Prof. Dr. Breno Marques da Silva e Silva

Patrick Cantuária

Robson Borges De Lima

Morphological aspects and anatomy of the fruit, seeds and seedlings of Pentaclethra macroloba (willd.) Kuntze (Fabaceae)

1 October 2019 in Journal of Seed Science

Journal Article

Compositional Similarity of Urban Green Areas in Southeastern Brazil

The aim of this study was to describe the morphology of fruit, seeds and seedlings, as well as the anatomy of the seed and the seedling of Pentaclethra macroloba (Willd.) Kuntze. Morpho-biometry was performed on fifty fruit samples and one hundred seeds. To describe the sequences of the morphological events of the germination stages, ten seeds were placed to germinate. Anatomical analysis was performed in a scanning electron microscope with seed samples and seedling leaves. The species has leguminous type fruit of 16.1 to 45.2 cm length and 4.1 to 7.3 cm width; seeds have a pleurogram and are eurispermic, ovoid, deltoid to elliptical and measure from 3.8 to 6.1 cm length and 2.5 to 5.7 cm width. Anatomically, the cotyledons are composed of thin-walled parenchyma cells with various oil cells. The seedlings have bipinnate leaves, with waxes and simple trichomes at the margins of the adaxial surface and paracytic stomata on the abaxial surface. The epicotyl is slightly twisted, with caducous cataphylls and a first pair of alternate eophylls. Germination is of the phanero-hypogean-reserve type. Taxonomic recognition of this species is possible in the field through the external morphological traits and can help in identification of saplings.

1 January 2019 in Floresta e Ambiente

Journal Article

Seed anatomy and water uptake and their relation to seed dormancy of Ormosia paraensis Ducke

Urban afforestation greatly contributes to the ex situ conservation of native species in urban centers of Brazil. In this way, the aim of the present work was to analyze the similarity of the arboreal-shrub flora among urban afforestation in southeastern Brazil. For this analysis, a binary matrix with data of 283 species present in 20 municipalities in the Southeastern Region of Brazil was adopted, in which the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was also used aiming at enabling refinement in the grouping obtained by the floristic similarity (FS) of Sørensen with similarity from values provided by PCA. FS among municipalities was intermediate, but the highest similarity of urban flora was found among the geographically closest municipalities. In the southeastern region, 283 species were recorded, being distributed in 71 botanical families, with Fabaceae having the largest number of species, and with emphasis on the predominance of exotic plants over native plants.

1 September 2018 in Journal of Seed Science

Journal Article

New Findings on Carambola Fruit Fly Hosts in South America

Camila de Oliveira e Silva

Fabiola Vitti Môro

Roberval Daiton Vieira

Ormosia paraensis Ducke has ornamental seeds widely used in the manufacture of bio-jewels and wood used in the furniture industry. For seedling production, the information on its seed physiology is scarce. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess methods for breaking dormancy and relate them to integument structure and water uptake by O. paraensis seeds. Seed dormancy-breaking was performed by mechanical scarification and soaking in sulfuric acid for 0, 15, 30, 60, 120, and 240 minutes. Dormancy‐broken seeds were compared with intact seeds. Seed integument is formed by a cuticle (hydrophobic substances), epidermis (macroesclereids of the palisade layer,), hypodermis (osteosclereids), and parenchyma cells. Intact seeds did not absorb water after 72 hours of soaking. The highest percentages and rates of seed germination were observed in treatments with mechanical scarification and soaking in sulfuric acid for 60 or 120 minutes. Seed soaking in sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄ p.a. 98.08%) for 60 or 120 minutes or mechanical scarification are adequate to overcome physical dormancy associated with O. paraensis seed integument impermeability to water or gases.

1 September 2023 in Florida Entomologist

Journal Article

José Victor Torres Alves Costa

Maria Do Socorro Miranda de Sousa

Cristiane Ramos de Jesus

Miguel Francisco de Souza-Filho

Valmir Antonio Costa

Ricardo Adaime

Fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) are well-known phytophagous insect species that have been extensively studied in tropical regions because of the damage they cause to several economically important fruits (Aluja 1994; Araujo et al. 2018). Their larvae develop by feeding on the fruit pulp of various species, making the fruits unsuitable for sale, fresh consumption, and industrialization (Paranhos et al. 2004; Aluja & Mangan 2008). Furthermore, some flies may violate the phytosanitary barriers imposed by fresh fruit-importing countries that necessitate the absence of pests, thereby causing indirect damage and impacting fruit export (Malavasi 2000; Paranhos et al. 2004). Oliveira et al. (2013) revealed that the annual economic losses in agriculture caused by insects are estimated to be approximately US$12 billion, including US$1.14 billion associated with fruit production and $1.6 billion associated with the introduction of exotic species. Production losses, control costs, and marketing analyses estimate that fruit flies cause annual losses of approximately US$36 million (R$180 million) in Brazil (MAPA 2015; Nava et al. 2019).

1 September 2020 in Acta Botanica Brasilica

Journal Article

Effect of fire under the soils on the organization of communities of three remnants of Amazonian savannas

Ricardo A. Marenco

Fernando Galvão Rabelo