Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Venationes'

A phylogenetic character analysis of the wing venation within Apocrita (Hymenoptera) was conducted in order to examine the phylogenetic significance of wing characters. The venational data were then combined with published studies of other character suites to produce a hypothesis of phylogenetic relationships among apocritan superfamilies and families. Whereas the cladograms obtained from the collection of papers on character suites provide strong support for the sister group relationship between Orussidae and Apocrita, the ones derived from wing venation did not establish such a relationship, although they provided more support for relationships within Apocrita. A ground plan is proposed for the wing venation of each taxon examined; for Apocrita, it is close to the groundplan established for Aculeata. The variability of wing venation is higher between and within apocritan taxa than in Symphyta. This research confirms that groupings such as the Symphyta, Siricoidea, Evanioidea and possibly the Proctorupoidea are artificial.

Several examples of nearly optimal transport networks can be found in nature. These networks effectively distribute and drain fluids throughout a medium. Evidence suggests that blood vessels of the circulatory system, airways in the lungs and veins of leaf venations are examples of networks that have evolved to become effective in their tasks while simultaneously being energy efficient. Hence, it does not come as a surprise that recent performance improvements of modern power generating devices occur due to the use of nature-inspired channel architectures. Guided by this observations, in this work, we investigate the application of visually realistic computer-generated leaf venation patterns to a type of photovoltaic device. We solve the flow through the device problem using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tools. Moreover, we attempt to develop experimentals models. Ultimately, we seek to single out the network properties that affect their performance.
Diversos exemplos de redes de transporte quase ótimas podem ser encontradas na natureza. Essas redes distribuem e coletam fluidos através de um meio. Evidências sugerem que os vasos sanguíneos do sistema circulatório, as vias respiratórias nos pulmões e as veias das venações em folhas são exemplares de redes que evoluiram para se tornarem efetivas em suas tarefas sendo, ao mesmo tempo, eficientes energeticamente. Dessa forma, não chega a ser surpreendente que recentes melhorias de performance em dispositivos de geração de energia modernos ocorrem devido ao uso de arquiteturas de canais inspiradas na natureza. Guiados por estas observações, nesse trabalho, investigamos a aplicação de padrões de venações verossímeis geradas por computador em um tipo de dispositivo fotovoltaico. Resolvemos o problema de escoamento através do dispositivo usando ferramentas de Dinâmica de Fluidos Computacional (CFD). Além disso, procuramos desenvolver modelos experimentais. Em última instância, estamos em busca das propriedades da rede que afetam sua performance.

Within each leaf is an intricate network of veins. The geometry of this network shows large variation across species and environments, paralleling variation in species' functioning and geographic distributions. Here I develop theory that links leaf venation networks to 1) the worldwide leaf economics spectrum, enabling better understandings of the resource tradeoffs that are central to the terrestrial carbon and water cycles, and 2) atmospheric temperature and carbon dioxide concentrations, enabling better use of leaf fossils for paleoclimate reconstruction. I successfully test these theories across contemporary temperate and tropical sites, and apply them to paleo-sites spanning a 2Myr interval across the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary. These theoretical and empirical results demonstrate that leaf venation networks can provide an integrative framework for understanding relationships between plant form, function, and environment.

