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Parachondria neglectus is a terrestrial mollusk endemic of Cuba. This species constitutes the only report of the Annulariidae family in the municipality of Manzanillo, Granma province. In the present study, the temporal dynamics of the structural subniche of a population of P. neglectus was characterized. Thirty expeditions were carried out between December 2013 and February 2015. 83.9 % of the mollusks were found on the ground (around the base of trees and shrubs) and 16.1 % used the trunk of eight plant species as diurnal resting substrate. The test of independence performed using a 2×2 contingency table with Yates correction showed that in the population the frequency of using one substrate or another depends on the occurrence or not of rainfall (X2 = 214.88; P = 0.0001). This species was found at an average trunk distance of 13 ± 6.42 cm. The C-index values indicated marked preference of this mollusk for Swietenia mahagoni during all climatic periods sampled. During the rainy season this species also showed statistically significant preferences for Cordia gerascanthus, Ehretia tinifolia and Bursera simaruba. For the population, the height above the ground presented a mean value of 153.5 ± 71.3 cm. The heights above the ground reached by this species on rainy and non-rainy days showed statistically significant differences (U = 21519.5; P < 0.001). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parachondria neglectus is a land snail of the Annulariidae family, endemic to Cuba and microlocalized in Granma province. In the present research, the temporal dynamics of age-related subniche and some aspects of the reproductive biology of a P. neglectus population, located in Manzanillo-Granma-Cuba, were characterized. Thirty expeditions were performed from December 2013 to February 2015. The comparisons between the length (t = 8.05, P = 0.007) and biggest diameter (t = 6.24, P = 0.0001) of the shells of truncated juveniles and the shells of full juveniles showed significant statistical differences, indicating that both groups represent two kinds of different ages. The comparison between the biggest diameter of the shells of truncated adults and the shells of full adults (t = 1.50, P = 0.16) showed that both groups represent the same kind of age in the population. The existence of significant statistical differences between the length (t = 19.45, P = 0.0003) and the biggest diameter (t = 13.19, P = 0.006) of the females' shells and the males' shells verify the sexual dimorphism in the species, proving to be the females of bigger dimensions in relation to the males. The whitish circular spot in the shells is a valid external morphological characteristic to differentiate the adult females already mated in previous occasions from the rest of the members of the population. The reproductive period was from July to December 2014. Copulations were observed from July to October 2014 and they were associated to conditions of abundant precipitations and high temperatures of summer. The recruitment period took place from September to December 2014. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Turmeric is a very valuable plant as a condiment, dye and due to its medicinal properties. Despite results achieved in in vitro propagation, rates of in vitro establishment and multiplication are low. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of bud length, physical state of culture medium and concentration of inorganic salts and growth regulators on the in vitro establishment and multiplication of turmeric. Buds taken from main rhizomes were used in the establishment. They were disinfected, several layers of leaf primordia were removed and buds were cut into 0.5-0.7 cm, 0.8-1.0 cm and 1.1-1.3 cm. In vitro plants established after 30 days were used for multiplication. Various concentrations of 6-BAP (0.0, 2.0, 4.0, 6.0 mg·l-1) were added to a basal culture medium. Besides, the effect of adding MS salts 25, 50, 75 and 100% (control) and the use of liquid or semisolid culture medium was determined. The values of disinfection and in vitro establishment, referred in literature, for the culture were increased through the use of terminal buds of 0.8-1.0 cm and sodium hypochlorite 2% of active chlorine for 25 minutes. During the in vitro multiplication, values for the number of shoots per explant, length of shoots and number of roots per shoot were similar to those previously referred in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]