The “Lomandra complex” (or Lomandra grouping) is an informally recognised grade resulting from the subdivision of the Laxmanniaceae into two groups (Conran, 1998); the ‘Lomandra complex” (Acanthocarpus, Chamaexeros, Lomandra, Romnalda and Xerolirion), and the remainder as the Arthropodoids (Arthropodium, Chamaescilla, Cordyline, Eustrephus, Laxmannia, Murchisonia, Sowerbaea, Thysanotus and Trichopetalum). Laxmanniaceae are an Australiacentred, tropical to temperate family of 14 genera with around 180 species from Australasia, SE Asia, the Mascarenes, New Caledonia, New Guinea, New Zealand, North and South America and the Pacific Islands. There have been no detailed phylogenetic studies in Laxmanniaceae and the relationships within and between the genera is poorly understood. This study utilised molecular data from chloroplast trnL-F and nuclear ribosomal ITS2 regions analysed with maximum parsimony and bayesian inference methods to reconstruct the phylogeny of the genera of the ‘Lomandra complex’, using species of Arthropodium, Eustrephus, Laxmannia and Thysanotus as outgroups. The molecular phylogeny shows that Lomandra forms four primary clades; with members from the classical anatomy, inflorescence-defined section and series distributed amongst these, typically in large islands. The monotypic genus Xerolirion resides deeply within Lomandra, raising questions about the appropriateness of this genus. Additionally, the other genera of the Lomandra complex (Acanthocarpus, Chamaexeros and Romnalda) form a clade positioned sister to one of four primary Lomandra clades, but nested inside Lomandra sens. lat., indicating a closer relationship between these genera than previously thought. The affiliation of these bisexual, hermaphroditic genera within the otherwise unisexual, dioecious Lomandra clade supports the recognition of the ‘Lomandra complex’ as an expanded genus, Lomandra; and represents either an example of the evolution of unisexuality followed by reversion, or else multiple losses of hermaphrodite flowers. Morphological and anatomical data were obtained for leaf and floral macroscopic characters, mid-leaf section anatomy and cuticle microscopic features and analysed with maximum parsimony and bayesian inference methods to reconstruct the anatomical phylogeny. These data were also utilised to generate a DELTA key for identifying species of Lomandra from a combination of macroscopic morphological and microscopic leaf anatomical features. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1385938 / Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Adelaide, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, 2010

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Cambridge, 1991. / "November 1991." Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

Magister Scientiae (Biodiversity and Conservation Biology) - MSc (Biodiv & Cons Biol) / Salicornia tegetaria is an endemic salt marsh macrophyte that is widely distributed in estuaries along the South African coast. The aims of the study were to understand the phylogeography of the species, compare the biomass allocation in two regions and to determine phenological patterns of S. tegetaria between the warm and cool temperate biogeographical regions. The phylogeography of S. tegetaria was studied using the noncoding chloroplast DNA region rpS16 and nuclear rDNA ITS region. Five samples each were collected from eighteen estuaries stretching from Orange River in the Northern Cape to Mngazana Estuary in the Eastern Cape. Above- and belowground biomass was collected and physico-chemical conditions measured at Olifants, Berg and Langebaan Estuaries in the cool temperate, and Heuningnes, Nahoon and Kwelera Estuaries in the warm temperate biogeographical regions. The growth and flowering phenology of S. tegetaria in relation to environmental conditions was investigated in the cool temperate Langebaan Estuarine Embayment and compared to findings in the warm temperate, permanently open Kowie Estuary. The physico-chemical gradient found between the cool and warm temperate biogeographical regions may be useful to study climate change effects on plant species. The comparison of similar habitats in each region may provide insight into how different climate regimes may affect biomass allocation and phenology.

