Article
Cell Biology
Axel H. Newton
Summary: Studies on vertebrates have provided important insights into craniofacial morphogenesis, but little is known about the patterning of distinct facial morphologies during development. Comparative models between related species, such as mammals, can help uncover the origin of species-specific patterning. The use of single-cell multi-omics techniques allows for detailed investigation into the cellular and molecular processes underlying craniofacial evolution.
FRONTIERS IN CELL AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Jorge A. Valenciano-Salazar, Francisco J. Andre, Mario Solino
Summary: Consumers' awareness of environmental certifications is closely related to factors such as age, household income, education level, and participation in community groups, with consumers who are more aware being more willing to pay higher prices for certified coffee or products from certified companies.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Juan Jose Alvarado, Jose Leonardo Chacon-Monge, Juan Carlos Azofeifa-Solano, Jorge Cortes
Summary: This review presents the history of expeditions and studies on deep-sea echinoderms in Costa Rica, providing an updated list of species. It reveals that deep-sea echinoderms are highly diverse in both the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, with Ophiuroidea being the most specious group. However, limited research has been done regarding the biology and ecology of these organisms, emphasizing the need for further studies to understand their ecological functions.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Geology
Vadim Levin, Stephen Elkington, James Bourke, Ivonne Arroyo, Lepolt Linkimer
Summary: Research suggests the possibility of upper mantle flow from the Pacific to the Caribbean, requiring an opening in the lithosphere. Observations of seismic anisotropy provide valuable information on mantle flow dynamics.
Article
Nutrition & Dietetics
Zhongyao Li, Dongqing Wang, Edward A. Ruiz-Narvaez, Karen E. Peterson, Hannia Campos, Ana Baylin
Summary: Studies have found that while there is a positive association between starchy vegetable consumption and MetS prevalence in Costa Rican adults, there is no significant trend after adjusting for confounders. Consuming total starchy vegetables and healthy starchy vegetables is significantly inversely associated with fasting blood glucose levels. Starchy vegetables may be part of a healthy dietary pattern in this population.
Article
Microbiology
Marcela Suarez-Esquivel, Nazareth Ruiz-Villalobos, Warren Hidalgo-Jara, Carlos Chacon-Diaz, Ana Mariel Zuniga-Pereira, Mario Masis-Mora, Ericka Fernandez-Fernandez, Gabriela Hernandez-Mora, Elias Barquero-Calvo, Esteban Chaves-Olarte, Nicholas R. Thomson, Jeffrey T. Foster, Edgardo Moreno, Caterina Guzman-Verri
Summary: Brucellosis is a prevalent disease in Costa Rica, with a significant number of pet dogs infected with Brucella strains introduced from Mexico and Panama. The study identified three main lineages of B. canis CR strains, with fatty acid methyl ester analysis revealing five different groups. Phylogenetic analysis showed mutations occurring independently in various lineages of B. canis strains.
VETERINARY MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Adolfo Quesada-Roman
Summary: This study analyzes and classifies the flood risk of 82 municipalities in Costa Rica, and designs a flood risk index to understand the role of different variables at a local level. The results show that municipalities located in flatlands, Pacific and Caribbean basins, as well as borderlands and coastal regions have higher flood risk. This approach can promote flood risk assessment plans in developing countries or regions with limited information.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & POLICY
(2022)
Article
Geology
James R. Bourke, Vadim Levin, Ivonne G. Arroyo, Lepolt Linkimer
Summary: The Panama microplate, located between the Cocos, Nazca, Caribbean, and South American plates, has undergone rapid tectonic changes in the past 10 million years. The region has seen significant seismicity, with a major earthquake occurring along the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica in 1991. Through receiver function analysis, this study provides insights into the crust and upper mantle structure of the region, identifying the position of the Panama microplate boundary and confirming that the Caribbean plate is subducting beneath it. This subduction explains the observed seismic activity and the cessation of volcanic activity in southern Costa Rica.
