Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

This article draws on the infrastructural turn in urban studies to explore the profane materialities that enable certain forms of urban religion. Starting from the premise that cities are configurations of spaces, actors and materialities characterized by dominant modes of belonging, hegemonic definitions of public space and hierarchical arrangements of spatial uses, infrastructures are a central element of the material foundations of cities. Based on ethnographic research in Cape Town, I developed the notion of “infrastructuralizing religion” as a new mode of spatializing religion. Infrastructuralizing practices draw religious life into the profane realm of ordinary urbanism, where religious meanings collide with bureaucratization machines, divergent investments in scarce space, and criminal economies. I argue that infrastructuration is an important complement to architecture and place-making as hitherto dominant concepts for the analysis of urban religion.

This article explores the extent to which conservative religious anti-gender elites in Mexico have assumed characteristics of flexible networks. The concept of elites as flexible networks (Wedel 2015) refers to the ability to occupy simultaneous and ambiguous positions between the private and public worlds, modifying the state and legality in favor of the elites from within the state itself. Based on network analysis and qualitative analysis of the biography of key religious conservative actors, we argue here that the simultaneity of flexible positions occurs between the private, religious and public worlds, propitiating leaderships that ambiguously combine secular and sacred discourses and strategies in favor of a religious conservative agenda. These characteristics are analyzed both for actors from the Catholic field and from the Christian evangelical field.

The covid-19 pandemic in Mexico and the world took both countries and their inhabitants by surprise. Confinement to avoid contagion brought about new ways of relating to others. This new way of relating also undoubtedly affected the various churches and their parishioners. When it was thought that religion was out of everyday life, it returned and manifested itself openly in society.

Desigualdad de género y configuraciones espaciales 2017

Presentación del número

Background and Aims: Peltogyne mexicana is the only species of the genus Peltogyne in Mexico, but its natural populations are subject to fragmentation processes and conservation strategies are needed. Nursery propagation can contribute to the conservation of the species, but appropriate germplasm management strategies must be developed. It is important to know the morphological characteristics of the seeds and their germination. The objectives of this work were: (1) to characterize the intrapopulation variation of some morphological traits (qualitative and morphometric) of P. mexicana seeds, and (2) to analyze the influence of size on germination.Methods: Traits such as color, shape, length, width, thickness, and weight of seeds of individuals of P. mexicana were described and characterized. The relationship between traits was examined with a Pearson correlation analysis and intrapopulation variation was tested with an analysis of variance. The influence of size on germination was also analyzed using logistic regression and the Weibull function, in all cases at a significance level of 5%.Key results: The seeds of P. mexicana are dark red with an ovoid shape. There is a high intrapopulation variation in traits. Width is the trait with the least variation, weight varies the most. All traits are significantly correlated with each other, but length and weight have the highest degree of association. Germination is significantly related to seed weight. The probability of germination increases as weight also increases. High germination rates occur for seeds weighing 0.65 g and germination occurs most frequently at 11.20 days.Conclusions: Seed morphological traits of P. mexicana vary intrapopulationally. Seed weight influences germination.

Background and Aims: The fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. cubense strongly affects banana. Due to the climatic changes expected, particular in Ecuador, the pathogen expansion could be favored and cause considerable economic losses for agriculture. In this istudy, the changes in the potential geographic distribution of F. oxysporum f. cubense under various climate change scenarios in continental Ecuador were evaluated.Methods: We extracted 77 F. oxysporum f. cubense records from international databases and scientific literature. The bioclimatic variables were taken from Worldclim, for the present and for 2050 and 2070, under different climate change scenarios. Using the Maximum Entropy algorithm, the species’ climate niche model was obtained and projected to a mitigating (SSP-126), a cautious (SSP-245) and an extreme (SSP-585) gas emissions scenario.Key results: The model performed well and adequately predicted areas with environmental conditions like the sites with records of F. oxysporum f. cubense. Favorable conditions appear mainly in the Sierra and Costa regions. Under the climate scenarios, the greatest expansion of favorable conditions will occur in the Coast region, in the mitigation scenario (SSP-126) for 2050, with an increase of 18,550 km2 with respect to the current potential distribution.Conclusions: If greenhouse gas emissions generate a climate in 2050 like the one simulated in SSP-126, favorable conditions for this fungus will exceed the current ones and it will expand within the Coast towards the banana production areas. This will have a negative impact on the economy of banana producers.