Esta dissertação de mestrado está inserida no trabalho desenvolvido pelo grupo de pesquisa GIA/UFRGS e situa-se na área de Inteligência Artificial aplicada à Educação à Distância apresentando uma arquitetura distribuída no desenvolvimento de Ambientes de Ensino Inteligentes. A Web facilita aos alunos encontrarem informações relevantes ao estudo que estão fazendo. Outra vantagem do ensino na Web é o indivíduo ser sabedor da existência da informação e de onde ela se localiza para que no momento adequado a acesse. Porém, o progresso que se poderá ter na área de informática aplicada à educação dependerá da adequação e qualidade do software educacional a ser utilizado. Por isso, temos que ter software de ensino inteligentes, que possam trazer esta qualidade e adequação conforme o aluno que está tentando adquirir um certo conhecimento. O objetivo principal do presente trabalho se propõe a estudar as diferentes técnicas e mecanismos de se construir um modelo do aluno adaptativo na Web, aplicáveis em um cenário de educação à distância, a partir de um ambiente distribuído de ensino-aprendizagem inteligente baseado em uma arquitetura multiagentes que contempla o paradigma de ensino cooperativo (uma sociedade de agentes humanos e artificiais, que cooperam para alcançar um objetivo comum). Além disso, o trabalho propõe o uso de estratégias de ensino segundo regras estipuladas pelo especialista. O agente responsável por este controle observa as modificações do comportamento do aprendiz durante a sua interação no ambiente, e seleciona uma estratégia de acordo com o desempenho do aprendiz. / This master’s degree dissertation was developed within the research group GIA/UFRGS, and is located in the field of Artificial Intelligence applied to distance learning, presenting a distributed architecture to develop intelligent teaching environments. The Web make easier for students to find important information for the study hey are performing. Another advantage of learning on the Web is that one knows the information exist and where they are located in order to access it at the right moment. However, the advances in the area of learning applied computing will depend of the adaptation and quality of the educational software used. Thus, we need intelligent teaching software, which can bring us this quality and adaptation according to the student that is trying to acquire some knowledge. The main goal of this work is to propose to study the different techniques and mechanisms for building an adaptive student model on the Web, that are applicable in a distance learning scenario, from an intelligent teaching-learning distributed environment based in a multi-agent architecture that contemplate the cooperative teaching paradigm (a society of human and artificial agent, which cooperate to reach a common goal). In addition, this work proposes the use of teaching strategies according to rules given by the specialist. The agent responsible for this control observes the apprentice behavioral changes during his interaction with the environment and selects a strategy according to the apprentice performance.

With an adoption of modern methods of polyphasic approach to the study of cyanobacteria, an increased demand for the revision of the traditional taxonomy has emerged. This thesis is devoted to the systematic revisions of selected terrestrial cyanobacteria at several taxonomic levels. The methodology included thorough morphological characterization of cultured cyanobacterial strains using light and electron microscopy complemented with analyses of the molecular data: DNA sequencing, phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene and the adjacent 16S-23S ITS region, and comparison of the predicted secondary structures of this region. Descriptions of new species, genera, families and an in-depth characterization of a previously poorly known family were achieved.

Pisum fulvum Sibth. & Sm. is one of the three species in genus Pisum L., which also includes species Pisum sativum L. and Pisum abyssinicum A.Br. P. fulvum together with subspecies P. sativum subsp. elatius M.Bieb. and P. sativum subsp. humile Boiss. et Noe. belong to the group of wild pea. P. fulvum belongs to secondary gene pool of cultural pea P. sativum L. subsp. sativum. Due to the potential use of P. fulvum as a donor of gene of interest in processes of cultural pea genetic diversity enrichment, it may be considered as an important plant species whose biological characteristics should be assembled within the possibilities. Divergence separating P. fulvum from the rest of the evolutionary lineage of the genus Pisum occured in the period before 1.7 million years +/- 0.4 million years. Currently, its habitats is limited to the eastern part of the territory of Levant where P. fulvum is more abundant plant in its range than other groups of the genus Pisum that occurs sympatric with P. fulvum. The genetic diversity of P. fulvum is characterized in the current thesis by three approaches of molecular biology using DNA sequencing of ITS nuclear region and trnSG chloroplast region, DArT-SeqTM and GenoPea 13.2km SNP. Sequencing ITS region of 149 accessions led to the identification of four ribotypes that were analyzed in biogeographical context. Based on the comparing the analysis of data from genome-wide genotyping DArT-SeqTM and origin of analyzed accessions three groups (south, central and north) which can be considered as intraspecific evolutionary line were identified. In case of analysis of data from GenoPea 13.2K SNP P. fulvum genotype was compared with genotypes of other groups of pea and P. fulvum asociated SNPs were identified. Recent gene flow between some accessions of P. fulvum and accessions of other groups of wild pea was confirmed by analysis of codominant SNP data and by analysis of trnSG sequences.