A maioria dos estudos filogenéticos envolvendo Rutaceae foi baseada em dados macromoleculares e poucos utilizaram gêneros neotropicais. Uma exceção a esses trabalhos, foi a análise filogenética de Pilocarpus, um gênero de Rutaceae neotropical, baseada em caracteres morfológicos proposta por Dias e colaboradores. Considerando a importância dos estudos anatômicos em análises cladísticas, os quais podem constituir uma importante fonte de informações para a própria definição de estados de caráter e conseqüente proposição de homologia primária dos caracteres, o presente estudo teve como objetivo investigar e mapear caracteres foliares para Pilocarpus e gêneros relacionados com base na anatomia vegetal. Para tanto, analisou-se a organização estrutural foliar de 12 espécies, empregando-se as técnicas usuais em anatomia vegetal à dissociação de epidermes, secções transversais e longitudinais, e diafanização, adotando-se as microscopias de luz e eletrônica de varredura. Foram descritos 32 caracteres morfo-anatômicos foliares, dentre estes podem ser citados: ornamentação da cutícula; tipos de tricomas, estômatos, estruturas secretoras, cristais e células do periciclo; características do mesofilo e da venação. Com o mapeamento destes caracteres, baseado na filogenia proposta por Dias e colaboradores, foi possível observar a tendência de alguns caracteres serem informativos para determinados terminais, ou até mesmo para o grupo Pilocarpus, propondo suas possíveis relações filogenéticas. Diante disso, observou-se a tendência de que grande parte destes caracteres sejam homoplásticos, 8 dos 32 caracteres sejam autapomórficos. Apenas os estados referente a drusas de oxalato de cálcio no parênquima paliçádico e drusas de oxalato de cálcio no pecíolo, possívelmente, representem uma sinapomorfia para Pilocarpus. Além disso, as árvores mapeadas foram agrupadas de acordo com o número de caracteres que alguns terminais apresentaram em comum. Por exemplo, Raulinoa echinata e Helietta apiculata foram os terminais que apresentaram um maior número de caracteres em comum. No entanto, não foi possível afirmar quais são os caracteres filogeneticamente informativos, sendo necessário a inclusão dos dados anatômicos à matriz de caracteres morfológicos proposta por Dias e colaboradores, a fim de que novas informações sejam geradas e/ou comprovadas.
Most of the phylogenetics studies involving Rutaceae were based on macromolecular data and few used neotropicais generas. An exception of these works, was the phylogenetic analysis about Pilocarpus, a genus of neotropical Rutaceae, based on morphological characters proposed for Dias and collaborators. Considering the importance of the anatomical studies in cladistics, which can constitute an important source of informations for itself definition about states of character and consequent proposition of primary homology of the characters, the goals of the present study were to investigate and mapping leaves\' characters for Pilocarpus and related genera based on the vegetative anatomy. For these studies, the structural leaf organization of 12 species were analysed, using the usual techniques in vegetative anatomy to the dissociation of epidermis, cross and longitudinal sections and diafanization, adopting the Optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Thirty two morfo-anatomical leaves characters were described: ornamentation of the cuticle; kind of trichomes, stomata, secretory structures, crystals and cells of the pericycle; characteristics of the mesophyll and venation. With the mapping of these characters, based on the phylogenetic proposed by Dias and collaborators, was possible to observe the tendency of some characters to be informative for determined taxons, or even for the group Pilocarpus, proposing its possible relations Phylogenetic. With this, was observed the tendency of what great part of these characters be homoplastics, 8 of 32 characters are autapomorphic. Druse calcium oxalate in the palisade parenchyma and in the petiole, possibly, represent a synapomorphic traits for Pilocarpus. Beside this, the mapped trees were grouped in accordance with the number of characters that some taxons presented in common. For example, Raulinoa echinata and Helietta apiculata were the species that presented the biggest number of characters in common. However, it was not possible to affirm what the characters are phylogenetic informative, being necessary the inclusion of the anatomical data to the matrix of morphological characters proposed by Dias and collaborators, so that new informations are produced and / or proved.

