These values are MI-503 molecular weight comparable to the values of E 0 for dilute nitrides reported in the literature: approximately 6 meV for a GaInNAs multiple QW structure with 1.5% of nitrogen [26] and approximately 9 meV for a GaInNAs epilayer with 1% of nitrogen [28]. Conclusions In conclusion, 1.3-μm GaInNAsSb QWs annealed at various temperatures (from 680°C to 800°C in 20°C steps) were studied by low-temperature TRPL. It has been shown PHA-848125 that exciton dynamics in these QWs change significantly

with annealing temperature. Due to carrier localization, strong energy dependence of the PL decay time is observed for all samples at low temperatures. This energy dependence was fitted by a phenomenological formula that assumes an exponential distribution selleck chemicals llc of localized states. The average value of E 0, which describes the energy distribution of localized states, has been extracted from this fit, and its dependence on annealing temperature was studied. The smallest value of E 0 was observed for the GaInNAsSb QW annealed at 700°C. In addition, the PL decay time measured at the peak PL energy was compared for all

samples. The longest PL decay time was also observed for the QW annealed at 700°C. Based on these parameters that describe the carrier dynamics at low temperature, it can be concluded that the optimal annealing temperature for this QW is approximately 700°C. Acknowledgements This work was performed within the grant of the National Science Centre (no. 2012/07/E/ST3/01742). MB acknowledges the support from the MNiSW within the Iuventus Plus program (IP2011 001471). References 1. Shan W, Walukiewicz W, Ager JW, Haller EE, Geisz JF, Friedman DJ, Olson JM, Kurtz SR: Band anticrossing in GaInNAs alloys. Phys Rev Lett 1999, 82:1221–1224.CrossRef 2. Choquette KD, Klem JF, Fischer AJ, Blum O, Allerman AA, Fritz IJ, Kurtz SR, Breiland WG, Sieg R, Geib KM, Scott JW, Naone RL: Room temperature continuous wave

InGaAsN quantum well vertical-cavity lasers emitting at 1.3 μm. Electron Lett 2000, 36:1388.CrossRef 3. Tansu N, Mawst LJ: Temperature sensitivity of 1300-nm InGaAsN quantum-well lasers. IEEE Photonics Technol Lett 2002, Loperamide 14:1052–1054.CrossRef 4. Jaschke G, Averbeck R, Geelhaar L, Riechert H: Low threshold InGaAsN/GaAs lasers beyond 1500 nm. J Cryst Growth 2005, 278:224–228.CrossRef 5. Wang XJ, Puttisong Y, Tu CW, Ptak AJ, Kalevich VK, Egorov AY, Geelhaar L, Riechert H, Chen WM, Buyanova IA: Dominant recombination centers in Ga(In)NAs alloys: Ga interstitials. Appl Phys Lett 2009, 95:241904.CrossRef 6. Chen WM, Buyanova IA, Tu CW: Defects in dilute nitrides: significance and experimental signatures. Optoelectron IEE Proc 2004, 151:379–384.CrossRef 7. Krispin P, Gambin V, Harris JS, Ploog KH: Nitrogen-related electron traps in Ga(As, N) layers (≤3% N). J Appl Phys 2003, 93:6095–6099.CrossRef 8. Spruytte SG, Coldren CW, Harris JS, Wampler W, Krispin P, Ploog K, Larson MC: Incorporation of nitrogen in nitride-arsenides: origin of improved luminescence efficiency after anneal.

5 to 0.75 ppm of free chlorine was significantly (P < 0.05) associated with an important reduction in Campylobacter counts in broilers carcasses. Both, the washing process and the application of chlorinated water during carcass chilling must contribute to these results. Decreases in Campylobacter counts associated with chilling operations have also been reported previously, indicating that it is possible to achieve reductions

of up to 2 log10 CFU of Campylobacter on carcasses during processing with chlorinated water [3, 20–22]. The results presented here agree with these findings when comparing the median CFU counts per carcass before and after chiller treatment in both plants. Like in the data reported by Stern et al. [22], we found a significant reduction (P < 0.05) not only in the number of Campylobacter-positive carcasses but also

