Boat noise interferes with Lusitanian toadfish acoustic communication.

Anthropogenic noise is considered a major underwater pollutant as increasing ocean background noise due to human activities is impacting aquatic organisms. One of the most prevalent anthropogenic sounds is boat noise. Although motorboat traffic has increased in the past few decades, its impact on the communication of fish is still poorly known.

Secondary Metabolites in Edible Species: Looking beyond Nutritional Value.

Secondary metabolites are organic molecules of low molecular weight, biosynthesized by any living being using a wide range of biosynthetic pathways, known as secondary metabolism [...

The Perfect Condition for the Rising of Superbugs: Person-to-Person Contact and Antibiotic Use Are the Key Factors Responsible for the Positive Correlation between Antibiotic Resistance Gene Diversity and Virulence Gene Diversity in Human Metagenomes.

Human metagenomes with a high diversity of virulence genes tend to have a high diversity of antibiotic-resistance genes and vice-versa. To understand this positive correlation, we simulated the transfer of these genes and bacterial pathogens in a community of interacting people that take antibiotics when infected by pathogens. Simulations show that people with higher diversity of virulence and resistance genes took antibiotics long ago, not recently.

Aqueous and Ethanolic Plant Extracts as Bio-Insecticides-Establishing a Bridge between Raw Scientific Data and Practical Reality.

Global demand for food production is causing pressure to produce faster and bigger crop yields, leading to a rampant use of synthetical pesticides. To combat the nefarious consequences of its uses, a search for effective alternatives began in the last decades and is currently ongoing. Nature is seen as the main source of answers to crop protection problems, supported by several examples of plants/extracts used for this purpose in traditional agriculture.

Characterization of a R23 Isolated from Arugula by Whole-Genome Sequencing and Its Bacteriocin Production Ability.

is one of the lactic acid bacteria species most used as probiotics and starter cultures in food production. Bacteriocin-producers are also promising natural food preservatives. This study aimed to characterize R23 and its bacteriocins (R23 bacteriocins).

Unboxing mutations: Connecting mutation types with evolutionary consequences.

A key step in understanding the genetic basis of different evolutionary outcomes (e.g., adaptation) is to determine the roles played by different mutation types (e.

Evolution of Flavylium-Based Color Systems in Plants: What Physical Chemistry Can Tell Us.

Anthocyanins are the basis of the color of angiosperms, 3-deoxyanthocyanins and sphagnorubin play the same role in mosses and ferns, and auronidins are responsible for the color in liverworts. In this study, the color system of cyanidin-3--glucoside (kuromanin) as a representative compound of simpler anthocyanins was fully characterized by stopped flow. This type of anthocyanin cannot confer significant color to plants without intra- or intermolecular interactions, complexation with metals or supramolecular structures as in The anthocyanin's color system was compared with those of 3-deoxyanthocyanins and riccionidin A, the aglycone of auronidins.

Predicting the ecological impact of a recent range expansion in the structure of intertidal biofilms.

Predicting the consequences of recent changes in species distributional ranges is paramount. The trochid Phorcus sauciatus has recently colonised the Azores and is the only intertidal trochid in these islands. In this study we used experimental mesocosms to examine whether its addition to the remainder of the intertidal assemblage of grazers composed of littorinids and patellids affects the structure of epilithic biofilms growing on experimental plates.

Marine algal flora of São Miguel Island, Azores.

Background: The macroalgal flora of the Island of São Miguel (eastern group of the Azores Archipelago) has attracted the interest of many researchers in the past, the first publications going back to the nineteenth century. Initial studies were mainly taxonomic, resulting in the publication of a checklist of the Azorean benthic marine algae. Later, the establishment of the University of the Azores on the Island permitted the logistic conditions to develop both temporal studies and long-term research and this resulted in a significant increase on research directed at the benthic marine algae and littoral communities of the Island and consequent publications.

Standardised inventories of spiders (Arachnida, Araneae) on touristic trails of the native forests of the Azores (Portugal).

Background: The sharp increase in tourist visitation of the Azores Archipelago from 2015 onwards raised concerns about the impacts of recreational tourism on native habitats. In response, a project was financed by the Azorean Government to investigate the drivers of biodiversity erosion associated with recreational tourism. Here, we present the data on spider biodiversity found on trails located within the native Azorean forests as they are home to several endemic species of great conservation value.

Large-scale movements of common bottlenose dolphins in the Atlantic: dolphins with an international courtyard.

