Karla Mercedes Jaramillo Jaramillo

A partir del despliegue hegemónico de los Grupos de Delincuencia Organizada (GDO) y la consecuente crisis de seguridad nacional, las instituciones educativas han dejado de operar como entornos protegidos para transformarse en espacios disputados por estructuras delictivas. Este trabajo analiza las dinámicas socioestructurales que impulsan la deserción escolar forzada, examinando fenómenos como la extorsión a planteles, la violencia ejercida contra el personal docente y el desplazamiento interno de familias. Asimismo, se desglosan los factores de atracción y coerción que facilitan la cooptación de niños, niñas y adolescentes por parte de las bandas criminales, donde la exclusión educativa y la pobreza extrema actúan como catalizadores de un enrolamiento forzado. Se evalúa la eficacia de iniciativas estatales como el Plan Nacional Escuelas Seguras y las alianzas estratégicas internacionales con organismos como UNICEF. El estudio concluye que el abandono escolar no representa únicamente un indicador de rezago social, sino un vector crítico que retroalimenta la espiral de violencia e incide negativamente en el desarrollo del capital humano del país.

Octocorals are sessile invertebrates that play a key role in marine habitats, with significant diversity in the Tropical Eastern Pacific, especially in Ecuador’s shallow waters. This study focuses on the most representative octocorals within the Marine Protected Area El Pelado, Santa Elena, Ecuador, as a part of a marine biodiscovery project employing an integrative approach. While molecular techniques have advanced, challenges persist in distinguishing closely related species. Octocorals produce a wide range of compounds, characterized by unique chemical structures and diverse biological properties. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to assess the potential of metabolomics and advanced analytical techniques to analyze the metabolome of these organisms, aiming to refine species classification and improve understanding of octocoral systematics in this region. Untargeted metabolomics effectively discriminates 12 octocoral species across five genera: Muricea, Leptogorgia, Pacifigorgia, Psammogorgia, and Heterogorgia, with notable differentiation between species within the genus Muricea, reinforcing its utility as an additional data set for species characterization. Secondary metabolites such as sterols, steroids, and terpenes (furanocembranolides and sesquiterpenes), were identified in Leptogorgia and Muricea. Overall, this method enabled the identification of 11 known species and a potentially new one, Leptogorgia cf. alba, confirming the extreme diversity of this group in the Tropical Eastern Pacific and within the Ecuadorian marine ecosystem. The study highlights the value of metabolomics in octocoral systematics and encourages for its broader application in marine biodiversity research.

The genus Muricea, a highly speciose gorgonian coral group in the Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP), is commonly found on shallow rocky reefs including Machalilla National Park (MNP), El Pelado Marine Reserve (REMAPE) and Galápagos Marine Reserve (GMR). Here, we report the presence of M. hebes, M. echinata and M. robusta, which have been not previously reported at the REMAPE area and along the Ecuadorian region. These new records for Muricea hebes (Verril, 1864) in Ecuador broaden the known geographical distribution of these species across the tempered waters of California and Mexico, and the Tropical Eastern Pacific, belonging to Panama and Ecuador. Muricea robusta (Verril, 1864) was previously recorded in Mexico and Colombia, whereas M. echinata (Verril, 1866) was only found in Panama. This report contributes to increasing the knowledge of marine diversity in Ecuador, and broadens the previously recorded geographic distribution of the genus Muricea throughout the TEP.

The Equatorial Front, in the southern part of the Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP) region, has been characterized as a hotspot of functional biodiversity due to the mixing of warm and cold waters. Nevertheless, the biogeographic patterns for some organisms, such as octocorals, remain unknown in some coastal regions. Therefore, we aimed to assess the distribution of two common octocoral genera in this area, Muricea and Leptogorgia, including 14 species based on museum specimen records, along the mainland coast of Ecuador. Statistical analyses were performed on the environmental and geographical patterns (Sea Surface Temperature (SST), bathymetry, chlorophyll (CHL-a), and Photosynthetic Active Radiation (PAR)) that influence the Equatorial Front, which is subdivided into five biogeographic regions. Our results showed two hotspots of octocoral biodiversity. The SST was found to be the main environmental factor related to octocoral distribution along the Equatorial Front. Finally, the highest abundance of Muricea over Leptogorgia suggests the former species’ higher resilience to thermal fluctuations. We discuss the possible role of substrates at suitable depths, active photosynthetic radiation, and temperature in the occurrence of octocorals in the two hotspots.

The first taxonomic descriptions of the sponge diversity at El Pelado Marine Protected Area in the province of Santa Elena, Ecuador is reported. Tedania (Tedania) ecuadoriensis Jaramillo & Hajdu, sp. nov. is described from its shallow waters. In addition, Callyspongia (Callyspongia) aff. californica (sensuCruz-Barraza and Carballo 2008; nonsensuDickinson 1945) and Cliona aff. euryphylle are reported for the first time. The former species is likely distributed over 4,000 km along the Tropical Eastern Pacific, whereas the latter might be an example of a trans-isthmian lineage. An amended diagnosis for Callyspongia (Callyspongia) and an updated identification key for the subgenera of Callyspongia are provided.

The dazzling marine zoantharians represent a reservoir of chemical diversity that remains to be unveiled. These fragile animals have so far been found to harbour the highly bioactive palytoxins or zoanthamines but also the harmless ecdysteroids or zoanthozanthins.

In the search for bioactive marine natural products from zoantharians of the Tropical Eastern Pacific, four new tyrosine dipeptides, named valdiviamides A–D (1–4), were isolated from Antipathozoanthus hickmani, and two new tyramine derivatives, 5 and 6, from Parazoanthus darwini. The phenols of all six tyrosine derivatives are substituted by bromine and/or iodine atoms at the ortho positions of the hydroxyl. The planar structures of these aromatic alkaloids were elucidated from 1D and 2D NMR experiments in combination with HRESIMS data, and the absolute configurations of 1–4 were deduced from comparison between experimental and calculated electronic circular dichroism spectra. As halogenated tyrosine derivatives could represent chemotaxonomic markers of these genera, we decided to undertake the first chemical investigation of another species, Terrazoanthus cf. patagonichus. As expected, no halogenated metabolite was evidenced in the species, but we report herein the identification of two new zoanthoxanthin derivatives, named zoamides E (7) and F (8), from this species. Antimicrobial and cytotoxicity bioassays revealed that valdiviamide B (2) displayed moderate cytotoxicity against the HepG2 cell line with an IC₅₀ value of 7.8 μM.

The marine biodiversity program of CENAIM-ESPOL focuses on sessile invertebrates from the “‘El Pelado’ marine reserve”. The present study aims at understanding the different hierarchical levels of biodiversity found at the “El Pelado” and to guide biodiscovery initiatives. Generated biodiversity data were systematized in a database (Darwin Core standard) and integrated into a geographic information system that uses webGIS as a search engine. In this way, the information becomes available to the academy and entities involved in the management of coastal resources.

The first chemical study of the marine sponge Callyspongia cf. californica widely distributed along the coasts of the Tropical Eastern Pacific led to the identification of a new family of amphiphilic derivatives called callyspongidic acids. The four isolated metabolites 1–4 feature a hydrophilic diacid end opposed to both an aromatic moiety and a long alkyl chain. They were evaluated against a panel of pathogenic microbes and seven tumoral cell lines, displaying moderate inhibitory properties against the A2058 melanoma cell line with an IC₅₀ of 3.2 μM for callyspongidic acid C13:0 (2).