The cross-sectional geometry of an insect wing has historically been simplified to a rectangular, elliptic, or having a streamlined airfoil shape. Up until this point, no analysis has utilized a morphologically accurate insect wing. As such, there remains significant questions as to whether or not there are aerodynamic benefits to the wing vein structure accompanying the already known structural improvements. The present study uses a bumblebee specimen (Bombus pensylvanicus) acquired by the author, scanned using a skyscan microCT scanner, and post-processed for computational analysis. The resulting geometry captures the naturally occurring vein structures present in the bee wing and is used to better understand aerodynamic effects of biological corrugation. The aerodynamics associated with a morphologically accurate bee wing geometry are explored in two and three dimensions for the first time. Multiple methodologies are validated with experimental results presented in the literature to capture the fluid dynamics in two dimensions including the Lattice-Boltzmann method and unstructured dynamic remeshing using a Navier-Stokes approach. The effects of wing cross-section are compared first with common geometries used in the literature in two dimensions and then between cross-sections extracted at different locations along the wing span. A three-dimensional methodology is validated and used to compare the true bee wing with one using a rectangular cross-section in symmetric hovering. The influence of spanwise cross-section is revisited in three dimensions and compared to the results found in two-dimensions for the same kinematics in forward flight. The final focus of the dissertation is the first simulation of a morphologically accurate wing using kinematics described in the literature.
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Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Goiás - FAPEG
Cayaponia Silva Manso (Cucurbitaceae Juss.), In the State of Goiás: a morphological and anatomical approach - Cayaponia Silva Manso comprises about 60 species of which 47 occur in Brazil. Several studies have been carried out with species of this genus in view of the proven pharmacological potential for some taxa, mainly C. tayuya (Vell) Cogn., C. martiana (Cogn.) Cogn. In Goiás it was reported the existence of seven species that constitute two groups that are differentiated respectively by the habits and habitats where they are found, one formed by the species C. espelina (Silva Manso) Cogn., C. rugosa Gomes-Klein et Pirani and C. weddellii (Naudin) Cogn. And the other group comprising the species C. tayuya (Vell.) Cogn., C. citrullifolia (Griseb.) Cogn., C. diversifolia (Cogn.) Cogn. and C. podantha Cogn. Some studies have been carried out to solve complexes in other botanical families. Studies on the anatomy of vegetative and reproductive organs have presented results that contribute to a better circumscription for the species under study. In this work, morphological, taxonomic and anatomical studies were carried out with the objective of adding new information that allows a better delimitation and recognition of the studied species. A preliminary survey of information on Cayaponia species occurred in the State of Goiás. 41 expeditions were carried out in 42 municipalities. Specimens of 7 species were collected in the State of Goiás. For the morphological and taxonomic studies, the collected material was processed, herborized and identified according to the usual methodology. For the anatomical analysis part of the material was preserved fresh in a freezer at 10 ° C, another part fixed in alcohol70, in FAA70 or FPA70. In Chapter 1 the taxonomic treatment for the species occurring in Goiás was carried out. A key of identification, morphological and taxonomic description was presented, as well as illustrations of the species studied. In Chapter 2 the description of foliar architecture of the species under study was presented. Also in this chapter an identification key was developed for the species under study based on foliar architecture and venation patterns. Chapter 3 presents anatomical analyzes of petiole and leaf blade, scanning electron microscopy and histochemical tests that were used in the separation of taxa. Statistical tests, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) were applied with the objective of performing a prospection of morpho-anatomic characters that support the groups delimited in previous chapters.
Cayaponia Silva Manso (Cucurbitaceae Juss.), no Estado de Goiás: uma abordagem morfológica e anatômica - Cayaponia Silva Manso compreende em torno de 60 espécies das quais 47 ocorrem no Brasil. Diversos estudos tem sido realizados com espécies deste gênero tendo em vista o potencial farmacêutico comprovado para alguns taxa, principalmente C. tayuya (Vell) Cogn., C. martiana (Cogn.) Cogn. Em Goiás foi relatado a existência de sete espécies que constituem dois grupos que são diferenciados respectivamente pelos hábitos e habitats onde são encontrados, um formado pelas espécies C. espelina (Silva Manso) Cogn., C. rugosa Gomes-Klein et Pirani e C. weddellii (Naudin) Cogn. e o outro grupo compreendendo as espécies C. tayuya (Vell.) Cogn., C. citrullifolia (Griseb.) Cogn. e C. diversifolia (Cogn.) Cogn. e C. podantha Cogn. Alguns estudos tem sido realizados para solução de complexos em outras famílias botânicas. Trabalhos sobre anatomia de órgãos vegetativos e reprodutivos têm apresentado resultados que contribuem com uma melhor circunscrição para as espécies em estudo. Neste trabalho, foram realizados estudos morfológicos, taxonômicos e anatômicos com o objetivo de acrescentar novas informações que permitam melhor delimitação e reconhecimento das espécies estudadas. Foi realizado o levantamento prévio de informações sobre as espécies Cayaponia, ocorrentes no Estado de Goiás. Procedeu-se 41 expedições a 42 municípios. Foram coletados exemplares de 7 espécies ocorrentes no Estado de Goiás. Para os estudos morfológicos e taxonômicos o material coletado, foi processado, herborizado e identificado segundo metodologia usual. Para as análises anatômicas parte do material foi preservado fresco em freezer a 10°C, outra parte fixado em álcool70, em FAA70 ou FPA70. No Capítulo 1 foi realizado o tratamento taxonômico para as espécies ocorrentes em Goiás. Foi apresentada uma chave de identificação, descrição morfológica e taxonômica, além de ilustrações das espécies estudadas. No Capítulo 2 foi apresentada a descrição de arquitetura foliar das espécies em estudo. Ainda nesse capítulo foi elaborada uma chave de identificação para as espécies em estudo baseada na arquitetura foliar e padrões de venação. O Capítulo 3 apresenta análises anatômicas de pecíolo e lâmina foliar, microscopia eletrônica de varredura e testes histoquímicos que foram empregados na separação dos taxa. Testes estatísticos, análise de Componentes Principais (PCA, em inglês) e Análise Hierárquica de Cluster (HCA), foram aplicados com o objetivo de realizar uma prospecção de caracteres morfoanatômicos que suportam os grupos delimitados nos capítulos anteriores.