Letter
Immunology
Jordan Mah, Kyle Walding, Brooke Liang, Laurence Rinsky, Roshni Mathew, Indre Budvytiene, Niaz Banaei
Summary: We report a case of Mycobacterium marinum soft-tissue infection after an iguana bite in Costa Rica, diagnosed through 16S rRNA sequencing and mycobacterial culture. This case highlights potential microbial etiologies of infection after iguana bites.
EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Industrial
Sara Guevara Arce, Chloe Jeanneret, John Gales, Danielle Antonellis, Sandra Vaiciulyte
Summary: Informal settlements are prone to fires worldwide, affecting 1 billion people. This paper explores a case study of a fire in Costa Rica's informal settlement in 2019, focusing on human behavior in response to fires. It introduces a methodology for situational analysis and documentation of human behavior responses based on video footage of informal settlement fires.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Matias Piaggio, Juha Siikamaki
Summary: Forest cover has a significant impact on water quality and water treatment costs, with potential economic benefits from the water purification service provided by forests. The marginal contribution of forests to water quality increases as the size of catchment decreases. Financially, the estimated value of water purification service provided by forests is considerable, highlighting the importance of forest cover for water quality management.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Development Studies
Koen Voorend, Arjun S. Bedi, Rebeca Sura-Fonseca
Summary: This study examines the access to healthcare services for Nicaraguan immigrants in Costa Rica. It found that the incidence of migrant healthcare use is lower than their population share, and there is no evidence of discrimination based on nationality in healthcare access for migrants. This underscores the importance of informed migration debates.
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Kurt A. Haberyan, Sally P. Horn
Summary: The utility of diatoms as paleoenvironmental indicators is limited by a lack of ecological knowledge about local modern species. A study in Costa Rica examined 86 lakes to gather limnological, chemical, and watershed data and explored the relationships between these factors and diatoms. The analysis revealed significant associations between diatom species and environmental parameters such as calcium, elevation, lake depth, and pH. However, the study also found that diatom assemblages were often similar among lakes with different conditions and dissimilar among lakes with similar conditions, suggesting a limited role for biotic factors in community assembly.
Review
Biology
Stella Kyomen, Andrea P. Murillo-Rincon, Marketa Kaucka
Summary: Mammals show great variation in craniofacial morphology, which is a result of their adaptation to different ecological niches and lifestyles. The development of craniofacial structures occurs during embryonic development and is tightly regulated at various levels. Changes in timing, position, and concentration of molecular drivers can influence the final shape of the skull. Recent research has linked changes in developmental timing, spatial organization, and gene expression levels to species-specific skull morphologies in mammals. This review explores the evolutionary mechanisms of heterochrony, heterotopy, and heterometry and their effects on craniofacial development.
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Oceanography
Felipe Calleja, Jonathan Chacon Guzman, Henry Alfaro Chavarria
Summary: This research aims to identify potential areas for marine aquaculture operations in the central and northern Pacific coast of Costa Rica, considering different operation scale scenarios and commercial fish species. The results show a high potential for large and medium-scale aquaculture projects, with three out of five study species presenting high suitability. Small-scale operations also have several areas suitable for aquaculture projects. The Pacific coast of Costa Rica presents high potential for fish aquaculture, which could be a promising development medium for coastal communities as long as it is environmentally sustainable and compatible with other coastal activities such as tourism.
