Ion channels lie at the heart of gamete signaling. Understanding their regulation will improve our knowledge of sperm physiology, and may lead to novel contraceptive strategies. Sperm are tiny (similar to 3 mu m diameter) and, until now, direct evidence…

Protein assemblies with a high degree of repetitiveness and organization are known to induce strong immune responses. For that reason they have been postulated for the design of subunit vaccines by means of protein engineering. The enzyme lumazine synthase from…

One of the habitats occupied by Mammillaria magnimamma is a 2000-year old lava-field, in Mexico City. The great ecological interest on this lava-field and the little knowledge there is regarding cacti population ecology have compelled us to analyse the demography…

While birdsong is a model system for animal communication studies, our knowledge is derived primarily from the study of only one sex and is therefore incomplete. The study of song in a role-reversed species would provide a unique opportunity to…

For the first time for Mexican mycobiota the genus Cerinomyces Mar. is reported with the species C lagerheimii (Pat.) McNabb. This species only have been found in Ecuador (type locality), Brasil, United States and Venezuela. A review of different specimens…

In 1950, Tinbergen described the elicitation of offspring begging by the red spot on the bill of parent gulls, and this became a model system for behavioural studies. Current knowledge on colour traits suggests they can act as sexual signals…

Studies of tropical secondary forest succession face strong limitations due to the slow pace of succession and the time-consuming task of monitoring processes. The occurrence of tree rings in secondary forest trees may help expand our knowledge on succession in…

The region of Huatusco, in Veracruz, Mexico, is an area of high coffee production. Coffee trees are sensitive to temperature and precipitation variations. Those climatic elements are related to the altitude, aspect and slope it? the agroecological shadow system. A…

Volcan de Colima has increased its activity considerably since 1998 with four periods of effusion and since 2003, daily Vulcanian explosions. During 2005 the magnitude of the explosivity increased, producing many pyroclastic flows, two of which reached over 5 km…

dentification of groups that are similar in their floristic composition and structure (habitat types) is essential for conservation and forest managers to allocate high priority areas and to designate areas for reserves, refuges, and other protected areas. In this study,…