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Ruiz-Gonzalez, M. X., Male, P. J. G., Leroy, C., Dejean, A., Gryta, H., Jargeat, P., et al. (2011). Specific, non-nutritional association between an ascomycete fungus and Allomerus plant-ants. Biol. Lett., 7(3), 475–479.
Abstract: Ant-fungus associations are well known from attine ants, whose nutrition is based on a symbiosis with basidiomycete fungi. Otherwise, only a few non-nutritional ant-fungus associations have been recorded to date. Here we focus on one of these associations involving Allomerus plant-ants that build galleried structures on their myrmecophytic hosts in order to ambush prey. We show that this association is not opportunistic because the ants select from a monophyletic group of closely related fungal haplotypes of an ascomycete species from the order Chaetothyriales that consistently grows on and has been isolated from the galleries. Both the ants' behaviour and an analysis of the genetic population structure of the ants and the fungus argue for host specificity in this interaction. The ants' behaviour reveals a major investment in manipulating, growing and cleaning the fungus. A molecular analysis of the fungus demonstrates the widespread occurrence of one haplotype and many other haplotypes with a lower occurrence, as well as significant variation in the presence of these fungal haplotypes between areas and ant species. Altogether, these results suggest that such an interaction might represent an as-yet undescribed type of specific association between ants and fungus in which the ants cultivate fungal mycelia to strengthen their hunting galleries.
Keywords: ant-fungus association; Cordia nodosa; Chaetothyriales; Hirtella physophora; myrmecophyte; population structure
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Ruiz-Gonzalez, M. X., Corbara, B., Leroy, C., Dejean, A., & Orivel, J. (2010). The Weaver Wasp: Spinning Fungus into a Nest. Biotropica, 42(4), 402–404.
Abstract: Wasp nests range from simple to complex structures made of paper or mud. Here, we show that a Neotropical wasp of the genus Nitela builds its nest entirely by weaving endophytic fungal hyphae and spider silk harvested from the leaves growing in the understory of the rain forest in French Guiana.
Keywords: Allomerus decemarticulatus; French Guiana; Hirtella physophora; nest architecture; Nitela constructor; wasp biology
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Ruelle, J., Yoshida, M., Clair, B., & Thibaut, B. (2007). Peculiar tension wood structure in Laetia procera (Poepp.) Eichl. (Flacourtiaceae). Trees-Struct. Funct., 21(3), 345–355.
Abstract: Tension wood of Laetia procera (Poepp.) Eichl. (Flacourtiaceae), a neo-tropical forest species, shows a peculiar secondary wall structure, with an alternance of thick and thin layers, while opposite wood of this species has a typical secondary wall structure (S1 + S2 + S3). Samples for the study of microstructural properties were collected upon the estimation of growth stresses in the living tree, in order to analyze the correlation of the former with the latter. Investigation using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and UV microspectrophotometry allowed the description of the anatomy, ultra-structure and chemistry of this peculiar polylaminate secondary wall. In the thick layers, cellulose microfibril angle is very low (i.e., microfibril orientation is close to fibre axis) and cellulose microfibrils are well organized and parallel to each other. In the thin layers, microfibrils (only observable in the inner layer) are less organized and are oriented with a large angle relative to the axis of the cell. Thick layers are lightly lignified although thin layers show a higher content of lignin, close to that of opposite wood secondary wall. The more the wood was under tensile stress, the less the secondary wall was lignified, and lower the syringyl on guaiacyl lignin units' ratio was. The innermost layer of the secondary wall looks like a typical S3 layer with large microfibril angle and lignin occurrence. The interest of this kind of structure for the understanding of stress generation is discussed.
Keywords: tension wood; tropical rainforest species; UV microspectrophotometry; scanning electron microscopy; cellulose microfibril angle
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Ruelle, J., Yamamoto, H., & Thibaut, B. (2007). Growth Stresses and Cellulose Structural Parameters in Tension and Normal Wood from Three Tropical Rainforest Angiosperm Species. BioResources, 2(2), 235–251.