OCEAN & COASTAL MANAGEMENT
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Joseph H. Williams, Paulo E. Oliveira
Article
Plant Sciences
Tatiana Arias, Chad E. Niederhuth, Paula McSteen, J. Chris Pires
Summary: This study explored the important characteristics of kale in the process of plant nutrition domestication, identified candidate genes potentially responsible for the domestication process of kale through transcriptome differences analysis and gene expression pattern research, thereby achieving an in-depth understanding of the domestication process of this plant.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Biology
Juliana E. Arcila-Galvis, Rafael E. Arango, Javier M. Torres-Bonilla, Tatiana Arias
Summary: Mycosphaerellaceae is a diverse fungal family with high variability in mitochondrial genome size and gene order. The mitochondrial genome of Pseudocercospora fijiensis contains typical genes related to oxidative phosphorylation. The study provides insights into the evolutionary dynamics of fungal pathogens affecting important crops like bananas.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Maria Alejandra Serna-Sanchez, Oscar A. Perez-Escobar, Diego Bogarin, Maria Fernanda Torres-Jimenez, Astrid Catalina Alvarez-Yela, Juliana E. Arcila-Galvis, Climbie F. Hall, Fabio de Barros, Fabio Pinheiro, Steven Dodsworth, Mark W. Chase, Alexandre Antonelli, Tatiana Arias
Summary: This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the orchid family based on 78 plastid coding genes representing 264 species, with inclusion of 51 newly sequenced plastid genomes. The results confirm previous phylogenetic relationships in Orchidaceae and clarify the placement of certain groups, while also identifying persistent problematic relationships across multiple studies. This expanded temporal phylogenomic framework of Orchidaceae paves the way for biogeographical and macroevolutionary studies.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Oscar Alejandro Perez-Escobar, Steven Dodsworth, Diego Bogarin, Sidonie Bellot, Juan A. Balbuena, Rowan J. Schley, Izai A. Kikuchi, Sarah K. Morris, Niroshini Epitawalage, Robyn Cowan, Olivier Maurin, Alexandre Zuntini, Tatiana Arias, Alejandra Serna-Sanchez, Barbara Gravendeel, Maria Fernanda Torres Jimenez, Katharina Nargar, Guillaume Chomicki, Mark W. Chase, Ilia J. Leitch, Felix Forest, William J. Baker
Summary: This study established a robust nuclear phylogenomic framework for the Orchidaceae family and assessed the discordance between nuclear and plastid trees, as well as the phylogenetic informativeness across the family. The results demonstrate that nuclear and plastid phylogenetic trees can have strongly supported discordances, which must be considered in evolutionary studies like taxonomy, biogeography, and character evolution.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY
(2021)
Correction
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Maria Alejandra Serna-Sanchez, Oscar A. Perez-Escobar, Diego Bogarin, Maria Fernanda Torres-Jimenez, Astrid Catalina Alvarez-Yela, Juliana E. Arcila-Galvis, Climbie F. Hall, Fabio de Barros, Fabio Pinheiro, Steven Dodsworth, Mark W. Chase, Alexandre Antonelli, Tatiana Arias
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Viann Marie Harmony Yomai, Joseph Hill Williams
Summary: This study characterized the breeding systems of 28 species on Pohnpei, with results showing all species had some degree of autogamy and Indigenous species were no more likely than naturalized species to display outcrossing mechanisms. On Pohnpei island, high ovule numbers and constraints of wind pollination reflect the importance of retaining reproductive assurance mechanisms in the face of pollinator uncertainty.
Review
Plant Sciences
Joseph H. Williams
Summary: The vegetative cell of angiosperm male gametophyte functions as a single-celled organism that produces and transports sperm. Whole-genome duplication has strong effects on pollen due to the transition from haploid to diploid and genetic and epigenetic effects. WGD causes gene number and nuclear DNA mass to double, leading to heterosis in 2n pollen compared to 1n pollen. Additional genetic content and complexity affect gene regulation, expression, and cell architecture in pollen.
