The salivary glands of hematophagous arthropods possess a remarkable molecular diversity, reflecting evolutionary adaptations to blood feeding lifestyle and vector-host interactions. In this study, we characterized the salivary-gland transcriptome of adult female Simulium pertinax , a medically important black fly species widely distributed in South America. Through RNA sequencing and bioinformatics analyses, we identified 15,...

Aim We investigate the distribution of dispersal modes — endozoochory (via animal ingestion), synzoochory (via animal seed accumulation) and anemochory (via wind)—and seed mass of woody plants across Brazilian ecosystems, testing whether their relative abundance in local plant communities could be predicted by climate, edaphic factors and dispersal agents (e.g., the main vectors moving seeds). We expected climate to be the mai...

The Cerrado biome, spanning ~2 million km 2 , is one of the most extensive and biodiverse tropical savannas, yet it is paradoxically dominated by only 30 hyperdominant tree species (~2% of all species, > 50% of all stems). However, their vulnerability to climate change and the effectiveness of current conservation efforts remain uncertain. By combining (i) species distribution models calibrated with edaphic‐climatic predictors...

Localized cutaneous leishmaniasis (LCL) is the most prevalent form of leishmaniasis, with infection control primarily dependent on cell-mediated immunity. Lesion healing results from a complex interplay among immune cells and soluble mediators. Using Luminex technology, we evaluated circulating and lesion microenvironment immune mediators, including chemokines, cytokines, and growth factors, in patients with LCL and nonspecifi...

In 2023, more than half of olive harvests ( Olea europaea ) across Spain, Greece, and Türkiye were lost to drought. The same year late freeze destroyed 90% of the peach crop ( Prunus persica ) on the Georgia Piedmont and the apple crop ( Malus domestica ) in central New York, Vermont, and southern Quebec. Climate extremes now rank with the costliest threats to agriculture, but their role in forest recovery from diebacks that a...