Wide-ranging connectivity patterns of common bottlenose dolphins () are generally poorly known worldwide and more so within the oceanic archipelagos of Macaronesia in the North East (NE) Atlantic. This study aimed to identify long-range movements between the archipelagos of Macaronesia that lie between 500 and 1,500 km apart, and between Madeira archipelago and the Portuguese continental shelf, through the compilation and comparison of bottlenose dolphin's photo-identification catalogues from different regions: one from Madeira ( = 363 individuals), two from different areas in the Azores ( = 495 and 176), and four from different islands of the Canary Islands ( = 182, 110, 142 and 281), summing up 1791 photographs. An additional comparison was made between the Madeira catalogue and one catalogue from Sagres, on the southwest tip of the Iberian Peninsula ( = 359).

Marine algal flora of Santa Maria Island, Azores.

Background: The algal flora of the Island of Santa Maria (eastern group of the Azores archipelago) has attracted interest of researchers on past occasions (Drouët 1866, Agardh 1870, Trelease 1897, Schmidt 1931, Ardré et al. 1974, Fralick and Hehre 1990, Neto et al. 1991, Morton and Britton 2000, Amen et al.

evALLution: making basic evolution concepts accessible to people with visual impairment through a multisensory tree of life.

Background: People with visual impairment have benefitted from recent developments of assistive technology that aim to decrease socio-economic inequality. However, access to post-secondary education is still extremelly challenging, especially for scientific areas. The under representation of people with visual impairment in the evolution research community is connected with the vision-based communication of evolutionary biology knowledge and the accompanying lack of multisensory alternatives for learning.

Updated checklist of Azores Actinopterygii (Gnathostomata: Osteichthyes).

Background: Since the first published comprehensive checklist of Azorean fishes - covering the whole Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) region - several new records have been published and an updated checklist published in 2010. This new dataset covers all confirmed species of actinopterygians for the Azorean EEZ.

New Information: In this update, we made corrections to the previous checklists, updated the taxonomy according to the most recent bibliography and added two new species to the Azorean Actinopterygii checklist.

Seventeen 'extinct' plant species back to conservation attention in Europe.

Seventeen European endemic plant species were considered extinct, but improved taxonomic and distribution knowledge as well as ex situ collecting activities brought them out of the extinct status. These species have now been reported into a conservation framework that may promote legal protection and in situ and ex situ conservation.

Marine algal flora of Flores and Corvo Islands, Azores.

Background: The algal flora of the western group of the Azores archipelago (Islands of Flores and Corvo) has attracted the interest of many researchers on numerous past occasions (such as Drouet 1866, Trelease 1897, Gain 1914, Schmidt 1929, Schmidt 1931, Azevedo et al. 1990, Fralick and Hehre 1990, Neto and Azevedo 1990, Neto and Baldwin 1990, Neto 1996, Neto 1997, Neto 1999, Tittley and Neto 1996, Tittley and Neto 2000, Tittley and Neto 2005, Tittley and Neto 2006, Azevedo 1998, Azevedo 1999, Tittley et al. 1998, Dionísio et al.

Short- and long-term temporal changes in the assemblage structure of Amazonian dung beetles.

Species diversity varies in space and time. Temporal changes in the structure and dynamics of communities can occur at different scales. We investigated the temporal changes of dung beetle assemblages in the Amazonian region along seasons, years, and successional stages.

Corrigendum to 'Dental pathology of the wild Iberian wolf (): the study of a 20 century Portuguese museum collection': Veterinary and animal science 9 (2020) 100100.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.vas.

High developmental temperature leads to low reproduction despite adult temperature.

Phenotypic plasticity can help organisms cope with changing thermal conditions and it may depend on which life-stage the thermal stress is imposed: for instance, exposure to stressful temperatures during development can trigger a positive plastic response in adults. Here, we analyze the thermal plastic response of laboratory populations of Drosophila subobscura, derived from two contrasting latitudes of the European cline. We measured reproductive performance through fecundity characters, after the experimental populations were exposed to five thermal treatments, with different combinations of developmental and adult temperatures (14 °C, 18 °C, or 26 °C).

The sources of variation for individual prey-to-predator size ratios.

The relative body size at which predators are willing to attack prey, a key trait for predator-prey interactions, is usually considered invariant. However, this ratio can vary widely among individuals or populations. Identifying the range and origin of such variation is key to understanding the strength and constraints on selection in both predators and prey.