As técnicas de DNA barcoding (código de barras de DNA) têm como objetivo principal a identificação taxonômica de organismos através da amplificação e análise de sequências de DNA curtas, padronizadas e previamente definidas. Apesar do sucesso relativo desta abordagem em animais usando um único locus, a aplicação deste método em plantas apresenta menor capacidade de identificar espécies usando uma única região gênica, levando a necessidade de utilização de múltiplos loci. Além disso, ainda há certo debate sobre qual região gênica seria mais apropriada para o DNA barcoding em plantas, embora as regiões plastidiais rbcL, matK e o espaçador intergênico trnH-psbA juntamente com o espaçador intergênico nuclear do RNA ribossomal (ITS) sejam as mais comumente utilizadas até então. As tribos Sisyrinchieae e Tigridieae da família Iridaceae foram testadas de acordo com diferentes métodos e marcadores indicados para o DNA barcoding em plantas. Os resultados indicaram uma alta universalidade para membros da tribo Sisyrinchieae, mas também revelaram uma capacidade de identificação de espécies considerada baixa. Apesar disto, os espaçadores ITS foram indicados como a melhor sequência para DNA barcoding em Sisyrinchieae. Em Tigridieae, problemas inerentes ao sequenciamento impediram a utilização dos ITS em nossas análises. Assim, apenas marcadores plastidiais foram utilizados na tentativa de identificar espécies, apresentando novamente resultados modestos. A região gênica que atingiu maior capacidade de identificação em Tigridieae foi o gene matK. A incapacidade de se alcançar maiores taxas de identificação provavelmente está relacionada à complexa história evolutiva apresentada pelos grupos em análise. Este trabalho forneceu o primeiro conjunto significativo de dados de DNA barcoding aplicados a dois importantes grupos de Iridaceae de considerável biodiversidade no Brasil. As tribos em análise apresentam espécies consideradas filogeneticamente próximas e são de difícil identificação devido a sua morfologia homogênea, principalmente em estado vegetativo, justificando plenamente o uso de métodos molecularespara a identificação taxonômica. / The main objective of DNA barcoding methods is the taxonomic identification of organisms by amplifying and analyzing short, standardized and previously defined DNA sequences. In spite of the relative success of this approach in animals using a single locus, the application of this method in plants has less ability to identify species using a single gene region, leading to the need of using multiple loci. Furthermore, there is still some debate concerning which gene region would be more suitable for DNA barcoding in plants, although the plastid regions rbcL, matK and the trnH-psbA intergenic spacer along with the nuclear intergenic spacer of ribossomal DNA (ITS) are the most commonly regions used thus far. The tribes Sisyrinchieae and Tigridieae of the family Iridaceae were tested according to different methods and markers used for DNA barcoding in plants. The results indicated a great universality for members of tribe Sisyrinchieae, but also showed a low ability to identify species. Nevertheless, ITS was imputed as the best sequence for DNA barcoding in Sisyrinchieae. In Tigridieae, problems inherent of ITS sequencing prevented its use in our analysis. Thus, only plastid markers were used in an attempt to identify species, showing modest results once again. The gene region that reached higher identification ability in Tigridieae was matK. The inability to achieve higher identification levels is probably related to the complex evolutionary history presented by the groups in question. This work provided the first large data set of DNA barcoding applied to two important groups of Iridaceae with significant biodiversity in Brazil. The tribes in question present species considered phylogenetically related and are difficult to identify due to their homogeneous morphology, especially in vegetative stage, fully justifying the use of molecular methods for taxonomic identification.

