Tipos nomenclaturales de «Lysimachia ephemerum» L. y «L. tenella» L. (Primulaceae)

Lectotypes for two Linnaean names of Lysimachia ephemerum L. and L. tenella (Primulaceae) are designated from original material preserved in the LINN and UPS-BURSER herbaria.Se lectotipifican los nombres linneanos de Lysimachia ephemerum y L. tenella (Primulaceae) a partir de material depositado en los herbarios LINN y UPS-BURSER

Biogeography of cyclamen: an application of phyloclimatic modelling

© The Systematics Association 2011. Cyclamen is a genus of popular garden plant, protected by Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) legislation. Many of its species are morphologically and phenologically adapted to the seasonal climate of the Mediterranean region. Most species occur in geographic isolation and will readily hybridise with their sister species when brought together. We investigate the biogeography of Cyclamen and assess the impact of palaeogeography and palaeoclimate change on the distribution of the genus. We use techniques of phyloclimatic modelling (combining ecological niche modelling and phylogenetic character optimisation) to investigate the heritability of climatic preference and to reconstruct ancestral niches. Conventional and phyloclimatic approaches to biogeography are compared to provide an insight into the historic distribution of Cyclamen species and the potential impact of climate change on their future distribution. The predicted climate changes over the next century could see a northward shift of many species’ climatic niches to places outside their current ranges. However, such distribution changes are unlikely to occur through natural antbased dispersal, so conservation measures are likely to be required

INDEPENDENT ORIGINATION OF FLORAL ZYGOMORPHY, A PREDICTED ADAPTIVE RESPONSE TO POLLINATORS: DEVELOPMENTAL AND GENETIC MECHANISMS

Observations of floral development indicate that floral organ initiation in pentapetalous flowers more commonly results in a medially positioned abaxial petal (MAB) than in a medially positioned adaxial petal (MAD), where the medial plane is defined by the stem and the bract during early floral development. It was proposed that the dominant MAB petal initiation might impose a developmental constraint that leads to the evolution of limited patterns of floral zygomorphy in Asteridae, a family in which the floral zygomorphy develops along the medial plane and results in a central ventral (CV) petal in mature flowers. Here, I investigate whether the pattern of floral organ initiation may limit patterns of floral zygomorphy to evolve in pentapetalous angiosperms. I analyzed floral diagrams representing 405 species in 330 genera of pentapetalous angiosperms to reconstruct the evolution of floral organ initiation and the evolution of developmental processes that give rise to floral zygomorphy on a phylogenetic framework. Results indicate that MAB petal initiation is the most common; it occupies 86.2% of diversity and represents the ancestral state of floral organ initiation in pentapetalous angiosperms. The MAD petal initiation evolved 28 times independently from the ancestral MAB petal initiation. Among the 34 independent originations of floral zygomorphy, 76.5% of these clades represent MAB petal initiation, among which only 47% of the clades result a CV petal in mature flowers. The discrepancy is explained by the existence of developmental processes that result in floral zygomorphy along oblique planes of floral symmetry in addition to along the medial plane. Findings suggest that although the early floral organ initiation plays a constraining role to the evolution of patterns of floral zygomorphy, the constraint diverges along phylogenetically distantly related groups that allow the independent originations of floral zygomorphy through distinct development processes in pentapetalous angiosperms. In additional study, the butterfly-like flowers of Schizanthus are adapted to pollination by bees, hummingbirds, and moths. I investigated the genetic basis of the zygomorphic corolla, for which development is key to the explosive pollen release mechanism found in the species of Schizanthus adapted to bee pollinators. I examined differential gene expression profiles across the zygomorphic corolla of Schizanthus pinnatus, a bee-pollinated species, by analyzing RNA transcriptome sequencing (RNA- seq). Data indicated that CYC2 is not expressed in the zygomorphic corolla of Sc. pinnatus, suggesting CYC2 is not involved in the development of floral zygomorphy in Schizanthus (Solanaceae). The data also indicated that a number of genes are differentially expressed across the corolla

Epeoloides pilosulus (Cresson) Rediscovered in Michigan, with Notes on the Distribution and Status of its Macropis hosts.

