O Jardim Botânico FLORAS (JBFLORAS) foi instalado no campus Sosígenes Costa (CSC) da Universidade Federal do Sul da Bahia e possui um remanescente de Mata Atlântica. Objetivou-se caracterizar tal remanescente de vegetação a partir da sua flora e fisionomia. As plantas foram coletadas em estágio fértil, durante o período de 2015 a 2018. Foram registradas 193 espécies, distribuídas em 142 gêneros e 53 famílias de angiospermas, sendo Leguminosae (34 spp.), Asteraceae (11 spp.), Malvaceae (10 spp.), Euphorbiaceae (9 spp.), Poaceae e Rubiaceae (8 spp. cada) as mais diversas. Quatro espécies estão ameaçadas de extinção e 15 espécies são endêmicas da Mata Atlântica, com Cranocarpus mezii Taub. (Leguminosae) restrita ao sul da Bahia e norte do Espírito Santo. O remanescente do CSC-JBFLORAS é uma Floresta Ombrófila Densa das Terras Baixas ou Floresta dos Tabuleiros e possui flora característica. É recomendada a conservação do remanescente devido à sua peculiaridade florística.

Viruses that infect fungi are known as mycoviruses and are characterized by the lack of an extracellular phase. In recent years, the advances on nucleic acids sequencing technologies have led to a considerable increase in the number of fungi-infecting viral species described in the literature, with a special interest in assessing potential applications as fungal biocontrol agents. In the present study, we performed a comprehensive review using Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed databases to mine mycoviruses data to explore their molecular features and their use in biotechnology. Our results showed the existence of 267 mycovirus species, of which 189 are recognized by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV). The majority of the mycoviruses identified have a dsRNA genome (38.6%), whereas the Botourmiaviridae (ssRNA+) alone represents 14% of all mycoviruses diversity. Regarding fungal hosts, members from the Sclerotinicaeae appeared as the most common species described to be infected by mycoviruses, with 16 different viral families identified so far. It is noteworthy that such results are directly associated with the high number of studies and strategies used to investigate the presence of viruses in members of the Sclerotinicaeae family. The knowledge about replication strategy and possible impact on fungi biology is available for only a small fraction of the mycoviruses studied, which is the main limitation for considering these elements potential targets for biotechnological applications. Altogether, our investigation allowed us to summarize the general characteristics of mycoviruses and their hosts, the consequences, and the implications of this knowledge on mycovirus–fungi interactions, providing an important source of information for future studies.

Theobroma cacao is one of the main crops of economic importance in the world as the source of raw material for producing chocolate and derivatives. The crop is the main source of income for thousands of small farmers, who produce more than 80% of the world’s cocoa supply. However, the emergence, re-emergence and proliferation of pathogens, such as Ceratocystis spp., the causative agent of Ceratocystis wilt disease and canker disease, have been affecting the sustainability of many crops. Fungal control is laborious, often depending on fungicides that are expensive and/or toxic to humans, prompting researchers to look for new solutions to counteract the proliferation of these pathogens, including the use of biological agents such as mycoviruses. In this study, we investigated the diversity of microorganisms associated with the T. cacao pathogens Ceratocystis cacaofunesta and Ceratocystis fimbriata with a focus on the virome using RNA sequencing data available in public databases. We used a comprehensive bioinformatics pipeline containing several steps for viral sequence enrichment and took advantage of an integrated assembly step composed of different assemblers followed by sequence similarity searches using NCBI nonredundant databases. Our strategy was able to identify four putative C. cacaofunesta viruses (hypovirus, sclerotimonavirus, alphapartitivirus and narnavirus) and six C. fimbriata viruses (three alphaendornaviruses, one victorivirus and two mitoviruses). All the viral sequences identified showed similarity to viral genomes in public databases only at the amino acid level, likely representing new viral species. Of note, we present the first report of viruses associated with the cacao pathogens C. cacaofunesta and C. fimbriata and the second report of viral species infecting members of the Ceratocystidaceae family. Our findings highlight the need for further prospective studies to uncover the real diversity of fungus-infecting viruses that can contribute to the development of new management strategies.

Um jardim botânico é um espaço que proporciona a conservação ex situ da biodiversidade, mantendo plantas vivas. O Jardim Botânico FLORAS (JBFLORAS) ocupa o campus Sosígenes Costa (CSC) da Universidade Federal do Sul da Bahia (UFSB) e possui um remanescente de Mata Atlântica. O trabalho foi desenvolvido no CSC da UFSB, em Porto Seguro, Bahia, Brasil, área antes ocupada pelo Centro Cultural e de Eventos do Descobrimento. Foram realizadas coletas nos jardins do campus e na mata no período de março/2017 a fevereiro/2018. As plantas foram herborizadas e incorporadas ao herbário Prof. Geraldo C. P. Pinto (GCPP). Foram identificadas 86 espécies de plantas ornamentais distribuídas em 78 gêneros e 39 famílias. As famílias mais diversas em número de espécies foram: Arecaceae e Leguminosae (seis espécies); Asparagaceae, Bignoniaceae e Orchidaceae (cinco espécies); e Araceae, Bromeliaceae, Myrtaceae e Rubiaceae (quatro espécies). O hábito predominante foi o herbáceo (29 espécies), seguido pelo arbóreo (25 espécies) e arbustivo (20 espécies). Foram levantadas 10 espécies de plantas nativas com potencial ornamental presentes no fragmento de Mata Atlântica do JBFLORAS. A maior parte das espécies cultivadas (53,5%) tem origem exótica e 46,5% são nativas da Mata Atlântica. Sugere-se a introdução de outras espécies nativas aos espaços do Jardim Botânico no intuito de enriquecer a conservação ex situ e valorizar o uso das plantas nativas.

The Atlantic Forest Central Corridor is the center of Bromeliaceae diversity in the Atlantic Forest domain, comprising most of the endemic and threatened species. The extreme south of Bahia state, Northeastern Brazil, is included within the corridor, with few taxonomic flora studies carried out in this area. Herein, we present a taxonomic study of the Bromeliaceae family from an important fragment in the extreme south of Bahia, based on field collections, herbarium material and specialized literature. Twelve species of Bromeliaceae were recorded, belonging to Aechmea (2 spp.), Araeococcus (1 sp.), Billbergia (1 sp.), Catopsis (1 sp.), Guzmania (1 sp.), Hohenbergia (1 sp.), Tillandsia (1 sp.), and Vriesea (4 spp.). Eight species are endemic to the Atlantic Forest domain. Identification keys, descriptions, and comments on their phenology, geographical distribution and habitat are provided, as well as an illustration of Hohenbergia sandrae, which was described for the first time in the Atlantic Forest domain.