Native North American Research Articles

Molecular identification and pathogenicity assessment of a rust fungus infecting common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) in its native North American range

A rust fungus collected from common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) in Texas, USA, was identified as belonging to the Puccinia xanthii morphospecies based on its nrDNA ITS sequence. Pathogenicity studies carried out with this rust accession under quarantine conditions in the UK showed that the fungus was highly virulent on A. artemisiifolia plants from Australia. Recently, P. xanthii has been proposed as a potential classical biological control agent (CBCA) for common ragweed in its invasive range, focusing on Europe, despite previous doubts about its biocontrol potential. The results of the pathogenicity tests reported here support the suitability of this pathogen as a CBCA for common ragweed.

The chemical composition, antioxidant activity and α-glucosidase inhibitory activity of water-extractable polysaccharide conjugates from northern Manitoba lingonberry

AbstractLingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea L.) is a small northern fruit that has been harvested historically by native North Americans and Northern Europeans. These berries have been traditionally consumed as food and for medicinal use. Lingonberries are reported to be rich in vitamin C, benzoic acid, and anthocyanins, which have been implicated in health benefits associated with the consumption of lingonberries. We hypothesized that water-extractable polysaccharides, conjugated with proteins and/or phenolics may also serve as bioactive compounds with potential health benefits in northern Manitoba lingonberries. A hot water extraction was used to obtain water-extractable polysaccharides from lingonberries and the water-extractable polysaccharides were fractionated into water-eluted/neutral and NaCl-eluted/acidic fractions using chromatography. The water-extractable polysaccharides were evaluated for their chemical composition and structural features. The antioxidant activity (FRAP and ABTS assays) and po...

New data on the taxonomic status and distribution of Gambusia sp. in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina

Background and Purpose: In the early 20th century, two native North American poeciliid species Gambusia holbrooki and Gambusia affinis were introduced to Europe as a mosquito control agent. The first introduction to Istria from Italy in 1924 was followed by several independent introductions and massive translocations. Presently, the distribution of these two species in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosnia and Herzegovina) is still largely unknown and they are often confused. The purpose of this study was to determine the taxonomic status of individual Gambusia populations and to shed more light on the distribution and phylogeographic patterns of these invasive species in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Materials and Methods: All new and literature data were plotted together to obtain the overall distribution of Gambusia sp. in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The samples collected across this range were analysed meristically and by means of mitochondrial cytochrome b (cytb) gene sequence analysis to ascertain the true taxonomic status of the populations. For phylogeographic analysis, the cytb sequences from this study were combined with previously published data. Results and Conclusions: The methods only confirmed the presence of G. holbrooki. G. holbrooki is continuously distributed across the entire Mediterranean biogeographical region in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Two different mitochondrial cytb haplotypes were found: the widely spread Hol1 haplotype and haplotype Hol5 that in Europe was previously found only in France and Greece. This suggests that G. holbrooki populations in the region originated from different stocks.

Book Review: Native North Americans in Literature for Youth: A Selective Annotated Bibliography for K–12

In Native North Americans in Literature for Youth, the authors have selected appropriate Native American materials, focusing on book award winners and established authors, with an emphasis on books published from 1995 to the present. When this book first arrived on my desk, it prompted an immediate search for the materials pertaining to the major tribal nations in Oklahoma, where I work as a selector for a public library system. Well-written and accurate material about Native Americans is important for every public and school library in my state, and Alice Crosetto and Rajinder Garcha have done a thorough job in selecting objective and accurate literature on the topic.

Admixture between native and invasive populations may increase invasiveness ofMimulus guttatus

Self-fertilization and admixture of genotypes from different populations can have major fitness consequences in native species. However, few studies have addressed their potential roles in invasive species. Here, we used plants of Mimulus guttatus from seven native North American, three invasive Scottish and four invasive New Zealand populations to address this. We created seeds from self-fertilization, within-population outcrossing, between-population outcrossing within the same range, and outcrossing between the native and invasive ranges. A greenhouse experiment showed that native and invasive plants of M. guttatus suffered to similar degrees from inbreeding depression, in terms of asexual reproduction and biomass production. After outcrossing with plants from other populations, M. guttatus benefited from heterosis, in terms of asexual and sexual reproduction, and biomass production, particularly when plants from native and invasive populations were crossed. This suggests that, when novel genotypes of M. guttatus from the native North American range will be introduced to the invasive ranges, subsequent outcrossing with M. guttatus plants that are already there might further boost invasiveness of this species.