Epeoloides pilosulus (Cresson 1878) is one of the rarest bees in North America with only a handful of records since 1960. The last collection in Michigan was made in 1944. Epeoloides pilosulus is a brood parasite of Macropis bees, which until recently had not been collected in Michigan for several decades. Bee surveys in Midland County, Michigan have led to the rediscovery of E. pilosulus in this state – the first record in 74 years. Michigan becomes the fourth state where E. pilosulus has been rediscovered after Connecticut in 2006, New York in 2014 and Maine in 2016, and the sixth region in North America after Nova Scotia in 2002 and Alberta in 2010. State-wide bee surveys have also shown that the principal host, Macropis nuda (Provancher 1882), remains widespread in Michigan, and that Macropis patellata Patton 1880 is newly recorded for the state

Contributions to the flora and vegetation of Kagbeni (Mustan District, Central Nepal)

Kagbeni and its irrigated oasis are surrounded by subdesert dwarf scrubland. In the present study, a list of 78 species of vascular plants is presented for Kagbeni and its immediate surroundings, supplemented with data on the distribution of the species within the entire Mustan District. The data are arrived from own investigations and the geobotanical literature. A phytogeographical analysis shows the prevalence of western over eastern elements. Species with a wide distribution in Eurasia, which constitute one third of the total flora of Kagbeni, are of great importance as weeds on arable fields and in ruderal places within the irrigated oasis. Their occurrence is closely related to human activity. Presumably, most of these weeds have reached the area under study in connection with agriculture a long time ago. Weeds from the New World, although recorded in other villages of Mustan District, have not been found in Kagbeni. The weed vegetation of Kagbeni is documented by nine vegetation releves, and is compared to releves from Jomsom and Mzrpha. A floristic gradient from south to north that has been detected by earlier investigations throughout the whole district can be reproduced at the local scale. With regard to the weed flora, the effects of different crops are minimal, compared to effects of altitude and other factors related to altitude

Plant regeneration from leaf-derived callus cultures of Primrose (Primula vulgaris)

Efficient micropropagation of Primula species is important both for fundamental scientific studies and commercial applications. Primula vulgaris, along with other Primulaceae species, exhibits floral heteromorphy with two distinct forms of hermaphroditic flower. Studies to identify genes that control heteromorphic flower development require propagation of floral mutants, and efficient regeneration is a key requirement for plant transformation. Several species, including P. vulgaris (Huds.) cultivars and P. x polyantha hybrids are important horticultural crops in Europe, USA and Japan and semi-double/double Primula varieties offer a high-end product. Vegetative propagation of sterile double forms, and as a means to increase numbers of inbred parent plants for F1 seed production, is however, slow. Micropropagation offers the most efficient way of increasing these varieties quickly and efficiently. To date most Primula micropropagation protocols require explant material derived from in vitro grown seedlings or use floral parts as donor material with seasonal limitations. Therefore, an effective and efficient protocol was developed for in vitro regeneration of P. vulgaris via indirect organogenesis from adult leaf derived explants. Exposure of leaf explants of P. vulgaris to media containing synthetic cytokinin, thidiazuron (TDZ) and Auxin (NAA or 2,4-D) resulted in undifferentiated cell proliferation and followed by differentiated growth as shoot organogenesis. Silver nitrate improved in vitro callus growth and increased shoot regeneration further, with up to 72% of explants producing shoots. Regenerated plants developed normally and produced normal fertile flowers within 7 months. The system was also successfully applied for the micropropagation of sterile double-flowered P. vulgaris 'Sue Jervis'. The protocol reported here enables propagation of P. vulgaris without seasonal limitation or destruction of valuable parent donor material. The protocol, with further development, has the potential to underpin development of a transformation system for Primula, which would be of value in studies on flower development and disease resistance in laboratory grown plants