: DNA barcodes reveal greater diversity.

Materials And Methods: DNA sequences obtained for the Barcode of Life library in the All Lepidoptera Campaign project Nymphalidae of Central Mexico were analyzed as a test of species limits and to explore possible phylogenetic groupings in the Preponini tribe. Using specimens in the National Insect Collection of the Instituto de Biología of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 78 specimens were assayed for cytochrome oxidase c subunit 1.

Results: Disregarding the missing data, there were 458 conserved sites, 200 variable sites and 187 parsimony-informative sites.