Comprehensive analysis of phenolic compounds and abscisic acid profiles of twelve native Canadian berries

Wild berries, integral parts of North American Natives’ traditional nutrition, are a rich source of phytochemicals involved in the prevention of metabolic syndrome. Although phenolic compounds are generally considered to be the functional components in fruits, the identification of specific compounds in relation to this beneficial activity remains to be uncovered. With the long-term goal of establishing the contribution of phytochemical compounds to their beneficial health effects, we investigated in a comprehensive manner the composition of twelve native Canadian berries: Saskatoon berry, alpine bearberry, chokeberry, black crowberry, honeysuckle, chokecherry, cloudberry, elderberry, lowbush blueberry, alpine blueberry, lingonberry and highbush cranberry. All harvested in the province of Quebec, these fruits were analyzed for their phenolic composition (anthocyanins, flavonols, flavan-3-ols, phenolic acids, proanthocyanidins and ellagitannins) and their content in abscisic acid derivatives (cis- and trans-ABA, abscisic acid-glucose ester, 7′-hydroxy-abscisic acid, neo-phaseic acid, phaseic acid and dihydrophaseic acid). Over 60 different phenolic compounds were identified and quantified in berries. Along with the characterization of abscisic acid, this study reports for the first time a complete characterization of proanthocyanidins in these fruits, highbush cranberry presenting the highest content of this class of compounds.

Indian Boarding School Gothic in <i>Older than America</i> and <i>The Only Good Indian</i>

This article examines the appropriation and redirection of the Gothic in two contemporary, Native-centered feature films that concern a history that can be said to haunt many Native North American communities today: the history of Indian boarding schools. Georgina Lightning’s Older than America (2008) and Kevin Willmott’s The Only Good Indian (2009) make use of Gothic conventions and the figures of the ghost and the vampire to visually relate the history and horrors of Indian boarding schools. Each of these Native-centered films displays a cinematic desire to decenter Eurocentric histories and to counter mainstream American genres with histories and forms of importance to Native North American peoples. Willmott’s film critiques mythologies of the West and frontier heroism, and Lightning attempts to sensitize non-Native viewers to contemporary Native North American concerns while also asserting visual sovereignty and affirming spiritual values.

Modifiable Factors and Genetic Predisposition Associated with Gallbladder Cancer. A Concise Review.

Gallbladder cancer (GbCa) is the most frequent malignancy of the biliary tract. It is also the 6th most common gastrointestinal tumor. It is associated with very high lethality, mainly due to the lack of symptoms up to a very late and thus incurable state. As many as 80% of patients are diagnosed at very late stages of disease, which allow only palliative therapy. As a result, most of the patients with GbCa will die within 6 months of the diagnosis, hence the average 5-year survival does not exceed 5%. Currently, surgical resection represents the only curative option in GbCa, but this approach is feasible only at an early stage of the disease. Other oncologic therapies are of limited use. The incidence of GbCa is remarkably increased in certain populations such as Native North Americans, South Indian females and, in Europe, in the Polish population. It is not clear to date if these enhanced risk populations are the result of common environmental exposure or of shared genetic risk factors. In this review we provide an overview of the state-of-art in GbCa research with the focus on the current knowledge concerning genetic and environmental triggers of this tumor.

Economic Dysfunction or Land Grab?: Assaults on the 19th-century Māori economy and their Native North American parallels

This article considers some key themes in messages promoted to New Zealand Māori by European colonists. With a focus on the period prior to 1870 when a number of factors came together to end Māori economic dominance, it considers whether the promoters of those messages were correct to claim that Indigenous peoples were not interested in material benefit or that individual ownership and individual endeavour for personal advantage were a greater spur to labour and productivity. Evidence pertaining to Māori is set against similar evidence from North America to argue that claims of laziness, incompetence, and inefficient land use were not merely incorrect but served to justify the transfer of land ownership from Māori to settlers in a process which appears to have parallels in North America and elsewhere.