Abstract: Few studies have been conducted about relation between cellulose parameters and biomechanical properties of wood in tropical angiosperms species. For this purpose, on 13 trees from 3 species of French Guyana tropical rainforest in a clear active process of restoring verticality, i) growth strains were measured in situ in order to determine the occurrence of tension wood within samples and ii) cellulose structural parameters were estimated on all the samples using X-ray diffraction method. Crystallite size was estimated from the full-width at half-maximum of the Miller index (002) arc diffraction and angle T was measured following Cave's method. Relationships between these parameters and growth stresses were good and the variations between normal and tension wood were significant, i. e. a lower angle T and a larger crystallite size in tension wood. In order to have a good estimation of the microfibril angle in the main layer of the secondary wall for each species, an experimental calibration was done between angle T and microfibril angle observed with scanning electron microscopy.
Keywords: Cellulose; Microfibril angle; Crystallite size; Tension wood; Tropical rainforest; Growth stresses
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Ruelle, J., Clair, B., Beauchene, J., Prevost, M. F., & Fournier, M. (2006). Tension wood and opposite wood in 21 tropical rain forest species 2. Comparison of some anatomical and ultrastructural criteria. IAWA J., 27(4), 341–376.
Abstract: The anatomy of tension wood and opposite wood was compared in 21 tropical rain forest trees from 21 species belonging to 18 families from French Guyana. Wood specimens were taken from the upper and lower sides of naturally tilted trees. Measurement of the growth stress level ensured that the two samples were taken from wood tissues in a different mechanical state: highly tensile-stressed wood on the upper side, called tension wood and normally tensile-stressed wood on the lower side, called opposite wood. Quantitative parameters relating to fibres and vessels were measured on transverse sections of both tension and opposite wood to check if certain criteria can easily discriminate the two kinds of wood. We observed a decrease in the frequency of vessels in the tension wood in all the trees studied. Other criteria concerning shape and surface area of the vessels, fibre diameter or cell wall thickness did not reveal any general trend. At the ultrastructural level, we observed that the microfibril angle in the tension wood sample was lower than in opposite wood in all the trees except one (Licania membranacea).
Keywords: tension wood; opposite wood; tropical rain forest; vessels; wood anatomy; wood fibre
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Ruelle, J., Beauchene, J., Yamamoto, H., & Thibaut, B. (2011). Variations in physical and mechanical properties between tension and opposite wood from three tropical rainforest species. Wood Sci. Technol., 45(2), 339–357.
Abstract: Growth strains were measured in situ in nine trees of three species from a French Guiana tropical rainforest in a clearly active verticality restoration process. The aim was to detect tension wood within the samples. Wood specimens were cut in the vicinity of the growth strain measurements in order to determine the microfibril angle and some mechanical and physical properties. As suspected, tensile growth strain was much higher in tension wood zones, as shown by the slightly higher longitudinal modulus of elasticity. Conversely, tension wood showed reduced compression strength. Longitudinal shrinkage was much higher in tension wood than in opposite wood. Clear relationships between the microfibril angle and longitudinal properties were noted in comparison (i) with those observed in gymnosperm compression wood and (ii) with expected relationships from the organization of wood fibres cell wall structure.
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Ruelle, J., Beauchene, J., Thibaut, A., & Thibaut, B. (2007). Comparison of physical and mechanical properties of tension and opposite wood from ten tropical rainforest trees from different species. Ann. For. Sci., 64(5), 503–510.
Abstract: On 10 trees from 10 species of French Guyana tropical rainforest in a clear active process of restoring verticality growth strains were measured in situ in order to determine the occurrence of tension wood within samples. Wood specimens were cut in the vicinity of the growth strains measurements in order to measure some mechanical and physical properties. As suspected, tensile growth strains was very much higher in tension wood zone, because longitudinal modulus of elasticity was slightly higher. Longitudinal shrinkage was also much higher in tension wood than in opposite wood.