Magister Scientiae (Biodiversity and Conservation Biology) - MSc (Biodiv & Cons Biol) / Salicornia tegetaria is an endemic salt marsh macrophyte that is widely distributed in estuaries along the South African coast. The aims of the study were to understand the phylogeography of the species, compare the biomass allocation in two regions and to determine phenological patterns of S. tegetaria between the warm and cool temperate biogeographical regions. The phylogeography of S. tegetaria was studied using the noncoding chloroplast DNA region rpS16 and nuclear rDNA ITS region. Five samples each were collected from eighteen estuaries stretching from Orange River in the Northern Cape to Mngazana Estuary in the Eastern Cape. Above- and belowground biomass was collected and physico-chemical conditions measured at Olifants, Berg and Langebaan Estuaries in the cool temperate, and Heuningnes, Nahoon and Kwelera Estuaries in the warm temperate biogeographical regions. The growth and flowering phenology of S. tegetaria in relation to environmental conditions was investigated in the cool temperate Langebaan Estuarine Embayment and compared to findings in the warm temperate, permanently open Kowie Estuary. The physico-chemical gradient found between the cool and warm temperate biogeographical regions may be useful to study climate change effects on plant species. The comparison of similar habitats in each region may provide insight into how different climate regimes may affect biomass allocation and phenology.

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Departamento de Botânica, Mestrado em Botânica, 2015. / Submitted by Albânia Cézar de Melo (albania@bce.unb.br) on 2015-05-19T16:09:10Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2015_TamaraSilvaDantas.pdf: 2336665 bytes, checksum: c1a40f86652384265e20fef812a4a640 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Guimaraes Jacqueline(jacqueline.guimaraes@bce.unb.br) on 2015-05-20T11:17:50Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2015_TamaraSilvaDantas.pdf: 2336665 bytes, checksum: c1a40f86652384265e20fef812a4a640 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-20T11:17:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2015_TamaraSilvaDantas.pdf: 2336665 bytes, checksum: c1a40f86652384265e20fef812a4a640 (MD5) / Peperomia é um dos maiores gêneros das angiospermas basais, com aproximadamente 1.600 espécies, distribuídas pantropicalmente. A Ilha da Trindade é uma ilha oceânica brasileira localizada a 1.200 km da costa do Brasil que emergiu a cerca de 3 milhões de anos da zona abissal no Atlântico Sul. A Ilha possui uma área de 9,28 km² e altitude máxima de 620 metros onde ocorre uma floresta nebular, a floresta de samambaias. São registradas na Ilha da Trindade duas espécies de Peperomia: P. beckeri, endêmica e conhecida apenas pelo tipo, e P. glabella. Espécimes de P. glabella da ilha da Trindade e de P. glabella que ocorre no continente foram analisados com o objetivo de investigar se a Peperomia que ocorre em Trindadeé uma espécie nova e endêmica ou uma variação morfológica de P. glabella que ocorre no continente. Foram utilizados materiais oriundos de 22 herbários além de materiais coletados na Ilha da Trindade, na Bahia e no Rio de Janeiro. Foram amplificados o gene matk e o espaçador ITS para análises filogenéticas e moleculares, além de análises morfológicas comparativas entre P. glabella e suas variedades e a Peperomia que ocorre em Trindade. Foram encontradas diferenças genéticas e morfológicas significativas entre P. glabella e a Peperomia que ocorre em Trindade e uma nova espécie foi descrita para a Ilha da Trindade. Peperomia beckeri não foi reencontrada e foi analisado apenas o material desta espécie. Material-tipo das variedades que ocorrem no Brasil foram analisados e propõe-se novos sinônimos. / Peperomia is one of the largest genera of basal angiosperms with about 1,600 species pantropically distributed. Trindade is a Brazilian oceanic island located about 1,200 km of the coast Brazilian, that emerged about 3 million years of abyssal zone in the South Atlantic, has a maximum altitude of 620 meters and an area of 9.28 km². Are registered in the Trindade Island the occurrence of two species of Peperomia: P. beckeri, endemic and known only by the type and P. glabella. The aims of this study were know whether the Peperomia occurring in Trindade is a new species and endemic species or morphological variation of P. glabella. We used the matk gene and the spacer ITS for phylogenetic and molecular analysis, and comparative morphological analysis between P. glabella and varieties and Peperomia occurring in Trindade Island. Genetic and morphological significant differences were observed between P. glabella and Peperomia occurring in Trindade. The Peperomia from the Trindade island is a different species of P. glabella and P. beckeri, according to the description of the authors of the species. Therefore, the Peperomia occurring in the Trindade Island is a new and endemic species of this site.