WHAT SHOULD WE CALL THE FORAMINIFERA
Shelled granuloreticulose microorganisms have had a complex etymological history that began in 1826 when d'Orbigny gave his new order the name Foraminiferes and characterized the group. Soon afterwards, further examina- tion and proper Latinization established them as class Foraminifera. D'Orbigny should be credited with the suprafamilial group name, regardless of rank, because he provided defining characteristics, and also because higher taxa are not governed by ICZN rules; in addition, we should consider the history of its attribution and what is traditional and customary in zoological nomenclature. The name Foraminifera is the source of a variety of informal terms, including foraminifera, foraminifer, foraminiferan, and for- am. Long after being demoted to order, the Latinized name was modified to Foraminiferida in 1964 by Loeblich and Tappan, the informal foraminiferid was introduced later. Here, we briefly examine these terms as sets of singular and plural nouns, and their derived adjectives and nouns that begin with foram-. Authors can choose any of the derived terms, but they should be consistent by using only one term-set throughout their paper. Other nouns derived from forami- nifer-, such as foraminiferologist for a student of the group, are not usually part of a term-set. The informal term foram is a valid derivation and it is the most common of the names used in conversation among earth scientists and biologists. It is already accepted in major dictionaries and literature, and it has been used in specific word pairs found in scientific publications. In addition, foram eases communication by its multilingual applicability; it is also the easiest of the terms to pronounce, write, and read. For all these reasons, its use may increase in scientific literature.
New Naked Freshwater Foraminifer arc
new naked foraminifer, Haplomyxa saranae gen. nov. sp. nov., is described from an established cell ine made from a single cell isolated from a freshwater garden pond. The new species was morphoogically close to Reticulomyxa filosa, the only valid naked freshwater foraminifer species. However he two species differed when it came to the morphology of the cell body, the number of cysts, and he nutrition. The 18S rRNA gene had one of the longest sequences to date (4863 nucleotides), and t contained many insertions that are typical of Foraminifera. The size of this gene was 45% longer han the one of R. filosa due to the elongation of A+T rich regions, but molecular phylogeny based on onserved regions of the 3′-end placed the new species in the same morphological clade K. This report ncludes both morphological and genetic data which undoubtedly show that the new species is a new aked freshwater foraminifer and the second species of the clade K. 2014 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.
Silica in Soils1
Publisher Summary Silica in free and combined forms is a dominant component of the solid material of many soils, and dissolved silica is commonly a major solute of soil solutions. Breakdown of primary silicates, translocation of silica in solution, and deposition of secondary silica-containing substances are involved in the development of soils. Ions essential for the growth of plants are released to the soil solution as silicates weather, and these ions may be held against leaching at exchange sites on other silicates. Silica is absorbed in appreciable quantities by some plants and is returned to the surface of the soil as the plants decay. The nature and transformations of silica and silicates in soil are, thus, fundamental to an understanding of many aspects of soil and plant sciences.