Diversity Increases Indirect Interactions, Attenuates the Intensity of Competition, and Promotes Coexistence.

A fundamental assumption of coexistence theory is that competition inevitably decreases species diversity. Consequently, in the quest to understand the ecological regulators of diversity, there has been a great deal of focus on processes with the potential to reduce competitive exclusion. However, the notion that competition must decrease diversity is largely based on the outcome of two-species interaction experiments and models, despite the fact that species rarely interact only in pairs in natural systems. In a field experiment, we found that competition among native perennial plants in multispecies assemblages was far weaker than competition between those same species in pairwise arrangements and that indirect interactions appeared to weaken direct competitive effects. These results suggest that community assembly theory based on pairwise approaches may overestimate the strength of competition and likelihood of competitive exclusion in species-rich communities. We also found that Centaurea stoebe, a North American invader, retained strong competitive effects when competing against North American natives in both pairwise and multispecies assemblages. Our experimental results support an emerging body of theory suggesting that complex networks of competing species may generate strong indirect interactions that can maintain diversity and that ecological differentiation may not be necessary to attenuate competition.

Frost Grape Polysaccharide (FGP), an Emulsion-Forming Arabinogalactan Gum from the Stems of Native North American Grape Species Vitis riparia Michx.

A new arabinogalactan is described that is produced in large quantity from the cut stems of the North American grape species Vitis riparia (Frost grape). The sugar composition consists of l-arabinofuranose (l-Araf, 55.2%) and d-galactopyranose (d-Galp 30.1%), with smaller components of d-xylose (11.2%), d-mannose (3.5%), and glucuronic acid (GlcA, ∼2%), the latter linked via a galactosyl residue. Permethylation identified 3-linked Galp residues, some substituted at the 2-position with Galp or Manp, terminal Araf and Xylp, and an internal 3-substituted Araf. NMR (HSQC, TOCSY, HMBC, DOSY) identified βGalp and three αAraf spin systems, in an Araf-α1,3-Araf-α1,2-Araf-α1,2-Galp structural motif. Diffusion-ordered NMR showed that the FGP has a molecular weight of 1-10 MDa. Unlike gum arabic, the FGP does not contain a hydroxyproline-rich protein (HPRP). FGP forms stable gels at >15% w/v and at 1-12% solutions are viscous and are excellent emulsifiers of flavoring oils (grapefruit, clove, and lemongrass), giving stable emulsions for ≥72 h. Lower concentrations (0.1% w/v) were less viscous, yet still gave stable grapefruit oil/water emulsions. Hence, FGP is a β1,3-linked arabinogalactan with potential as a gum arabic replacement in the food and beverage industries.

Permeability and persistence of physical and social boundaries in the context of incarceration in nineteenth century Western Australia

AbstractIdentifying the documentary and archaeological indications of torture, punishment, discipline and imprisonment are key factors in addressing the ways in which society exerts its control over the individual; particularly the non‐conformist, the criminal, the indentured and the enslaved. Expressions of forced labour control are quite common in the archaeological record, at places such as large institutions, plantations, mining towns and industrial sites. But there are distinct differences between criminal imprisonment and racial enslavement, which become evident when one examines the permeability and persistence of physical and social boundaries. The ways in which Euro‐Australian and Aboriginal prisoners were treated in nineteenth century Western Australia gave rise to a system in which physical boundaries were more or less permeable for one group, but not the other. Although it was outlawed by the British Parliament just a few years after the Swan River Colony was established, both formal and informal types of incipient slavery seem to have persisted in the guise of forced incarceration, indentured servitude and illicit abductions. This was, in a way, reminiscent of the enslavement of native North Americans in the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries. Several examples are provided to illustrate these ideas.

