2editor's note-jan.-june2019.pmd


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FROM THE EDITOR

ISSN 0115-7809 Print/ISSN 2012-0818 Online

In this June 2019 issue of Science Diliman, we feature four research articles and one

short communication. One article is on the use of benthic macroinvertebrate

assemblages to assess stream condition in an urban landscape. Two articles have

relevance to DNA forensics. Another article discusses the isolation of fungal

endophytes from leaves of medicinal plants. The short communication is on

phytoplankton grown from ballast waters.

Magbanua et al. assessed the overall condition of the waterways in the University

of the Philippines (UP) Diliman campus based on benthic macroinvertebrate

assemblages. They sampled 19 stream reaches across three different land use

categories. Their results revealed poor to severe stream conditions in all sampling

sites. Thus, they suggest restoration efforts in streams and waterways, as well as

improvement of the wastewater treatment facility in the campus.

Sales et al. compared the utility of an organic procedure and a silica-based method

for extracting DNA from cigarette butt samples. They also tested the effect of

storage time and conditions, and cigarette type on DNA yield and allele recovery.

They recommend the use of organic procedure for samples collected outdoors and

stored for a long period of time, while the silica-based method is recommended for

samples collected indoors and stored for a short period of time.

Guerrero et al. compared the occurrence, frequency, and isolation rates of fungal

endophytes from the leaves of the 10 most frequently used medicinal plants in

Albay across three different locations. They obtained 120 fungal isolates belonging

to 17 species. They found no signif icant difference in terms of the number of

isolates and unique species across the sampling sites. They recommend further

sampling and testing of the biological properties of these fungal endophytes.

Soliven et al. compared DNA yield and quality from urine samples stored at room

temperature, 4°C, and -20°C for 2 months and 9 months. They found that DNA

extracted from urine samples stored at cooler temperatures were amplif ied better,

especially at 2 months of storage. Their study is important as DNA testing of urine

samples can be used to resolve allegation of sample switching and laboratory

misconduct.



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Austero et al. identif ied bloom-forming and potentially harmful diatom and

dinoflagellate species in ballast waters from international vessels berthing at two

ports in the country. Their results showed that these harmful phytoplankton can be

transported via shipping, which may lead to bioinvasion in the local aquatic

environment.

Lastly, on behalf of the Editorial Board of Science Diliman, I would like to thank

Dr. Irene M. Villaseñor for her three years of service as Editor-in-Chief. Under her

able leadership, Science Diliman was included in the ASEAN Citation Index and

Emerging Sources Citation Index, and was a recipient of the Journal Incentive Program

awarded by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).

Science Diliman also deeply mourns the passing on March 2, 2019 of the UP Diliman

College of Science Dean, Dr. Perry S. Ong. He was a UP Scientist and a former

Director of the Institute of Biology. He was at the forefront of biodiversity research

and conservation in the Philippines.

Jonas P. Quilang, Ph.D.

                                                                             Editor-in-Chief