in selleck the bacterial counts per carcasses, underlining the benefits of an effective washing process of appropriate chlorine CBL0137 mw concentrations and low temperatures used on a continuous basis in the chiller tanks. The use of chlorinated water during carcass chilling reduced the populations of Campylobacter, but this practice, as confirmed in this study, has limited effect in the final magnitude of the Campylobacter contamination, because the poultry enter the slaughter processing with a high counts of contamination that the chilling stage is not capable of reducing. The data presented here confirmed that in our setting a high percentage of commercial chickens are positive for Campylobacter at the time of slaughter. As a result, there is a high incidence of Campylobacter spp. in retail establishments, this constitute Sulfite dehydrogenase a serious hazard for public health [5, 23]. In Chile, Figueroa et al. [24] reported a prevalence of 45% (50/90) of Campylobacter contamination in fresh poultry meats. Therefore, reducing the incidence and numbers of Campylobacter contamination during the processing of broilers is needed to achieve a safer final product. Conclusion This study has generated data on the high frequency rate of Campylobacter contamination in live broiler.

This phenomenon derives in high contamination of carcasses and the processing equipment in two Chilean poultry slaughterhouses. Pevonedistat According to the data obtained the high rates of cecal carriage at the time of slaughtering is a key factor in the occurrence of Campylobacter on both, chicken carcasses and the processing environments. Special attention should be given to the identification of critical control points of potential contamination at the grange level. Also in the processing, such as the plucking and evisceration steps in order to reduce cross contamination with fecal contents during subsequent processes. The data obtained have also shown that the chilling step is a critical control point to reduce carcass contamination but also to reduce the total counts per carcass.

Moreover, the present analyses did not allow the evolutionary history of Diatrypaceae to be elucidated, as bootstrap values were small at deep

nodes within the various tree topologies. Increased sampling of taxa (within a monophyletic group) has been widely accepted as a means to increase the average accuracy of phylogenies (Rannala et al. 1998; Pollock et al. 2002; Zwickl and Hillis 2002; Heath et al. 2008). As the diatrypaceous mycota remains poorly investigated worldwide, particularly in tropical regions, exploring the overall diversity of these fungi may be necessary Emricasan supplier ultimately to resolve the evolutionary relationships in this family. We anticipate that much broader sampling of taxa combined with multigene phylogenies will be necessary in future studies to resolve eFT508 purchase the evolutionary relationships within this family. Until then, the assignment of newly discovered species into specific diatrypaceous genera may be provisional. Number of spores per ascus (eight spores versus more than eight spores) has been used traditionally to delineate genera of the Diatrypaceae. Species with polysporous asci have been assigned to genera including Diatrypella and Cryptovalsa, which differed from one another mostly by the degree of stromatic tissue produced around the perithecia.

Unfortunately, Rappaz did not consider polysporous Diatrypaceae in his work and no modern taxonomic treatment of polysporous Diatrypaceae is available. Moreover, many types for these genera Arachidonate 15-lipoxygenase remain out of reach while original descriptions are often inadequate to delineate and identify species. Delineating Diatrypella and Cryptovalsa, has proved challenging and species are often transferred between the two genera. Wehmeyer (1926) regarded polysporous Diatrypaceae

as a distinct phylogenetic lineage. Glawe and Rogers (1984) argued that multispored species might have evolved independently and repeatedly within this family while Tiffany and Gilman (1965) Selumetinib cost placed the two names in synonymy. Diatrypella has also been considered as a polysporous counterpart of Diatrype, and Cryptovalsa as a polysporous counterpart of Eutypa (Vasilyeva and Stephenson 2005). As demonstrated by the present DNA-based phylogenies, the morphospecies Cryptovalsa and Eutypella as well as Diatrype and Diatrypella showed molecular affinities. These results suggest a lack of evolutionary significance of the polysporous ascus feature in the Diatrypaceae. In this study diatrypaceous strains were commonly isolated from necrotic grapevine wood. Furthermore, certain species normally occurring as saprophytes on the native vegetation in California could occasionally infect wounded active grapevine wood (Trouillas et al. 2010a, b). Fungi in this family are likely to play important ecological functions and may ultimately contribute to the decay of their host plant, thereby affecting plant health and crop longevity.