La sous-espèce d’abeille domestique présente dans les îles du Sud-ouest de l’océan Indien (SOOI) est Apis mellifera unicolor. Les populations insulaires du SOOI sont génétiquement structurées, avec des hybridations observées avec des lignées Européennes en proportions variables selon les îles. Afin de mieux comprendre les processus micro-évolutifs mis en œuvre entre les divergences de 10 populations insulaires du SOOI, nous avons étudié la variabilité et la distribution d’un trait en regard de la diversité génétique des individus. Ainsi, le patron de nervation alaire a été caractérisé en utilisant la morphométrie géométrique (méthode Procrustes) sur plus de 1400 ouvrières. Des approches multivariées ont permis de relier les données morphologiques (taille et conformation des ailes) aux données génétiques (14 marqueurs microsatellites). Premièrement, nous avons étudié un processus d’hybridation en cours à l’île Maurice et mis en évidence la concordance entre les variations morphogénétiques et génétiques, puis montré que le processus d’hybridation a contribué à accroître la variabilité phénotypique de la population. Les introductions humaines et l’apiculture ont donc fortement influencé la trajectoire évolutive de cette population. Dans un second temps nous avons élargi notre étude à la caractérisation des abeilles de toute la zone SOOI. Les résultats montrent non seulement que ces populations sont autant structurées morphologiquement que génétiquement, mais aussi que la variabilité de la conformation des ailes reflète l’histoire évolutive de ces populations, en soulignant l’influence de la dérive, des effets fondateurs et de l’hybridation sur ces populations. La forte congruence observée entre la variabilité génétique neutre et morphométrique n’exclue pas d’autres mécanismes, tels que la sélection naturelle et/ou la plasticité phénotypique, qui auraient pu influer sur la trajectoire évolutive de l’abeille du SOOI
The honeybee subspecies found in the islands of the southwest Indian Ocean (SOOI) is Apis mellifera unicolor. The SOOI island populations are genetically structured, with hybridization patterns observed with European lines in varying proportions depending on the islands. In order to better understand the microevolutionary processes implemented between the divergences of the 10 SOOI island populations, we studied the variability and distribution of a trait with respect to the individual genetic diversity. Thus, the wing venation pattern was characterized by using geometric morphometry (Procrustes method) on more than 1400 female workers. Multivariate approaches used, allowed us to link morphological data (wing size and conformation) to genetic data (14 microsatellite markers).First, we studied an ongoing hybridization process in Mauritius and highlighted the concordance between morphogenetic and genetic variations, and then showed that the hybridization process contributed to increasing the phenotypic variability of the population. Human introductions and beekeeping have therefore strongly influenced the evolutionary trajectory of this population.In a second step, we extended our study to the characterization of honeybees throughout the SOOI zone. The results showed, not only, that these populations were morphologically and genetically structured, but also that the variability in wing conformation reflected the evolutionary history of these populations, highlighting the influence of drift, founding effects and hybridization processes on these populations. The strong congruence observed between neutral and morphometric genetic variability does not exclude other mechanisms, such as natural selection and/or phenotypic plasticity that could have influenced the evolutionary trajectory of the SOOI honeybees

