Aim Biodiversity information is the focus of major initiatives aimed at assembling large-scale primary-data documentation ('digital accessible knowledge') of the distribution of life on Earth. Recent efforts within Brazil have assembled a massive amount of such documentation for Brazilian plants, which we analyse in this study. Our aim is to identify areas representing gaps in current knowledge; these gaps can guide future botanical exploration and discovery in Brazil. Location Brazil.Methods We assessed angiosperm inventories across Brazil at diverse spatial scales using statistics that summarize inventory completeness. In particular, we assess the completeness of geographical knowledge of Brazilian floras as measured in terms of geographical distance and climatic difference from welldocumented sites.Results Spatial knowledge of Brazilian angiosperms is very unevenly distributed: well-known sites are concentrated in eastern and southern regions, whereas the remainder of the country remains poorly documented. Worse still, in many regions, areas lacking detailed botanical documentation coincide with areas of intense habitat destruction, such that many such sites will never be documented scientifically.Main conclusions This study illustrates how biodiversity survey and inventory efforts can be guided by existing knowledge. That is, to the extent that existing biodiversity knowledge is made digital and openly available, and to the extent that information is sufficiently comprehensive and informative, spatial summaries of completeness such as that presented here offer clear and strategic directions for maximizing the yield of new knowledge from any de novo field efforts.

Addressing the challenges of biodiversity conservation and sustainable development requires global cooperation, support structures, and new governance models to integrate diverse initiatives and achieve massive, open exchange of data, tools, and technology. The traditional paradigm of sharing scientific knowledge through publications is not sufficient to meet contemporary demands that require not only the results but also data, knowledge, and skills to analyze the data. E-infrastructures are key in facilitating access to data and providing the framework for collaboration. Here we discuss the importance of e-infrastructures of public interest and the lack of long-term funding policies. We present the example of Brazil’s speciesLink network, an e-infrastructure that provides free and open access to biodiversity primary data and associated tools. SpeciesLink currently integrates 382 datasets from 135 national institutions and 13 institutions from abroad, openly sharing ~7.4 million records, 94% of which are associated to voucher specimens. Just as important as the data is the network of data providers and users. In 2014, more than 95% of its users were from Brazil, demonstrating the importance of local e-infrastructures in enabling and promoting local use of biodiversity data and knowledge. From the outset, speciesLink has been sustained through project-based funding, normally public grants for 2–4-year periods. In between projects, there are short-term crises in trying to keep the system operational, a fact that has also been observed in global biodiversity portals, as well as in social and physical sciences platforms and even in computing services portals. In the last decade, the open access movement propelled the development of many web platforms for sharing data. Adequate policies unfortunately did not follow the same tempo, and now many initiatives may perish.

No abstract

No abstract

SummaryLeaves have undergone structural modifications over evolutionary time, and presently exist in many forms. For instance, in Fabaceae and Bignoniaceae, leaf parts can be modified into tendrils. Currently, no data are available on genic control of tendrilled leaf development outside Fabaceae.Here, we conducted a detailed study of three representatives of Bignonieae: Amphilophium buccinatorium, Dolichandra unguis-cati, and Bignonia callistegioides, bearing multifid, trifid, and simple-tendrilled leaves, respectively. We investigated the structure of their petioles, petiolules, leaflets, and tendrils through histological analyses. Additionally, the expression of SHOOTMERISTEMLESS (STM), PHANTASTICA (PHAN), and LEAFY/ FLORICAULA (LFY/FLO) during leaf development was analyzed by in situ hybridizations.Tendrils share some anatomical similarities with leaflets, but not with other leaf parts. Transcripts of both STM and LFY/FLO were detected in leaf primordia, associated with regions from which leaflets and tendril branches originate. PHAN expression was found to be polarized in branched tendrils, but not in simple tendrils.In Bignonieae, tendrils are modified leaflets that, as a result of premature completion of development, become bladeless organs. Bignonieae leaves develop differently from those of peas, as both LFY/FLO and STM are expressed in developing leaves of Bignonieae. Moreover, PHAN is probably involved in tendril diversification in Bignonieae, as it has distinct expression patterns in different leaf types.

Climbers are abundant in tropical forests, where they constitute a major functional plant type. The acquisition of the climbing habit in angiosperms constitutes a key innovation. Successful speciation in climbers is correlated with the development of specialized climbing strategies such as tendrils, i.e., filiform organs with the ability to twine around other structures through helical growth. Tendrils are derived from a variety of morphological structures, e.g., stems, leaves, and inflorescences, and are found in various plant families. In fact, tendrils are distributed throughout the angiosperm phylogeny, from magnoliids to asterids II, making these structures a great model to study convergent evolution. In this study, we performed a thorough survey of tendrils within angiosperms, focusing on their origin and development. We identified 17 tendril types and analyzed their distribution through the angiosperm phylogeny. Some interesting patterns emerged. For instance, tendrils derived from reproductive structures are exclusively found in the Core Eudicots, except from one monocot species. Fabales and Asterales are the orders with the highest numbers of tendrilling strategies. Tendrils derived from modified leaflets are particularly common among asterids, occurring in Polemoniaceae, Bignoniaceae, and Asteraceae. Although angiosperms have a large number of tendrilled representatives, little is known about their origin and development. This work points out research gaps that should help guide future research on the biology of tendrilled species. Additional research on climbers is particularly important given their increasing abundance resulting from environmental disturbance in the tropics.

The climbing habit has evolved multiple times during the evolutionary history of angiosperms. Plants evolved various strategies for climbing, such as twining stems, tendrils and hooks. Tendrils are threadlike organs with the ability to twine around other structures through helical growth; they may be derived from a variety of structures, such as branches, leaflets and inflorescences. The genetic capacity to grow as a tendrilled climber existed in some of the earliest land plants; however, the underlying molecular basis of tendril development has been studied in only a few taxa. Here, we summarize what is known about the molecular basis of tendril development in model and candidate model species from key tendrilled families, that is, Fabaceae, Vitaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Passifloraceae and Bignoniaceae. Studies on tendril molecular genetics and development show the molecular basis of tendril formation and ontogenesis is diverse, even when tendrils have the same ontogenetic origin, for example leaflet-derived tendrils in Fabaceae and Bignoniaceae. Interestingly, all tendrils perform helical growth during contact-induced coiling, indicating that such ability is not correlated with their ontogenetic origin or phylogenetic history. Whether the same genetic networks are involved during helical growth in diverse tendrils still remains to be investigated.

Abstract-EUBrazilOpenBio is a collaborative initiative addressing strategic barriers in biodiversity research by integrating open access data and user-friendly tools widely available in Brazil and Europe. The project deploys the EU-Brazil Hybrid Data Infrastructure that allows the sharing of hardware, software and data on-demand. This infrastructure provides access to several integrated services and resources to seamlessly aggregate taxonomic, biodiversity and climate data, used by processing services implementing checklist cross-mapping and ecological niche modelling. A Virtual Research Environment was created to provide users with a single entry point to processing and data resources. This article describes the architecture, demonstration use cases and experimental results.