PLANT REPRODUCTION
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jorge Mario Munoz-Perez, Gloria Patricia Canas, Lorena Lopez, Tatiana Arias
Summary: This study provides insight into the genetic diversity and relatedness of coconut accessions in Colombia using SNP markers. The findings reveal differences between the Atlantic and Pacific gene pools and provide valuable information for germplasm conservation and breeding programs.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Review
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Jose Alejandro Cano, Abraham Londono-Pineda, Maria Fanny Castro, Hugo Becquer Paz, Carolina Rodas, Tatiana Arias
Summary: In recent years, the rise of e-commerce has led to the emergence of electronic marketplaces, which act as intermediaries in the buying and selling process, bringing together multiple vendors to offer a variety of products and services. E-marketplaces offer advantages such as access to potential buyers, visibility for businesses and products, cost reduction, comparison of offers and prices, and ease of internationalization. However, the sustainability of these platforms is crucial for their success, requiring the involvement of different stakeholders to meet economic, environmental, and social objectives.
Article
Plant Sciences
Mailen Ortega-Cuadros, Tiago Lodi De Souza, Romain Berruyer, Sophie Aligon, Sandra Pelletier, Jean-Pierre Renou, Tatiana Arias, Claire Campion, Thomas Guillemette, Jerome Verdier, Philippe Grappin
Summary: The transmission of seed-borne pathogens during seed germination is a major cause of crop diseases. However, the immune responses of germinating seeds to biotic invaders are poorly understood. This study used the Arabidopsis thaliana/Alternaria brassicicola patho-system to investigate the transcriptional responses of germinating seeds and young seedlings to infection by the necrotrophic fungus. The results revealed non-canonical immune responses in early germinating seeds compared to early seedling establishment stages.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Mailen Ortega-Cuadros, Laurine Chir, Sophie Aligon, Tatiana Arias, Jerome Verdier, Philippe Grappin
Summary: This study utilized RNA-seq experiments to identify the transcripts of Arabidopsis thaliana seeds and Alternaria brassicicola and described the molecular mechanisms involved in seed interaction with the necrotrophic fungus. The results showed differentially expressed genes during seed germination and seedling establishment stages, and the dynamic transcript changes in the fungal pathogen during this process.
Article
Plant Sciences
Juliana E. Arcila-Galvis, Cesar Marin, Mailen Ortega-Cuadros, Jorge M. Munoz-Perez, Tatiana Arias
Summary: The study compared microbial communities in a mine rehabilitation site and an area with native vegetation. It was found that while bacterial diversity was higher in the rehabilitation site, fungal genera were more sensitive to different treatments. Additionally, microbial communities in the native dry forest had more genes related to carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and zinc cycles, metal homeostasis, and organic remediation.
JOURNAL OF SOIL SCIENCE AND PLANT NUTRITION
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Tatiana Arias, Jeisson Chaux-Varela, Maria del Pilar Camero, R. Alexis Calderon-Alvarez, Anyi Carolina Trujillo, Marco A. Correa-Munera, Alejandro Zuluaga, Oscar Perdomo, Oscar A. Perez-Escobar, Edwin Trujillo-Trujillo, Janice Valencia-D
Summary: This paper presents a checklist of Orchidaceae from Caqueta, Colombia, recording 98 genera and 418 species, exceeding a previous inventory by 276 species. The checklist is conservative in inclusion criteria and includes only fully and reliably identified taxa with corresponding vouchers, living collections, or field photos published in iNaturalist. Additional collecting efforts in the eastern slopes of the Andes in Caqueta could lead to a significant increase in documented species diversity in the region. This area contributes significantly to orchid diversity in the Andean-Amazonian foothills of Caqueta, accounting for about 9% (418/4600) of all Orchidaceae species recorded for Colombia.
Article
Plant Sciences
Tatiana Arias, Diego Mauricio Riano-Pachon, Veronica S. Di Stilio
Summary: Genome sequencing and assembly of Thalictrum species, along with floral transcriptome analysis, provide insights into candidate genes associated with different sexual and pollination systems in flowers. Additionally, single-copy gene analysis and SSR markers are generated as resources for population-level and phylogenetic studies.
APPLICATIONS IN PLANT SCIENCES
(2021)