Rather, it might exert modulatory functions based on cytoplasmic polyphosphate that cannot be identified by simple genetic knock-out experiments. Methods Trypanosome cell culture Procyclic T. brucei 427 cells were cultured at 27°C in complete SDM79 medium [25] supplemented with 5% (v/v) heat-inactivated foetal calf serum (FCS). Bloodstream forms of the monomorphic strain 221 (Mitat 1.2) were cultured in HMI-9 medium [26] supplemented with 10% (v/v) FCS at 37°C in a 5% CO2 atmosphere. Sequence searches and alignments The TbrPPX1 gene from T. brucei was identified by TBLASTP search

with the human prune amino acid sequence [GenBank: NP_067045] as a query. Blast-searching GeneDB http://​www.​genedb.​org revealed a single predicted protein [GeneDB:Tb09.160.1950]. This sequence was then used for iterative searches of other kinetoplastid Cell Cycle inhibitor click here genomes for related proteins (T. brucei, T. cruzi, T. vivax, T. congolense, L. major, L. infantum, L. braziliensis, and L. tarentolae). Multiple alignments of amino acid sequences were obtained using ClustalW

v1.82, Jalview and BioEdit v7.0.5 software using the similarity matrix BLOSUM62. Cloning and sequencing The open reading frame of TbrPPX1 gene (1152 bp) was PCR amplified from genomic DNA of procyclic T. brucei 427 using the primers TbLw43f (5′- CATATG A GGATCC AAATGACGGCAGTGGTGAATGAGTTC-3′) and TbLw43r (5′- CTCGAGGCGGCCGC TTACAAATTGTTCCACACTGACAAAAAACTAG-3′). Restriction sites for NdeI and BamHI and for XhoI and NotI used for subsequent

cloning are underlined. The resulting PCR product was cloned into the pCR2.1-TOPO vector (Invitrogen) and sequenced. Comparison of the amplified TbrPPX1 DNA sequence from T. brucei 427 gDNA with the DNA sequence of the corresponding locus Tb09.160.1950 in the T. brucei 427 genome sequence database revealed Cytidine deaminase a few sequence differences at the DNA level, but none in the predicted amino acid sequence. Southern and Northern Blot Analyses Genomic DNA from procyclic and bloodstream T. brucei cell lines was digested with the appropriate restriction enzymes, separated on a 1% agarose gel and transferred to a positively charged nylon membrane (Roche). Digoxigenin-labelled DNA probes were generated using the PCR DIG probe synthesis kit (Roche). Hybridization probes were amplified with the following primers: For the TbrPPX1 open reading frame: primers TbLw43f and TbLw43r (see above); for the G418 resistance gene: the single primer Fwneo/Rewneo (5′-CTGCCCATTCGACCACCAAGC-3′) and for the hygromycin resistance gene the primer pair Fwhygro (5′-GATGTAGGAGGGCGTGGATA-3′) and Rewhygro (5′-TTGTTCGGTCGGCATCTACT-3′). In order to achieve a minimal hybridization background, the DNA Selleckchem C59 wnt templates for the PCR reactions were excised from the respective plasmid vectors and further purified by gel extraction (QIAquick Gel Extraction Kit, Qiagen).

While very few women had nine to 12 risk factors (1.4% and 2.0% of women aged 65–74 and ≥ 75 years, respectively), selection bias among women aged 75 years and older who have nine to 12 risk factors may explain why their fall rates appear low relative to women aged 65–74 years. Many risk factors are modifiable, and each risk factor modified may reduce falls, with the greatest impact among women having many risk factors. Our results are therefore somewhat consistent Blasticidin S price with fall prevention

guidelines [43] recommending multifactorial risk assessment and targeted interventions; however, these guidelines have focused on the frail faller. Due to the independent relationships of lifestyle factors and fall risk identified in our study, we think there are actually two populations of fallers: frail and vigorous. Thus, in the context of a recent systematic review and meta analysis indicating the evidence is weak that multifactorial risk assessment and targeted interventions prevent falls [44], we believe fall prevention guidelines should be expanded to include nontraditional selleck inhibitor risk factors associated with not smoking, going outdoors frequently, walking at a fast usual-paced walking speed, and high physical activity. Our study has important strengths. Our study is the largest and most comprehensive

assessment of risk factors for falls. Our sample included over 8,300 women aged 65–89 years with a wide variation in physical function and lifestyles from four large metropolitan areas in the USA. Prior prospective studies in unselected samples of community-dwelling adults have been small AZD1480 ic50 including sample sizes between 306 and 761 and not nearly as comprehensive as our current study [1, 6, 10, 11]. Risk factors identified in less comprehensive studies are less able to rule out confounding effects due to unmeasured risk factors. Although one study included nearly 3,000 older adults, it did not assess physical performance

[7]. Furthermore, Immune system our study profoundly improves on prior studies by calculating population attributable risks and addressing a critical need to reduce the burden of recurring falls [15] and not just the risk for becoming a faller. While our study has major strengths, there are some limitations. First, our findings were based on a cohort of older Caucasian women and may not apply to other populations. Findings should generalize to more to healthier Caucasian women since participation was voluntary and remaining active over the study follow-up period was required to be included in the analysis. Use of CNS-active medications included ever use (AED) and any use in the past 12 months (all other CNS-active medications). Because we did not specify the degree of current use more precisely, we may have underestimated associations of CNS-active medications and fall risk due to more distant use being less strongly associated with risk as compared to new use.

