Fungal diversity associated with coffee leaf rust (Hemileia vastatrix) pustules based on ITS1 amplicon sequencing

Genomic insights reveal community structure and phylogenetic associations of endohyphal bacteria and viruses in fungal endophytes

Justificación de la desigualdad económica, corrupción y evasión fiscal: una mirada psicosocial

Blindfolded: Acceptance of Economic Inequality is Associated With Trust in Government and Perceived Economic Performance / Con la venda en los ojos: la aceptación de la desigualdad económica se asocia con la confianza gubernamental y la percepción de dese

Deciphering soil nematode‐bacteria‐fungi community composition and functional dynamics in coffee agroecosystems under conventional and sustainable management practices in Costa Rica

Understanding the interactions between soil bacteria, fungi, and nematodes in coffee agroecosystems is crucial for optimiz- ing sustainable agriculture. This study investigated the composition and functional dynamics of these communities under conventional and sustainable management systems. Soil samples were collected from three major coffee-growing regions in Costa Rica, representing different agricultural regimes. Nematode community was analyzed using optical microscopy, while microbial communities were analyzed using high-throughput sequencing. In both cases, bioinformatic tools were used for functional prediction based on taxonomy.. Herbivorous nematodes dominated both systems, while bacterivores (Rhabditidae, Cephalobidae) and fungivores (Aphelenchoidae) were significantly more abundant in soils subject to sustain- able practice (p < 0.05). Nematode maturity indices and food web diagnostics showed no significant differences between systems, even though metabolic footprints related to organic matter decomposition varied (p<0.05). Bacterial communi- ties were dominated by the phyla Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, and Chloroflexi, while the fungal community was largely composed of Ascomycota (53.21% in both systems). The fungal genus Mortierella was particularly prevalent. Soil pH, along with Ca, Mg, K, and extractable acidity, influenced community composition. Functional profiles revealed higher gene abundances linked to nutrient and energy cycling in sustainable systems, particularly phosphorus and sulfur metabolism. Saprotroph-symbiotroph fungi were more common in sustainable soils, while pathotrophic fungi dominated conventional systems. This is the first comprehensive analysis of bacteria, fungi, and nematodes across different agricultural practices in coffee agroecosystems in Costa Rica.

Genomic insights reveal community structure and phylogenetic associations of endohyphal bacteria and viruses in fungal endophytes

Background Endohyphal microbial communities, composed of bacteria and viruses residing within fungal hyphae, play important roles in shaping fungal phenotypes, host interactions, and ecological functions. While endohyphal bacteria have been shown to influence fungal pathogenicity, secondary metabolism, and adaptability, much remains unknown about their diversity and host specificity. Even less is known about endohyphal viruses, whose ecological roles and evolutionary dynamics are poorly understood. This study integrates genomic and transcriptomic approaches to (1) characterize the diversity of endohyphal bacterial and viral communities in fungal endophytes isolated from Fagus grandifolia leaves, and (2) assess potential host specialization through phylogenetic signal analyses.

We analyzed 19 fungal isolates spanning eight fungal orders (Amphisphaeriales, Botryosphaeriales, Diaporthales, Glomerellales, Mucorales, Pleosporales, Sordariales, and Xylariales). Bacterial communities were
highly diverse and showed significant phylogenetic signal, with core taxa—such as Bacillales, Burkholderiales, Enterobacterales, Hyphomicrobiales, and Pseudomonadales—shared across hosts. Several bacterial groups were associated with specific fungal orders, suggesting host specialization: Moraxellales, Sphingomonadales, and Streptosporangiaceae in Amphisphaeriales; Enterobacterales, Hyphomicrobiales, and Micrococcales in Glomerellales; and Cytophagales in Diaporthales. In contrast, viral communities were less diverse and dominated by double-stranded DNA viruses, primarily Bamfordvirae and Heunggongvirae. No core viral taxa were detected in metatranscriptomic data, and only a few reads of double-stranded RNA viruses were found.

Overall, our results indicate potential host specialization in bacterial endophytes and limited viral diversity in fungal hosts, with dsDNA viruses dominating the endohyphal virome. These findings provide new insights into the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of fungal-associated microbiota. Future work expanding taxonomic reference databases and exploring the functional roles of these microbial symbionts will be essential to understanding their contributions to fungal biology, host interactions, and broader ecosystem processes.

ohun: An R package for diagnosing and optimizing automatic sound event detection

Widening Inequality: How Perceiving Differences in Facing the Pandemic Crisis Increase Support for Egalitarian Measures

Elevational and seasonal patterns of plant pollinator networks in two highland tropical ecosystems in Costa Rica

Many plant species in high montane ecosystems rely on animal pollination for sexual repro- duction, however, our understanding of plant-pollinator interactions in tropical montane hab- itats is still limited. We compared species diversity and composition of blooming plants and floral visitors, and the structure of plant-floral visitor networks between the Montane Forest and Paramo ecosystems in Costa Rica. We also studied the influence of seasonality on spe- cies composition and interaction structure. Given the severe climatic conditions experienced by organisms in habitats above treeline, we expected lower plant and insect richness, as well as less specialized and smaller pollination networks in the Paramo than in Montane For- est where climatic conditions are milder and understory plants are better protected. Accord- ingly, we found that blooming plants and floral visitor species richness was higher in the Montane Forest than in the Paramo, and in both ecosystems species richness of blooming plants and floral visitors was higher in the rainy season than in the dry season. Interaction networks in the Paramo were smaller and more nested, with lower levels of specialization and modularity than those in the Montane Forest, but there were no seasonal differences within either ecosystem. Beta diversity analyses indicate that differences between ecosys- tems are likely explained by species turnover, whereas within the Montane Forest differ- ences between seasons are more likely explained by the rewiring of interactions. Results indicate that the decrease in species diversity with elevation affects network structure, increasing nestedness and reducing specialization and modularity.

Flexible use of visual and acoustic cues during roost finding in Spix’s disc-winged bat (Thyroptera tricolor)

The ability of an animal to detect environmental cues is crucial for its survival and fitness. In bats, sound certainly plays a signifi- cant role in the search for food, spatial navigation, and social communication. Yet, the efficiency of bat’s echolocation could be lim- ited by atmospheric attenuation and background clutter. In this context, sound can be complemented by other sensory modalities, like smell or vision. Spix’s disc-winged bat (Thyroptera tricolor) uses acoustic cues from other group members to locate the roost (tubular unfurled leaves of plants in the order Zingiberales). Our research focused on how individuals find a roost that has not been yet occupied, considering the urge to find a suitable leaf approximately every day, during nighttime or in daylight. We observed the process of roost finding in T. tricolor in a flight cage, manipulating the audio/visual sensory input available for each trial. A broad- band noise was broadcast in order to mask echolocation, while experiments conducted at night reduced significantly the amount of light. We measured the time needed to locate the roost under these different conditions. Results show that with limited visual and acoustic cues, search time increases significantly. In contrast bats seemed capable of using acoustic and visual cues in a similarly efficient manner, since roost search showed no strong differences in duration when bats could use only sound, only vision, or both senses at the same time. Our results show that non-acoustic inputs can still be an important source of information for finding crit- ical resources in bats.