Keywords: tension wood; opposite wood; tropical rainforest; physical and mechanical properties
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Royer, M., Stien, D., Beauchene, J., Herbette, G., McLean, J. P., Thibaut, A., et al. (2010). Extractives of the tropical wood wallaba (Eperua falcata Aubl.) as natural anti-swelling agents. Holzforschung, 64(2), 211–215.
Abstract: Wallaba (Eperua falcata) is a tropical wood that is known to have naturally high moisture related dimensional stability. Samples of wallaba heartwood were subjected to differential solvent extraction. Wood pieces that were extracted with methanol showed significantly greater swelling following rehydration from oven dry to 96% relative humidity than non- extracted samples and samples extracted with other solvents. Methanol soluble wallaba heartwood extract was purified by HPLC and the compounds present were characterized by NMR spectroscopy. The structure of 13 compounds in methanol extract was identified. The relative proportion of polar compounds in methanol extract was found to be high. The compounds identified are proposed to bind to the polymeric cell wall by means of multiple hydrogen bonds restricting the association of water and therefore act as natural anti-swelling agents.
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Royer, M., Rodrigues, A. M. S., Herbette, G., Beauchene, J., Chevalier, M., Herault, B., et al. (2012). Efficacy of Bagassa guianensis Aubl. extract against wood decay and human pathogenic fungi. Int. Biodeterior. Biodegrad., 70, 55–59.
Abstract: Extractives that provide natural resistance to Bagassa guianensis Aubl. heartwood were examined. Soil-bed tests showed that the B. guianensis heartwood resistance was significantly reduced after ethyl acetate extraction, whereas methanol and especially water extractions improved the resistance. The ethyl acetate extract was submitted to a bioguided fractionation, and fractions were tested against one wood-destroying fungal strain (Pycnoporus sanguineus) and two human pathogenic fungal strains (Candida glabrata (yeast) and Trichophyton rubrum (filamentous dermatophyte)). Fraction F7, which exhibited the strongest antifungal activity, was subsequently fractionated by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Six previously described compounds were isolated. Although the two moracins, 6-O-methyl-moracin N (3) and moracin N (4) were the most active against fungal strains with MIC values between 4 and 16 μg ml -1, the isolated compounds showed less or equivalent antifungal activity than the initial fraction. Possible synergism between compounds 3 and 4 and other secondary metabolites have been hypothesized. Our study demonstrated that this extract as a whole might be used as a wood preservation or antimycotic product. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.
Keywords: Antifungal; Bagassa guianensis; Extractives; Natural durability; Polyphenols; Synergy
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Royer, M., Herbette, G., Eparvier, V., Beauchene, J., Thibaut, B., & Stien, D. (2010). Secondary metabolites of Bagassa guianensis Aubl. wood: A study of the chemotaxonomy of the Moraceae family. Phytochemistry, 71(14-15), 1708–1713.
Abstract: In order to explain the durability of the Moraceae plant family, phytochemistry of Bagassa guianensis was performed. Ethyl acetate extract was obtained from the heartwood and 18 secondary metabolites were isolated, including 6 moracins [6-O-methyl-moracin M, 6-O-methyl-moracin N and moracin Z; previously identified: moracin M, moracin N and moracin P], 8 stilbenoids [presently identified: (-)-epialboctalol and arachidin 4; previously identified: alboctalol, trans-resveratrol, arachidin 2, trans-oxyresveratrol and artogomezianol], 3 previously identified flavonoids, steppogenin, katuranin and dihydromorin, beta-sitosterol and resorcinol. Previous studies suggest that stilbenoids are responsible for the natural durability of wood. Our study has determined that B. guianensis is closely related to Morus sp. in phylogeny and should be included in the Moreae sensu stricto tribe of the Moraceae family. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Bagassa guianensis; Moraceae; Secondary metabolites; Stilbenes; Moracins; Flavonoids; Natural durability
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