The high rainfall during vuri in 1961 shows a deviation from this pattern and signifies an exceptional El-Niňo year (United Nations Environment Program 2006). #IWR-1 mouse randurls[1|1|,|CHEM1|]# Fig. 3 a, b Rainfall pattern for the short rainy season (October–December) at Kisumu (1951–2007) and Musoma (1959–2007) meteorological station (source: Kenya Meteorological Agency and Tanzania Meteorological Services, 2008). c–h

Rainfall pattern for the months of January, February and April at Kisumu (1951–2008) and Musoma (1959–2007) meteorological station (source: Kenya Meteorological Agency and Tanzania Meteorological Services, 2008) In addition, we see a deviating pattern in the long rainy season compared to the past, whereby rainfall is increasing slightly in January but decreasing in February and April (Fig. 3c–h). It should be noted that, because monthly data alone may be insufficient in identifying the rather subtle divide between variability and trends, ‘trends’ in our data are only significant in some cases due to high rainfall variability in the area;

hence we use the term ‘pattern’ here rather https://www.selleckchem.com/products/cobimetinib-gdc-0973-rg7420.html than trend. Although changes in the rainfall pattern at the study sites seem small, such changes may be critical to farmers because of the way they dictate agricultural performance (United Nations Environment Program 2006) as indicated by farmers’ own experiences: We cannot predict when it will rain anymore. Now we don’t have a fixed time when we plant, we have to read the weather to know when to plant. Because of the change it has made life much more difficult, so it is all dependent

on trial and error (Tom, 29 October 2008, Kenya). The rainfall was better in the past compared to today. Now the rains are not enough for our needs. The rains are much more unreliable today (Taabu, 12 November 2008, Tanzania). It rains more heavily now when it rains than before. It is now destructive. Before when it rained it was not as heavy and then it was useful for the farm rather than now when it cannot be utilized by the soil (Wilfrieda, 27 October 2008, Kenya). It is the timing of the planting of the crop that is filipin key. In the past everyone would plant their crops in February because they were targeting the long rains in April. But now in April there is very little rain so it means that they do not get enough harvests (Joseph, 23 October 2008, Kenya). In the past it rained a lot and the season was longer and we could harvest as planned (Kiega, 17 November 2008, Tanzania). In the past the rain followed the season but now it does not…. [Today] rain ends before the growth of the seedlings is finished. Now we are just guessing when we should plant (Paul, interview 14 November 2008, Tanzania). People do not know when to plant anymore. They may plant and then crops are destroyed and then they have to plant again (Rose, 23 October 2008, Kenya).

1) being crucial for efficient invasion when examined using siRNA-based knockdowns of spectrin components. Further Vismodegib studies demonstrated the recruitment of spectrin, Apoptosis inhibitor adducin and p4.1 to intracellular bacteria, prior to comet tail formation. However, unlike at L. monocytogenes comet tails, we show that spectrin is recruited to S. flexneri

comet tails. These studies demonstrate a novel cytoskeletal system crucial to S. flexneri pathogenesis, while also highlighting dramatic differences between the cytoskeletal hijacking strategies of S. flexneri, S. Typhimurium and L. monocytogenes. Results Spectrin cytoskeletal proteins are key components to S. flexneri invasion of epithelial cells To examine the role of spectrin cytoskeletal proteins during S. flexneri invasion, we infected HeLa cells selleck with S. flexneri for 30 minutes and immunolocalized spectrin, adducin and p4.1. To identify bacterial sites of invasion, indicated by actin-rich membrane ruffles, we probed the cells with Alexa fluor conjugated phalloidin (to stain filamentous actin) as well as DAPI

