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.
The morphology, molecular phylogeny and toxinology of two Coolia and one Prorocentrum dinoflagellate strains from Brazil were characterized. They matched with Coolia malayensis and Coolia tropicalis morphotypes, while the Prorocentrum strain fitted well with the morphology of Prorocentrum emarginatum. Complementary identification by molecular analyses was carried out based on LSU and ITS-5.8S rDNA. Phylogenetic analyses of Coolia strains (D1/D2 region, LSU rDNA), showed that C. malayensis (strain UFBA044) segregated together with sequences of this species from other parts of the world, but diverged earlier in a separate branch to sequences from São Paulo (Brazil) or Caribbean areas. Coolia tropicalis (strain UFBA055) grouped with other sequences of this species, in a subclade with an isolate from Belize, closer to a subgroup including isolates from Thailand, Australia and Hong Kong. Phylogenetic analyses (ITS-5.8S rDNA) of P. emarginatum (strain UFBA033) grouped together with another sequence of this species from China Sea. Diarrhetic shellfish poisoning toxins (OA, DTXs and PTX2) were not detected in P. emarginatum by mass spectrometry analyses. However, hemolytic assays in P. emarginatum and both Coolia strains in this study showed positive results.
Six blooms of Heterosigma akashiwo (Raphidophyceae) were observed from March 2007 through March 2008 in the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon, a semi-confined eutrophic system located in Rio de Janeiro state, southeast Brazil. Vegetative cells of H. akashiwo analysed by optical and electron microscopy showed morphology as described in the literature. The blooms (2.8 × 10 4 to 4 × 10 8 cell.L -1 ) were restricted to the middle section of the Piraquê Channel, which is situated in the northeastern part of the lagoon and receives freshwater inflow. The salinity of subsurface water and the channel depth showed significant negative correlations with H. akashiwo abundances, and appeared to restrict the blooms to this compartment of the lagoon. No fish mortality was associated with the H. akashiwo blooms, nor were brevetoxins detected in a cell extract obtained from the bloom observed on 19 March 2007.Keywords: morphology, taxonomy, blooms, urban coastal lagoon, Rio de Janeiro. ) foram restritas à zona intermédia do canal Piraquê, que se situa na parte nordeste da lagoa e recebe aporte de água doce. A salinidade da sub-superfície da água e a profundidade do canal apresentaram correlação negativa significativa com a abundância de H. akashiwo e parecem determinar a formação de florações restritas a este compartimento da lagoa. Não houve mortalidade de peixes durante as florações de H. akashiwo e não foi detectada a presença de brevetoxinas em um extrato celular obtido a partir da floração observada em 19 de março de 2007. Florações recorrentes de
A review of the dinoflagellate genus Alexandrium occurring in Brazilian coastal waters is presented based on both published information and new data. Seven Alexandrium species have been recorded from Brazil so far: Alexandrium catenella, Alexandrium fraterculus, Alexandrium gaardnerae, Alexandrium kutnerae, Alexandrium tamiyavanichi, Alexandrium tamutum, and Alexandrium sp. While A. gaardnerae and A. kutnerae were identified based only on morphological characteristics, phylogenetic analysis (ITS and LSU rDNA) were performed for the remaining species based on cultures and/or field populations. Monoclonal cultures of the analyzed species were isolated from field samples obtained from Bahia (A. tamiyavanichi, two strains), Rio de Janeiro (A. tamutum, three strains; Alexandrium sp., two strains), Santa Catarina (A. fraterculus, one strain), and Rio Grande do Sul (Alexandrium tamarense, three strains). This is the first record of A. tamutum for the South Atlantic. In addition, molecular data for Brazilian strains of A. fraterculus are presented for the first time, as well as sequences from the ITS region for A. catenella (previously reported as A. tamarense) from Brazilian coastal waters. The morphological characters of the three species corresponded to those typically recorded in the literature and their identification was confirmed by molecular analysis. Based on the LSU rDNA and ITS regions, the three strains of A. catenella showed a high degree of similarity with strains from Southern Chile and North America. The implications and limitations of these findings for the monitoring protocols within the global and regional context are discussed.
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