碩士
國立中山大學
生物科學系研究所
90
Leaf vein patterns of ferns are highly stable at genus and family level. The vein patterns include free vein, reticulate vein and mixed type of above two. The evolutionary direction of the fern venation is from free veins toward further dividing into anastomosing venation. In this study, observations on the venation were made for 53 species of Taiwan Polypodiaceae ferns. Two basic patterns were found : mixed and reticulate. The growth of the venation can be divided into three types : r type, Y type and T type. The r type was found in Pyrrosia ; the Y type was found in Drynaria, Aglaomorpha, Polypodium, Leptochilus and Loxogramme ; and the T type was found in Arthromeris, Selliguea, Lemmaphyllum, Lepisorus, Colysis, Microsorum, Phymatosorum and Neocheiropteris. The leaf venation patterns of venation in Polypodiaceae can be divided into seven modes in three lines, with each genus has its own common characteristies. This study of vein pattern demonostrates its important role in the investigation of fern evolution.

Tese de mestrado em Bioinformática e Biologia Computacional, Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências, 2020
O declínio no número de especialistas em taxonomia de plantas é um problema conhecido. Delegar parte do trabalho de identificação dos taxonomistas a modelos de aprendizagem automática ajudaria a reduzir o trabalho do número, cada vez menor, de profissionais disponível. Este projeto tem como objetivo testar a possibilidade de identificar quatro espécies de plantas diferentes exclusivamente pela nervação das suas folhas. Especificamente, criamos uma rede neuronal convolucional de aprendizagem profunda que tenta aprender como distinguir diferentes espécies com base no conjunto de dados aumentado de folhas diafanizadas disponíveis. Folhas diafanizadas são folhas que foram submetidas a processos específicos (como métodos químicos e/ou raio-X) para permitir visualizar não só as nervuras principais, mas também nervuras menores. Devido à escassez de imagens originais de folhas diafanizadas de cada classe, usamos um conjunto de dados aumentado. Os testes foram executados com diferentes parâmetros para testar a capacidade do modelo de prever a classe correta com precisão, e com outras métricas. O modelo foi testado em imagens não utilizadas anteriormente para se assegurar que as imagens de treino não estavam a ser memorizadas. Os resultados obtidos foram positivos para os parâmetros selecionados nos testes de tentativa e erro: uma precisão média de teste de cerca de 79,3% para o conjunto final de parâmetros. Estes resultados sugerem, como aliás outros estudos já o vêm apontando, que pode ser possível utilizar o padrão de nervação como uma característica para a identificação de plantas, embora mais estudos em larga escala, com mais classes e significativamente mais dados, sejam necessários para obter uma resposta mais confiante para a hipótese.
The decline in the number of plant taxonomy experts is a known issue. Delegating part of the identification work of taxonomists to machine learning models would help reduce the workload on the dwindling number of available personnel. This project aims to test the concept of classifying four different species of plants solely by the venation network of its leaves. Specifically, we create a convolutional deep learning neural network that attempts to learn how to distinguish the distinct species based on the available augmented dataset of cleared leaves. Cleared leaves are leaves in which the venation network is rendered visible, by specific chemical processes and/or by other methods such as X-ray. We use an augmented dataset because of the scarcity of images of cleared leaves from each class. Tests were run with different parameters to test the model’s ability to predict the correct class with accuracy, and with other metrics. The model was tested on previously unseen images to ensure that it was not memorizing the training images. The results obtained were positive for the parameters selected through trial and error testing: an average testing accuracy of around 79.3% for the final set of parameters. These results further suggest, as other studies before it, that it might be possible to rely on the venation network as an identifying characteristic for plants, although more large scale studies with more classes and significantly more data are necessary to obtain better support for the hypothesis.