Collaborative Conservation and Contexts of Resistance: New (and Enduring) Strategies for Survival

Proponents of schemes to incorporate indigenous individuals and ideas into mainstream natural resource management point out that participation allows Native voices to be heard, giving previously excluded citizens seats at environmental decisionmaking tables while simultaneously supporting effective programming and indigenous rights.1 These claims have validity. While initiatives have varied in both their durability and their ability to respectfully integrate diverse perspectives, Native North Americans have found ways to productively present their communities’ critical concerns in new and important arenas and, through their recent collaborative undertakings, have become accepted as valid environmental actors—an achievement environmental justice scholar Laura Pulido refers to as “ecological legitimacy.”2 Yet, critics argue, partaking in mainstream processes leads to empowerment not on autonomous indigenous terms, but only within an asymmetrical (post)colonial system.† Even as indigenous contributions are encouraged, usually sincerely, the politically dominant settler society continues to set operating discourses, patterns of information transmission, and rules for producing relevant knowledge. As anthropologist Paul Nadasdy suggests in his critique of land claims and co-management in northern Canada, “to be ‘empowered,’ local people must first agree to the rules of the game, rules that they had no role in creating and that constrain what

Effects of temperature and nitrogen availability on the growth of invasive and native cyanobacteria

Rising temperatures are expected to favour the growth of bloom-forming cyanobacteria in temperate lakes, but may also change the composition of cyanobacterial communities. To predict future community and bloom dynamics, it is therefore important to understand how bloom-forming species respond to temperature. Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii (Woloszynska) Seenayya & Subba Raju is an invasive, toxin-producing, nitrogen-fixer that may benefit from warming. To understand how changing temperatures will influence its ability to compete against native North American bloom-formers, we characterized the thermal reaction norms and temperature traits of three C. raciborskii strains, four strains of Microcystis aeruginosa (Kutzing) Kutzing and one strain of Anabaena flos-aquae (Lyng.) Breb. C. raciborskii strains had higher optimum temperatures and survived higher temperatures than toxic M. aeruginosa strains, but had no apparent advantage over the non-toxic M. aeruginosa strain or A. flos-aquae. M. aeruginosa strains and A. flos-aquae tolerated lower temperatures than C. raciborskii, suggesting that fitness differences at low temperature may be important in limiting the latter’s spread. Furthermore, we found that nutrient availability strongly influenced thermal reaction norm shape: nitrogen deprivation lowered growth rates and decreased both low- and high-temperature tolerance, but did not affect the optimum temperature in C. raciborskii.

Exploring the spectrum of antimicrobial activity from native North American prairie plants

For the past three years this lab has been investigating the use of North American prairie plants as sources of natural preservatives and antimicrobial compounds for use in personal care products. The experimental approach was to perform a simple agar-disk assay against a Gram positive bacteria from crude plant extracts. Compounds isolated from active fractions were then quantitatively assayed against Gram positive bacteria to determine their EC50 values. Commercial topical antibiotics (trioclosan) and preservatives (parabens) EC50 values were determined for the same assay and compared to the isolated plant compounds. To be effective antimicrobials and preservatives compounds must display an array of antimicrobial activity. We have expanded our antimicrobial assay to include organisms associated with non-sterile commercial personal care products (E.coli, C.albicans, A. niger, P. aeruginosa and S. aureus.). This presentation will discuss the spectrum of efficacy of compounds isolated from J. virginiana and P. argophylla against the aforementioned microorganisms.

Assessing interactions among native snails and the invasive New Zealand mud snail, Potamopyrgus antipodarum, using grazing experiments and stable isotope analysis

The New Zealand mud snail, Potamopyrgus antipodarum, is an invasive snail that can impact native snail populations. However, conflicting results from competition experiments between native snails and P. antipodarum have resulted in ambiguity about the type of impacts of P. antipodarum on native snails. We conducted grazing trials with the native North American snail, Fluminicola sp., and P. antipodarum to increase the understanding of possible impacts of P. antipodarum on this native snail. We also conducted stable isotope analysis for snails at two locations: one with P. antipodarum present and the other without this invasive snail. Based on treatment fecal mass, no significant difference was seen for grazing trials; however, single species treatments showed 4.8 times higher gram-specific fecal mass in P. antipodarum than Fluminicola sp., suggesting that P. antipodarum is a more efficient grazer. Carbon stable isotopes suggest that these snails share food resources at the invaded location. Strong overlap in food sources for P. antipodarum and Fluminicola sp. may indicate competition for food and a shift in the food resources used by Fluminicola sp. in invaded areas.