(to visualize bacterial DNA). We found that p4.1 was recruited to 94% of S. flexneri invasion sites (Figure 1a and 1b, Additional file 1: Figure S1 showing background actin). However, spectrin and adducin were largely absent from sites of S. flexneri invasion, showing recruitment to only 3% and15% of invasion sites respectively (Figure 1a and 1b). Figure 1 Spectrin, adducin and p4.1 are needed for efficient S. flexneri invasion. a) HeLa cells were infected with S. flexneri for 30 minutes prior to fixation and immunolocalization with antibodies targeted against spectrin, adducin or p4.1. To observe invasion events, we also probed the cells for F-actin (to visualize membrane invasion ruffles) and DNA (using DAPI, to visualize bacteria). P4.1 is recruited to S. flexneri actin-rich STK38 invasion sites, while spectrin and adducin are not recruited. Scale bars are 5 μm. b) Quantification

of the presence of spectrin cytoskeletal components during S. flexneri invasion. We counted 50 invasion events, in three separate experiements, looking for distinct recruitment of the protein of interest. c) Western blots to confirm knockdown of spectrin, adducin and p4.1 in HeLa cells. d) Spectrin, adducin, or p4.1 were knocked-down in HeLa cells prior to infection with S. flexneri for 1.5 hours (including 1-hour of gentamycin to kill external bacteria), followed by immunolocalization. Quantification of invasion was performed by microscopy, enumerating each cell with 1 or more internalized bacteria as a single invasion event. Cells with spectrin, adducin, or p4.1 knocked-down had significant (*P < 0.0001) reduction in invasion as compared to the control pool treated cells. For each experiment, 25 cells were counted that had undetectable levels of the targeted proteins following knockdown.

The latter proves to be highly soluble in the most common organic solvents. Solutions of the polymer MEH-PPV selleck screening library and the cadmium complex allow to obtain large area composite films by spin coating, making the proposed technique not expensive and ideal to fabricate optoelectronic devices. Methods All the reagents used to synthesize the precursor and the polymer were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich S.r.l., Milan, Italy, and used without further purification. All the nanocomposites were prepared using the pristine polymer MEH-PPV with a number of average molecular weight (Mn) of 70,000 to 100,000. The synthesis of Cd(SBz)2 was

conducted using the commercial salt cadmium nitrate hexahydrate (9 mmol) as starting reagent. After the dissolution of cadmium salt in ethanol, an aqueous solution this website of ammonium hydroxide (25%) was added and, as a consequence, the starting opaque solution became clear. When the benzyl mercaptan (18 mmol) was added in the reaction vessel, the desired product precipitated in quantitative yield and it was isolated

from the solution by filtration. The soluble complex [Cd(SBz)2]2·MI was performed suspending the GSK1904529A thiolate Cd(SBz)2 and adding dropwise 1-methyl imidazole (MI) until a clear solution was obtained. The product was purified by crystallization from toluene, cooling the solution to −18°C. Thermogravimetric analysis (Netzsch-Gerätebau GmbH STA429 simultaneous thermal analyzer, Selb, Germany) allowed to confirm the general formula of the obtained Lewis base-derived complex [Cd(SBz)2]2·MI in which the stoichiometric ratio between thiolate and MI is 2:1 [13]. The precursor/polymer composite films were produced by spin coating on glass slides, silicon wafers and copper grids from the solutions of [Cd(SBz)2]2 .MI and MEH-PPV in chloroform with a respective weight/weight ratio of 1:4, 2:3 and 4:1, respectively. The same procedure was realized using an inert polymer as polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) for comparative aims. The spin speed and time were set

at 1,500 rpm and 10 s, respectively, in order to obtain uniform and smooth U0126 polymer films. For all samples, the thermolysis process was performed at temperatures of 175°C, 185°C and 200°C for 30 min with a reproducible controlled ramp and in nitrogen atmosphere to avoid possible oxidation of NCs surface. Optical properties of the annealed samples, by means of a Xe lamp (LC8 Hamamatsu, Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka, Japan) and a HR460 monochromator (Jobin Yvon, Kyoto, Japan), were investigated on chloroform solutions obtained by the samples deposited on glass. UV-visible transmission were performed in order to evaluate the absorbance of the specimens as ln(1/T). Photoluminescence (PL) spectra were acquired on the same chloroform solutions with a Varian Cary Eclipse Fluorometer, Palo Alto, CA, USA, (excitation wavelength, 330 nm).