碩士
國立臺灣大學
植物學系
86
Vein patterns of ferns are highly stable at genus or family level. It reveals relation among taxa, and demonstrates parallism. Pteridophytic vein patterns include free vein, reticulate vein, and mix type. By different branch pattern, free vein is further divided into simple, pinnate, and fan-shaped types. Sometimes veins are united to form various anastomosing venation. According to the structure of areoles, anastomosing venation patterns can be divided into 7 types: Polypodium type, Cyrtomium type, Tectaria type, Diplaziopsis type, Acrostichum type, Pronephrium type, and Histiopteris type, all these types are generated by various combinations of free veins. Therefore, from vein structure, we can find there are several different evolution line of pteridophytes. The study of pteridophytic vein pattern play an important role in the investigation of evolution line. In addition, the study of systematics by vein pattern belongs to the category of lower taxonomic levels such as the genus level.

碩士
淡江大學
中國大陸研究所碩士在職專班
98
Socialist countries because of a lack of democracy and democratization of the elite Zhen supplement, prone to political inheritance, power transfer problems, causing political instability and uncertainty. Political inheritance issues directly impact major public policy, the stability of the regime at the same time a profound impact, therefore has always been an important political research focus. The Communists, as the Chinese Communist revolution generation and strongman leaders gone, its political authoritarian system and operational occur at this stage of the Communist Party of structural change, leaders lack of Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping era revolution achievements and political charm, you cannot specify a successor selected, how inheritance works, which was adopted by the powers of the intense struggle to become more peaceful means of collective leadership patterns, party leaders decision no longer fully reflect the will, and the need for personal and inner-party elite to negotiate cooperation, therefore, may be formed because of that and alliances. On the other hand, these new political elite, because the effects of the cultural revolution rather than compete for political power, in the exercise of his powers, and thus caused crashes factions all have relative stability to maintain the regime''s common interests. As the 17th National Congress "(hereinafter referred to as the cover) is a comprehensive history of Hu Jintao in power to a new stage, from" cover "of the CPC Central Committee and Politburo Standing Committee, can be observed in future Communist political elite, Zhen supplement needs what conditions and characteristics. To Hu Jintao led the League sent, in power inheritance process stage its effects are? "with the" enter a new Member of the elite, which belongs to the group party cadres electoral party cadres rise and other factions, including Prince party, Shanghai Gang, Qing-help, clansmen, Secretary of the Group and even foreign degree, the elite among possible conflict or cooperation? due to contention between political forces will deepen as the zone-based friction differential, this kind of conflict if continues, will likely result in catastrophic consequences in China. From Hu Jintao exercise since the rise of Communist Youth League cadres "help" drop Regiment Hing, but virtually a "group" has become the PRC other factions campaign he fought for the object, the factions were conflicts, has also been a compromise. However, if a conflict of interest by compromise and negotiation to resolve, which established the Supreme Leader of the inheritance system, and the progressive development of the nation, according to the law to establish a rational authority, then the Communist political party in the development of stable and progressive, on the establishment of the Communist political institutionalization will produce positive effects.