The ancestry and affiliations of Kennewick Man.

Kennewick Man, referred to as the Ancient One by Native Americans, is a male human skeleton discovered in Washington state (USA) in 1996 and initially radiocarbon dated to 8,340-9,200 calibrated years before present (BP). His population affinities have been the subject of scientific debate and legal controversy. Based on an initial study of cranial morphology it was asserted that Kennewick Man was neither Native American nor closely related to the claimant Plateau tribes of the Pacific Northwest, who claimed ancestral relationship and requested repatriation under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). The morphological analysis was important to judicial decisions that Kennewick Man was not Native American and that therefore NAGPRA did not apply. Instead of repatriation, additional studies of the remains were permitted. Subsequent craniometric analysis affirmed Kennewick Man to be more closely related to circumpacific groups such as the Ainu and Polynesians than he is to modern Native Americans. In order to resolve Kennewick Man's ancestry and affiliations, we have sequenced his genome to ∼1× coverage and compared it to worldwide genomic data including for the Ainu and Polynesians. We find that Kennewick Man is closer to modern Native Americans than to any other population worldwide. Among the Native American groups for whom genome-wide data are available for comparison, several seem to be descended from a population closely related to that of Kennewick Man, including the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation (Colville), one of the five tribes claiming Kennewick Man. We revisit the cranial analyses and find that, as opposed to genome-wide comparisons, it is not possible on that basis to affiliate Kennewick Man to specific contemporary groups. We therefore conclude based on genetic comparisons that Kennewick Man shows continuity with Native North Americans over at least the last eight millennia.

Production of Cypripedium montanum seedlings for commercial value and reintroduction into restoration projects: phase II

The mountain lady’s slipper (Cypripedium mon- tanum Douglas ex Lindl. is a large and charismatic perennial orchid once widely distributed in montane regions of the northwestern United States. This native North American orchid is a member of a genus that has been highly prized by collectors worldwide. Cypripedium is now among the most endangered plant genera in the world. As evidence of threats to its survival, a decade ago

Transcriptome-facilitated development of SNPs for the Sonoran Desert rock fig, Ficus petiolaris (Moraceae).

Premise of the study:Single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) primers were developed for a native North American desert fig, Ficus petiolaris (Moraceae), to provide markers for population genetic studies designed to quantify patterns of gene flow across a complex landscape.Methods and Results:Transcriptome sequencing and bioinformatic protocols were implemented to discover SNPs in single-copy protein-coding genes. Multiplexes of 30 nuclear and 24 organellar (chloroplast and mitochondrial) SNPs were selected for primer development and genotyping on the Sequenom MASSArray System. Of these 54 loci, 49 reliably amplified across a panel of 96 F. petiolaris individuals.Conclusions:This study has provided SNP primers that can be applied in future studies investigating population genetics of F. petiolaris and its coevolution with associated pollinating and nonpollinating fig wasps.

Evidence of a Native Northwest Atlantic COI Haplotype Clade in the Cryptogenic Colonial Ascidian Botryllus schlosseri.

The colonial ascidian Botryllus schlosseri should be considered cryptogenic (i.e., not definitively classified as either native or introduced) in the Northwest Atlantic. Although all the evidence is quite circumstantial, over the last 15 years most research groups have accepted the scenario of human-mediated dispersal and classified B. schlosseri as introduced; others have continued to consider it native or cryptogenic. We address the invasion status of this species by adding 174 sequences to the growing worldwide database for the mitochondrial gene cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and analyzing 1077 sequences to compare genetic diversity of one clade of haplotypes in the Northwest Atlantic with two hypothesized source regions (the Northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean). Our results lead us to reject the prevailing view of the directionality of transport across the Atlantic. We argue that the genetic diversity patterns at COI are far more consistent with the existence of at least one haplotype clade in the Northwest Atlantic (and possibly a second) that substantially pre-dates human colonization from Europe, with this native North American clade subsequently introduced to three sites in Northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean waters. However, we agree with past researchers that some sites in the Northwest Atlantic have more recently been invaded by alien haplotypes, so that some populations are currently composed of a mixture of native and invader haplotypes.