In fact, at B=0, the energy branch corresponding selleck chemicals to indirect states starts above the one corresponding to the direct states, and given the faster growth with field of the first one, the direct branch can not reach the indirect one. Figure 2 Dependence of the energy levels and PL spectra of AQDP #1. (a) Dependence of the energy levels on the magnetic field (the first (second) number in the label indicates the branch (polarization)). (b) PL spectrum of an AQDP consisting of a bottom dot with diameter

(height) D B=12 nm (h B=2.4 nm) and top dot with AZD2014 molecular weight diameter (height) D T=24 nm (h T=1.8 nm) at 5 K. (c) As in (b) but at 70 K. The red (blue) line corresponds to polarization -1 (+1) in z. Increasing the size of the dots (AQDP #2), both of the single-particle ground state energy and the Coulomb interaction decrease. For example, if the bottom dot has a diameter (height) of D B=15 nm (h B=4.8 nm) and the top dot has diameter (height) of D T=30 nm (h T=4.2 nm) at B=0, the energy of the indirect ground state changes from MX69 order 1,234 to 1,031 meV and that of the direct state changes from 1,238 to 1,042 meVd. In this second configuration, the Coulomb interaction is too weak to push the direct branch below the indirect one ( changes from ∼19 to ∼16 meV). The signal of coupling is observed in this case (Figure

3), especially for the higher temperature, in form of anticrossed states in the PL spectra. This feature is consistent with the experimental observations as reported in [2] and [5], in which interdot coupling is reached via electric field. Such anticrossings (observed in the region 15 T – 20 T), evidence hybridization between the states and CYTH4 which have polarization

−1 (red), and between the states and with polarization +1 (blue). Via this interdot coupling, energy levels beyond the ground state become optically accessible at reasonably low temperatures (70 K, Figure 3b). This is because the tunneling coupling magnitude is noticeably lower than the typical energy difference between the ground and excited states in single dots. It is worth noting that undesirable thermally driven charge leaking will reduce the PL signal from the dot pair. However, in this case, because coupling is achieved, the energy difference between excited and ground states is much smaller than that between the excited state and the conduction band edge at the hybridization region. Thus, the charge leaking effects on exciton emission from the ground and excited levels are similar, and the PL qualitative features are not expected to change substantially. Figure 3 Dependence of energy levels and PL spectra of AQDP #2. (a) Dependence of the energy levels on the magnetic field (the first (second) number in the label indicates the branch (polarization)). (b) PL spectrum of AQDP consisting of a bottom dot with diameter (height) D B=15 nm (h B=4.8 nm) and a top dot with diameter (height) D T=30 nm (h T=4.2 nm) at 5 K. (c) As in (b) but at 70 K.

Dendroid forms and fans were most numerous on tree trunks and PF-04929113 supplier understorey trees, whereas compact forms and tall turfs were most numerous in the forest canopy and restricted in the understorey to the crowns of young trees (zone U3). These results confirm that species with exposed life forms are more successful in the

understorey, where they are well-protected against radiation and desiccation and where their growth form helps them to access as much light as possible. In contrast, species with compact life forms can better cope with warmer and drier circumstances such as those found in higher canopy strata (León-Vargas et al. 2006). Lastly, branch structure such as diameter and inclination of twigs and branches, is an important factor determining the composition of selleck chemicals llc epiphytic bryophyte assemblages of the forest canopy (Yamada 1975–1977; Wolf 1996; Holz 2003). The high number of tall turf species in the canopy may

be due to the presence of horizontal braches and crutches, which provide optimal conditions for the establishment and growth of tall turfs. Vertical substrates characteristic for the understorey of the forest appear to be generally unsuitable for these species. In contrast, dendroids, tails and fans, which are generally only narrowly attached to the substrate, are less dependent on horizontal substrates as anchoring places and abound in the forest understorey. Conclusions We found significant differences in epiphytic bryophyte diversity on tree trunks and young trees in the understorey versus the crowns of the trees; nearly 48% of all check details species were restricted to the forest canopy trees. Our study was the first to include understorey trees in the analysis of vertical distribution of epiphytic bryophytes using standardized sampling methods. Although no more than 9% of the recorded species were only found on young trees of the understorey, diversity of dendroid and fan-like species was highest on trunks and understorey trees, and would have been underestimated or neglected when the understorey would have been excluded. The importance of young understorey trees as a habitat for epiphytes was earlier demonstrated for vascular

epiphytes by Krömer et al. (2007), who Endonuclease found that more than 20% of total species diversity would have been missed when this habitat as well as shrubs would not have been sampled. The results indicate that conservation strategies aimed at preserving the variety of tropical habitats and recognition of suitable indicator species, should consider the understorey trees in addition to the mature canopy trees. Our study once more reveals the importance of undisturbed rainforests with a dense, closed canopy and a well-shaded, cool and moist understorey for the preservation of high levels of biodiversity (Sporn et al. 2009). Disruption of the forest canopy would inevitably risk levelling these habitat differences and pose a threat to the unique bryophyte flora of the forest understorey (Gradstein 2008).