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One hypothesis for the origin of endemic species of tomato on the Galápagos islands postulates a hybridization of Solanum pimpinellifolium and Solanum habrochaites. Solanum galapagense accession LA1141 has purple fruit pigmentation, previously described in green‐fruited wild tomatoes such as S. habrochaites or Solanum chilense. Characterization of LA1141 derived purple pigmentation provides a test of the hybridization hypothesis. Purple pigmentation was recovered in progenies derived from LA1141, and the anthocyanins malvidin 3(coumaroyl)rutinoside‐5‐glucoside, petunidin 3‐(coumaroyl) rutinoside‐5‐glucoside, and petunidin 3‐(caffeoyl)rutinoside‐5‐glucoside were abundant. Fruit color was evaluated in an introgression population, and three quantitative trait loci (QTLs) were mapped and validated in subsequent populations. The loci atroviolacium on chromosome 7, Anthocyanin fruit on chromosome 10, and uniform ripening also on chromosome 10 underly these QTLs. Sequence analysis suggested that the LA1141 alleles of Aft and atv are unique relative to those previously described from S. chilense accession LA0458 and Solanum cheesmaniae accession LA0434, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis of the LA1141 Aft genomic sequence did not support a green‐fruited origin, and the locus clustered with members of the red‐fruited tomato clade. The LA1141 allele of Aft is not the result of an ancient introgression from the green‐fruited clade and underlies a gain of anthocyanin pigmentation in the red‐fruited clade. Highlight: Anthocyanin fruit and atroviolacium confer purple pigmentation in Solanum galapagense LA1141, confirming a mechanism described for green‐fruited tomatoes. LA1141 alleles cluster with red‐fruited homologs suggesting an independent gain of pigmentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pottery sherds stained with purple dye were found in the excavations at Tel Shiqmona, and were dated to the Iron Age II period. Analysis by HPLC-DAD identified the dye as 'true purple', derived from the Hexaplex trunculus sea snail, which is associated with the purple-dye industry that flourished in the coastal area at that time. This result is compatible with the classification of over 1000 Muricidae shells that were found in the excavation. Hexaplex trunculus constitutes 80% of this group, indicating that it was the most commonly used species in the dye production at Tel Shiqmona. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this work was to characterise the foams of purple Brazilian cherry ( Eugenia uniflora L.) pulp made with different additives, aiming at foam-mat drying. Characterisation was made through analyses of moisture, pH, acidity, soluble solids, density, water activity, colour, total and reducing sugars, protein and ashes. Drying was done at 55 °C for 2 h. Dried Brazilian cherry juice powder was rehydrated for acceptance test. It is concluded that the physicochemical characterisation of fresh Brazilian cherry pulp was satisfactory and was in accordance with the Brazilian standards for agro-industrial products. Albumin was the best foaming agent that produced a good-quality powder in a short period. The foam-mat drying of Brazilian cherry pulp using albumin and Superliga® (Duas Rodas Industrial ltda, Santa Catarina, Brazil) as foaming agents produced a powder with good physicochemical properties and sensory quality and most preferred juice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While we frequently observe that increasing species richness within a trophic level can increase the rates of prédation or herbivory on lower trophic levels, the general impacts of prey diversity on consumption rates by their predators or herbivores remains unclear. Here we report the results of two field experiments that examined how subcanopy sessile species richness affects rates of consumption by sea urchins. We crossed a natural gradient of species richness in a benthic subtidal community of understory macroalgae and sessile invertebrates against two experimental gradients of urchin density (0-50 and 0-14 individuals) in 0.5-m2 fenced plots. We found that the percent cover of macroalgae and invertebrates consumed by urchins was greater at higher levels of sessile prey species richness. However, this positive association between prey richness and sea urchin consumption was only apparent at low urchin densities; at high urchin densities nearly all algal and invertebrate biomass was consumed irrespective of sessile species richness. The positive relationship between prey richness and urchin consumption was also stronger when the abundance of prey species was more even (i.e., higher Simpson's evenness). Collectively, our results show that the consumptive impacts of urchins on kelp forest understory communities increases as a function of species diversity (both prey richness and evenness), but that prey diversity becomes irrelevant when urchins reach high densities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives To investigate clinical, serologic, histopathologic and immunopathologic markers of PURPLE (painful purpuric ulcers with reticular pattern of lower extremities) or atrophic blanche. Design Twelve consecutive patients affected with idiopathic PURPLE were studied in the period 1992-1996. Patients with systemic diseases correlated to PURPLE were excluded from the study. Subjects All twelve patients were hospitalized at the Istituto Dermopatico Immacolata in Rome. Results Various and dishomogeneous immunological alterations were detected. Circulating immune complexes, increased serum levels of anticardiolipin and antinuclear antibodies, reduced serum complement levels, and deposition of immunoreactants in dermal vessels, were found in a limited number of patients. The results were not statistically significant. all the patients showed very similar histopathological aspects, characterized by microvascular thromboses, endothelial swelling and segmental hyalinizataion of small dermal vessels. Conclusion PURPLE is a thrombogenic vaculopathy in which unspecified immunological and laboratory changes are present. The recently suggested pathogenetic role of anticardiolipin and protein C deficiency in the disorder is not confirmed by this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using an electrospinning technique coupled with a thermal treatment approach, ZnS nanofibers have been prepared by sulfurizing the electrospun ZnO nanofibers (as a template) at 500°C in an H2S atmosphere. The ZnS nanofibers, with a zinc-blende structure, were found to be rough and uneven, which was considered to be correlated with the processing conditions. Band gap characteristic peaks mainly centered at 390 and 445 nm have been observed, corresponding to the purple and blue emission, respectively. The method demonstrated here could be a general approach of fabricating other one-dimensional-nanostructured sulfides for potential applications in nanoscale devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]