Background and Aims: Cultivation of Ganoderma on vineyard pruning wood chips improves the productivity and biochemical composition of their fruiting bodies. Consequently, it has gained traction as an alternative for recycling viticulture waste. The current trend is to increase the production of Ganoderma bioactive compounds in liquid culture. This work aims to evaluate the effect of vineyard pruning extracts on biomass in the liquid culture of Ganoderma native strains from the Sonoran desert, Mexico. Total triterpenoid and antioxidant capacity were prospected in the most competitive native strain vs. control strain. Methods: Vineyard pruning extracts of different polarity and concentrations were evaluated in a cornmeal-glucose-peptone liquid culture to grow Ganoderma spp. for seven days at 25 °C. The antioxidant capacity was determined with ORAC, FRAP, and TEAC assays. The total triterpenoid content was estimated using the spectrophotometric method. The structural analysis was determined by FTIR. Results: The highest overall biomass production was observed in Ganoderma oerstedii, followed by G. subincrustatum, G. weberianum, and G. lucidum (control strain). The highest biomass production was obtained with the polar extract at 500 µg/l. The culture conditions produced a variable response in the antioxidant capacity. The highest total triterpenoid content (686±21 µg/ml) was observed in G. oerstedii at nine days of culture. FTIR analysis showed the presence of hydroxyl and enol groups, and benzene rings characteristic of triterpenoids. Conclusions: Response surface analysis revealed that vineyard pruning extracts enhanced biomass production of Ganoderma spp. in liquid culture. The enhancement varied based on the species, polarity, and concentration of the extract. The antioxidant capacity and total triterpenoid content exhibit variations according to time and culture conditions.

Background and Aims: The genus Persea, of the family Lauraceae, includes the subgenera Persea and Eriodaphne, both with great variability and distribution in America. In Mexico, in a low deciduous forest environment in the south of the State of Mexico, a new type of avocado was found. It stands out for its thick fruit exocarp, abundant leaf pubescence and vigorous growth. It is morphologically distinct from described species or races of Persea, similar in some morphological characteristics to P. floccosa and P. tolimanensis, and in exocarp thickness to the latter. It shares habitat with P. americana var. drymifolia, but its parentage is ambiguous. The objective of the study was to describe morphologically and molecularly two populations of the new type of avocado and compare it with P. floccosa, P. tolimanensis and P. americana var. drymifolia. Methods: Thirteen samples of the new genotype were collected in Ixtapan del Oro and Zumpahuacán, Mexico. Sixty-four characteristics based on IPGRI and UPOV morphological guidelines were analyzed using discriminant and conglomerate methods. Molecularly eight RAPD and six ISSR primers were used. Using Jaccard similarity distance, as well as Neighbor-Joining and UPGMA clustering methods, dendrograms were constructed. Polymorphic information content (PIC), resolving power (RP) and marker index (MI) were generated. Key results: Pubescence, undulation, and shape of leaves grouped individuals together, while sepal pubescence and width, anise odor, and fruit exocarp thickness separated them. RAPD generated 1417 bands from 250 to 900 bp, and ISSR 917 bands from 200 to 1000 bp. The PIC and RP were 0.45 and 0.49 and 8.8 and 5.81, respectively. The dendrograms allowed to distinguish the hybrid from the reference species. Conclusions: The new genotype comes from natural hybridization of P. americana var. drymifolia, its polymorphic character is confirmed, and it could be considered a new botanical variety.

Background and Aims: Extrafloral nectaries (EFNs) are secretory glands of an aqueous solution composed mainly of sugars, amino acids and lipids, frequently used as food resource by ants, which tend to protect their host plants against herbivorous insects. Although the Amazon forest is recognized worldwide for its high plant diversity, few studies have been carried out in the region that characterize the different morphotypes of EFNs. In this context, our main aim was to perform a brief morphological description of EFNs in the Brazilian Amazonian rainforest. Methods: We established a plot of 6250 m2 in ten forest fragments situated in the state of Acre, Brazilian Amazon. In these plots, we performed intensive field surveys to locate EFN-bearing plant species. Subsequently, we used scanning electron microscopy images to morphologically characterize the EFNs. The morphological descriptions included information about the life form of EFN-bearing plant species, morphotypes of EFNs and their location in different plant structures. Key results: We morphologically characterized 67 EFN-bearing plant species, distributed in 28 genera and 19 families. The botanical families with the highest taxonomic representativeness were Fabaceae, Bignoniaceae and Malpighiaceae. Lianas were the life form with the largest number of EFN-bearing plant species, while elevated EFNs were the most frequent morphotype. Conclusions: The high frequency of elevated EFNs evidences the importance of the ant defense system against herbivory in these Brazilian Amazonian forests, since it has been documented in others works that this morphotype secretes a larger nectar volume, which is an advantage in relation to the attraction potential. Finally, our results indicate the existence of a high diversity of EFN-bearing plant species in this region of the Brazilian Amazon, and an important morphological diversity of associated extrafloral nectaries.