The pattern of wing venation in dragonflies (Odonata) bears a set of characters commonly used in systematics. The aim of this thesis is to identify the wing venation variability of dragonflies by various methods of geometric morphometric. The wing venation variability was examined on the level of suborder, family, species and also in respect to dimorphism through the principal component analysis (PCA), redundancy analysis (RDA) and centroid size. Data set consisting of images of 46 dragonfly species, belonging to 43 genera and 24 families was obtained from institutional entomological collections. The research carried out that Zygoptera have a large variety of wing contours. The wing venation variability of Epiprocta is shown primarily in the costa and node area. Between sexes there is no noticeable difference in shape or structure of the wing. The ratio between wing length and width and the pterostigma shape is dependent on dragonfly body size. Key words: Odonatoptera, Odonata, Epiprocta, Zygoptera, wing venation, variability, geometric morphometrics

Palaeodictyopterida is remarkable insect superorder, which formed a significant part of the diversity of upper Palaeozoic insects, but disappeared by the end of the Permian. The main synapomorphy of the superorder is the piercing-sucking mouthparts in the form of a rostrum consisting of five styles. This rostrum was probably used to pierce on plant tissue and for the juice sucking. The same type of mouthparts shared by adults was present also in larvae of Palaeodictyopterida. The external copulatory organs of the superorder members was also showed some morphological interests. The male genitalia consist of a pair of gonostyli and two penial lobes, similarly to the genitalia of recent Ephemeroptera. The female genitalia of Palaeodictyopterida are developed in a form of the ovipositor that can be compared with the endophytic ovipositor of some recent Odonata. This morphological features support placement of Palaeodictyopterida as sister group of Odonatoptera + Panephemeroptera. The main aim of the work was to describe new representatives of the order Megasecoptera, the second largest group of Palaeodictyopterida. Wing venation of Megasecoptera exhibits a reduction of the longitudinal and transverse veins in comparison with the order Palaeodictyoptera. Other body structures were examined mainly in the...

The extinct insect group of Palaeodictyopteroida (Insecta: Palaeoptera) comprised mainly phytophagous species and occurred from Upper Carboniferous to Upper Permian. Megasecoptera is one of several orders of belonging to this group. Although, the order Megasecoptera comprised over 20 described families, morphology of some body structures are insufficiently studied. The present thesis deals with evaluation of new material comprising the extensive set of 76 fossil insect specimens from the Upper Carboniferous (Bashkirian) of northern China. The fossils having excellent state of preservation of the wings and other body structures provide new insights concerning the external morphology of Megasecoptera. All studied specimens were attributed based on wing venation pattern into two known megasecopteran genera within families Brodiopteridae and Sphecopteridae. The aim of the present thesis is examine the morphology and variability of wing venation of two newly proposed species Brodioptera sp. n. and Cyclocelis sp. n. from site in northern China. In addition the following methods of geometric morphometrics based on landmarks were used for comparison of venational characters: a comparison of centroid size, procrustes analysis, principal component analysis and thin plate spline. Variability of wing venation...

J'étudie la formation du système vasculaire des feuilles des plantes à l'aide de modèles mathématiques. L'hypothèse de canalisation d'une phytohormone, l'auxin, stipule que l'auto activation de son transport entre les cellules crée des chemins préférentiels qui se différencieront plus tard en système vasculaire. J'entreprends une analyse numérique de modèles de canalisation sur une grande matrice et parviens à créer des motifs branchés dans lesquels circule l'auxin. Une analyse de stabilité d'un modèle simplifié nous éclaire sur les raisons de la formation de ces motifs et l'impossibilité de créer un réseau réticulé. La majorité des plantes ayant un système vasculaire réticulé, je modifie le modèle de façon à obtenir ce type de réseau. En ajoutant une variable biologiquement plausible je parviens à créer un réseau réticulé dans lequel l'auxin circule uniformément. Enfin, je discute des relations entre la formation du système vasculaire et de la spirale de phyllotaxie.

