Biology subjects

Rubio, J.

Publications and source records attributed to Rubio, J..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2021

Chilean blind spots in soil biodiversity and ecosystem function research

Soil harbor up to a quarter of the worlds biodiversity, contributing to many ecosystem functions. It is of great importance to identify distribution patterns of soil organisms and their ecosystem functions to support their conservation and policy building. This has been recently analyzed at macroecological scales, but analyses at national/local scales are scarce. Here we identify and analyze the blind spots in soil taxa and ecosystem functioning data in continental Chile, through a Web of Science articles (1945-2020) search, and focusing on ten soil taxonomic groups and four ecosystem functions (nutrient cycling, decomposition, water infiltration, soil respiration). A total of 741 sampling sites were obtained from 239 articles. In 49.25% of the sites soil biodiversity was studied, while this percentage was 32.65% for ecosystem functions; in 18.10% of the sites both soil biodiversity and ecosystem functions were investigated at the same time, a surprisingly high percentage compared to global studies. By far, Bacteria/Fungi and nutrient cycling were the most investigated taxa and function, respectively. There is a significant number of soil taxa (Acari, Collembola, Nematoda, Formicoidea, Protista, Rotifera) represented by just a few sites concentrated in specific Chilean regions. Places like the central regions, the Atacama desert, and the Valdivian temperate forests present a proliferation of studies on soil Fungi, Bacteria, and nutrient cycling, reflecting historical interests of established research groups. Based on this research, we are identifying the causes of the data blind spots and invite the Chilean soil ecology community to propose ideas on how to fill them.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2020

The SINGLE FLOWER (SFL) gene encodes a MYB transcription factor that regulates the number of flowers produced by the inflorescence of chickpea.

research conducted & rationaleLegume species usually have compound inflorescences, where flowers appear in secondary inflorescences (I2), at lateral positions of the primary inflorescence (I1), in contrast to simple inflorescences, as in Arabidopsis, where flowers are formed in the primary inflorescence stem. The number of flowers per I2, characteristic of each legume species, determines inflorescence diversity, and the number of pods produced, which can affect yield. Gene Regulatory Network that controls the activity of I2 meristems, and therefore the number of flowers per secondary inflorescence is mostly unknown, as well as how specific are factors controlling this trait and whether they share this function in other meristems. methodsChickpea produces one flower per I2 but single flower (sfl) mutants produce two (double-pod phenotype). By mapping the sfl-d mutation and identification and analysis of a second mutant allele we have isolated SFL. We used scanning electron microscopy to study the effect of sfl mutations on inflorescence ontogeny and in situ hybridization to study the expression of SFL and of meristem identity genes in the developing chickpea inflorescence. key resultWe show that the SFL gene corresponds to CaRAX1/2a, encoding a MYB transcription factor. Our results show that CaRAX1/2a / SFL is specifically expressed in the I2 meristem, possibly activated by CaVEGETATIVE1. main conclusion & key points for discussionOur findings reveal that SFL plays a central role in the control of chickpea inflorescence architecture, specifically acting in the I2 meristem to control the time length for which it is active, and therefore determining the number of floral meristems that it can produce.

plant biology↗