In Brazil, the production of bee pollen loads began modestly in the late 1980s, stimulated by consumption of natural products. Demand and consumption have increased, and there has been no increase in scientific studies. This work aims to expand scientific knowledge by identifying the plants used by Apis mellifera L. as sources of pollen loads in the State of Sergipe, Brazil. Twelve samples were collected from January to December 2011, in the municipalities of Barra dos Coqueiros, Brejo Grande, Estância and Pacatuba, all located in the eastern region of Sergipe. For the study of the pollen grains, the bee pollen underwent the usual laboratory processing techniques (acetolysis). For the analysis 500 grains were counted from each sample and, for botanical identification, the specialised literature and the pollen library were used. A total of 46 pollen types, distributed in 19 families, were found. Fabaceae was the family displaying the greatest diversity of pollen types (19), and the genus Mimosa L. was the most diverse (8). The families Asteraceae, Anacardiaceae, Myrtaceae and Rubiaceae were represented by three pollen types each, and Lamiaceae, only two types. The other 13 families presented one pollen type each. Only eight pollen types were classified as very frequent (> 50%); however, only Cocos nucifera occurred in 100% of the samples. It can be concluded that the families Arecaceae and Fabaceae are the major pollen sources for production of bee pollen in the state of Sergipe, followed by Asteraceae, Anacardiaceae, Poaceae and Rubiaceae. Pollen spectra revealed that at least 29 genera of plants contribute to the bee pollen load production in the tropical rainforest zone in northeastern Brazil.

The shortage of reliable primary taxonomic data limits the description of biological taxa and the understanding of biodiversity patterns and processes, complicating biogeographical, ecological, and evolutionary studies. This deficit creates a significant taxonomic impediment to biodiversity research and conservation planning. The taxonomic impediment and the biodiversity crisis are widely recognized, highlighting the urgent need for reliable taxonomic data. Over the past decade, numerous countries worldwide have devoted considerable effort to Target 1 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC), which called for the preparation of a working list of all known plant species by 2010 and an online world Flora by 2020. Brazil is a megadiverse country, home to more of the world's known plant species than any other country. Despite that, Flora Brasiliensis, concluded in 1906, was the last comprehensive treatment of the Brazilian flora. The lack of accurate estimates of the number of species of algae, fungi, and plants occurring in Brazil contributes to the prevailing taxonomic impediment and delays progress towards the GSPC targets. Over the past 12 years, a legion of taxonomists motivated to meet Target 1 of the GSPC, worked together to gather and integrate knowledge on the algal, plant, and fungal diversity of Brazil. Overall, a team of about 980 taxonomists joined efforts in a highly collaborative project that used cybertaxonomy to prepare an updated Flora of Brazil, showing the power of scientific collaboration to reach ambitious goals. This paper presents an overview of the Brazilian Flora 2020 and provides taxonomic and spatial updates on the algae, fungi, and plants found in one of the world's most biodiverse countries. We further identify collection gaps and summarize future goals that extend beyond 2020. Our results show that Brazil is home to 46,975 native species of algae, fungi, and plants, of which 19,669 are endemic to the country. The data compiled to date suggests that the Atlantic Rainforest might be the most diverse Brazilian domain for all plant groups except gymnosperms, which are most diverse in the Amazon. However, scientific knowledge of Brazilian diversity is still unequally distributed, with the Atlantic Rainforest and the Cerrado being the most intensively sampled and studied biomes in the country. In times of “scientific reductionism”, with botanical and mycological sciences suffering pervasive depreciation in recent decades, the first online Flora of Brazil 2020 significantly enhanced the quality and quantity of taxonomic data available for algae, fungi, and plants from Brazil. This project also made all the information freely available online, providing a firm foundation for future research and for the management, conservation, and sustainable use of the Brazilian funga and flora.

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publicado na web em 07/11/2018 CHEMICAL COMPOSITION, ANTIRADICALAR AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF FABACEAE POLLEN BEE. The aim of this investigation was to analyze two samples of pollen collected by Apis mellifera bees in view of their chemical composition, antiradicalar and antimicrobial activities. Palynological analysis showed that the predominant pollen was Fabaceae species (42.3%, sample I and 50.6%, sample II). The characterization by ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with a diode array detector and quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-DAD-QTOF-MS/MS) resulted in the identification of three derivatives of putrescine (di-4-coumaroylputrescine, coumaroyl-feruloyl-putrescine and di-feruloyl-putrescine), two spermidine derivatives (coumaroyl-di-cafeoyl-spermidine and tri-coumaroyl-spermidine and four biflavonoids (2,3-di-hydrohydroxy-amentoflavone, 2,3-dihydro-amentoflavone, amentoflavone and 2,3-dihydro-biapigenin). The two samples showed antiradical and antimicrobial activities, probably due to the presence of these compounds.

Foi realizada a análise volumétrica do pólen de Attalea funifera Mart. (Arecaceae) em amostras de pólen apícola comercializadas no município de Nilo Peçanha, Bahia, no período de maio a novembro de 2014. As amostras foram identificadas e quantificadas, no intuito de determinar a origem botânica e a importância de A. funifera na composição do pólen apícola, sob o aspecto volumétrico. O espectro polínico foi composto por 23 tipos polínicos distribuídos em 13 famílias botânicas, tendo como as mais representativas as famílias Fabaceae, Euphorbiaceae e Asteraceae. O tipo polínico mais frequente foi Mimosa pudica, porém, as análises volumétricas apontaram A. funifera como o mais importante na constituição do pólen coletado. Portanto, com base no volume (93.974,70 µm³), verifica-se o potencial do pólen de A. funifera em amostras de pólen apícola e, consequentemente, a importância de análises volumétricas em adição às análises quantitativas e de frequência.

The Flora Neotropica treatment of Flaucourtiaceae s.l., by Sleumer, was a milestone in the study of the group and, consequently, of the families that were subsequently segregated from Flaucourtiaceae. Of these, Lacistemataceae comprise 16 tree-shrub species that usually occur in humid forests. However, specimens from campos rupestres in Bahia State, Brazil, were not analyzed by Sleumer so some morphological variation remained unnoticed. Here, we describe Lacistema ligiae, a new species from the campos rupestres of Bahia, and include notes on leaf venation and pollen morphology of related species. Lacistema ligiae can be recognized by leaf blades with sinuous secondary veins, which are covered by long and adpressed trichomes abaxially, hairy filament and ovary, and a distinct style not exceeding the height of the stamen.

Pollen grains can provide valuable information to forensic palynology, such as the time of death or the possible origin of a corpse. Forensic Palynology is a vital tool to be used in a criminal investigation because the different environment has distinct pollen signatures. Brazil has a rich and diversified flora that is suitable for the application of forensic palynology. The purpose of this research is to introduce palynology automation as a tool to improve the investigative method in forensic palynology and apply it to forensic palynology automation. The studied city has different vegetation types, in which we performed assessments to identify its correspondent pollen types. PALINOVIC algorithm was developed using computer vision and geotechnology techniques. Our results show that it is possible to correlate pollen grains found in forensic samples by automatic pollen identification and with a mapping of the likely vegetation. Our results show that it is possible to relate the presence of pollen grains found in forensic samples through the automatic identification of images together with a database of georeferenced plant species. It was possible to analyze the pollen grains collected in eight bodies, where the algorithm presented a performance of 90.51% in the pollen grain classification tests. Furthermore, pollen grains could be correlated with the type of vegetation where the body was found. Thus, the technique developed can be applied in other urban centers from a previous georeferencing of plants, as well as a pollen database.

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