Insect wings are very specific and unique structures in animal kingdom. Wing morphology is a result of long-standing complicated evolutionary process and until recently the way how the wings have evolved is not completely clarified. The flight ability is one of the most important event in insect history because it allows them to exploit new habitats, escape from predators or find the sexual partner. Here we present the newly discovered material consisting of Palaeodictyoptera immature wings from the Upper Carboniferous (Westphalian A) of Poland. This order became extinct in the end of Permian, however during the Late Paleozoic was remarkably diversified. Until recently, number of adult palaeodictyopterans have been described, however the immature stages are relatively unknown due to lack of suitable fossils. Immature wings present in this thesis have undoubtedly palaeodictyopterous affinities with atribution within superfamilies Breyeroidea and Homoiopteroidea. However, their familial assignment into Breyeriidae (morphotype A) and Homiopteridae (morphotype B) based on fore wing venation characters is not definite because of wing venation limits in early ontogenetic stages. The aim of the present work is a complex description of 14 new palaeodictyopteriids immature wings, and to point out certain important...

Floral stripes are a common pigmentation pattern in plants. Defining the molecular mechanisms of the striped pattern formation will aid understanding of how a gene can be differentially regulated across a population of similar cells. In the venation phenotype of Antirrhinum majus, the anthocyanin pigment is typically confined to the adaxial epidermal cells overlaying the petal veins. To explore how this pattern forms this study focused on the expression and regulation of Venosa, a Myb regulator of anthocyanin biosynthesis. Pigment complementation experiments demonstrated that the lack of a MYB factor caused the lack of pigment in the cells outside the venation pigmentation domain. An allele of Venosa was isolated and identified. It was a mutant version of functional Venosa due to the central part being replaced by a transposon. Phenotype / genotype analysis indicated that the venation pigmentation patterning was due to the functional Venosa. In situ mRNA hybridisation showed that Venosa was expressed from the xylem to the adaxial epidermis, and was controlled spatially and quantitatively by a signal associated with the petal veins. Venosa expression provided the longitudinal axis for venation pigmentation stripes, and determined the location and intensity of the pigmented cells. Because another factor required for pigmentation, a bHLH factor, is specifically expressed in epidermal cells and it provides the transverse axis. The pigmented stripes are the cross expression domain of these two kinds of factors. The transcriptional controlling property of a 2.4 kb (relative to the ATG) promoter region of the Venosa gene was analysed. The -900 bp fragment was characterised in detail using 5'-end deletion mutagenesis. A heterologous host, tobacco, was used for analysis in stable transgenics. The homologous host, Antirrhinum, was used for transient assays. The efficacy and efficiency of different reporter genes (intron-containing GUS, GFP, Venosa cDNA and genomic Venosa) and enhancement systems (transcriptional enhancer, translational enhancer, inhibitor of post transcriptional gene silencing and a two-step signaling amplification system) for the detection of low-level reporter gene expression were also tested. The strength of expression correlated to the length of the promoter fragment, and expression was detected using deletions down to -500 bp, although only weak expression was found. This expression was flower specific but not vein related in both plant hosts. No expression was detected in petals of either host with fragments shorter than -500 bp. The results suggest that the fragment from -380 bp to -900 bp positively affected Venosa expression at the transcriptional level, but might not be sufficient to define venation. A possibility is that the venation controlling property is negatively controlled at the epigenetic level, such as DNA methylation status and / or chromatin structure. The role of gibberellin and sugar in the pigment and venation patterning formation of Antirrhinum was studied. The results suggest that gibberellin is not required for pigmentation or venation patterning. Convincing evidence on the role of sugar signaling could not be obtained from the experiments, due to the difficulty in separating the impact on pigmentation from other functions of sugars in petal development. In addition, the in situ analysis detected the expression of a gene probably related to aurone biosynthesis that may be a regulatory gene of this biosynthetic pathway.