A fossil species of the enigmatic early polypod fern genus Cystodium (Cystodiaceae) in Cretaceous amber from Myanmar

The monospecific fern genus Cystodium (Cystodiaceae;Polypodiales) occurs exclusively in the tropical forests of the Malay Archipelago, the Admiralty Islands, the Louisiade Archipelago, and the Solomon Islands. Divergence time estimates suggest that the genus originated in the Mesozoic;however, fossil evidence to validate this suggestion has been lacking. Amber from Myanmar (Burmese amber) is an important source of new information on the diversity of vascular cryptogams in the Cretaceous. This paper describes the fossil taxon Cystodium sorbifolioides nov. sp. based on a fragment of a fertile leaf preserved in Burmese amber that represents the first fossil evidence of the family Cystodiaceae. Cystodium sorbifolioides is used to obtain a minimum age estimate for the Cystodiaceae and the closely related, monogeneric Lonchitidaceae and Lindsaeaceae. The fossil strengthens the hypothesis that the forest ecosystems of Malesia and Melanesia represent refugia for many tropical plant lineages that originated in the Cretaceous

The phylogeny of yellow fever virus 17D vaccines

In recent years the safety of the yellow fever live vaccine 17D came under scrutiny. The focus was on serious adverse events after vaccinations that resemble a wild type infection with yellow fever and whose reasons are still not known. Also the exact mechanism of attenuation of the vaccine remains unknown to this day. In this context, the standards of safety and surveillance in vaccine production and administration have been discussed. Therein embodied was the demand for improved documentation of the derivation of the seed virus used for yellow fever vaccine production. So far, there was just a historical genealogy available that is based on source area and passage level. However, there is a need for a documentation based on molecular information to get better insights into the mechanisms of pathology. In this work we sequenced the whole genome of different passages of the YFV-17D strain used by Crucell Switzerland AG for vaccine production. Using all other publically available 17D full genome sequences we compared the sequence variance of all vaccine strains and oppose a phylogenetic tree based on full genome sequences to the historical genealogy

Historical biogeography of Melicope (Rutaceae) and its close relatives with a special emphasis on Pacific dispersals

The genus Melicope (Rutaceae) occurs on most Pacific archipelagos and is perfectly suited to study Pacific biogeography. The main goal was to infer the age, geographic origin and colonization patterns of Melicope and its relatives. We sequenced three nuclear and two plastid markers for 332 specimens that represent 164 species in 16 genera of Rutaceae. Phylogenetic reconstruction, molecular dating, ancestral area reconstruction and diversification analyses were carried out. The two main clades (Acronychia-Melicope and Euodia) originated in Australasia and their crown ages are dated to the Miocene. Diversification rates differed among the subclades and were lowest in the Euodia lineage and highest in the Hawaiian Melicope lineage. The Malagasy and Mascarene species form a clade, which split from its SE Asian relatives in the Pliocene/Pleistocene. At least eight colonizations to the Pacific islands occurred. The timing of all colonizations except for the Hawaiian group is congruent with age of the island ages. Australia, New Guinea and New Caledonia have been the source of colonizations into the Pacific islands in the Melicope clade. Melicope shows high dispersability and has colonized remote archipelagos such as the Austral and Marquesas Islands each twice. Colonization of islands of the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain likely predates the ages of the current main islands, and the initial colonization to Kaua'i occurred after the splitting of the Hawaiian lineage into two subclades. Wider ecological niches and adaptations to bird-dispersal likely account for the much higher species richness in the Acronychia-Melicope clade compared to the Euodia clade

Age and historical biogeography of the pantropically distributed Spathelioideae (Rutaceae, Sapindales)

Aim The family Rutaceae (rue family) is the largest within the eudicot order Sapindales and is distributed mainly in the tropical and subtropical regions of both the New World and the Old World, with a few genera in temperate zones. The main objective of this study is to present molecular dating and biogeographical analyses of the subfamily Spathelioideae, the earliest branching clade (which includes eight extant genera), to interpret the temporal and spatial origins of this group, ascertaining possible vicariant patterns and dispersal routes and inferring diversification rates through time. Location Pantropics. Methods A dataset comprising a complete taxon sampling at generic level (83.3% at species level) of Spathelioideae was used for a Bayesian molecular dating analysis (beast). Four fossil calibration points and an age constraint for Sapindales were applied. An ancestral area reconstruction analysis utilizing the dispersalextinctioncladogenesis model and diversification rate analyses was conducted. Results Dating analyses indicate that Rutaceae and Spathelioideae are probably of Late Cretaceous origin, after which Spathelioideae split into a Neotropical and a Palaeotropical lineage. The Palaeotropical taxa have their origin inferred in Africa, with postulated dispersal events to the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands, Madagascar and Southeast Asia. The lineages within Spathelioideae evolved at a relatively constant diversification rate. However, abrupt changes in diversification rates are inferred from the beginning of the Miocene and during the Pliocene/Pleistocene. Main conclusions The geographical origin of Spathelioideae probably lies in Africa. The existence of a Neotropical lineage may be the result of a dispersal event at a time in the Late Cretaceous when South America and Africa were still quite close to each other (assuming that our age estimates are close to the actual ages), or by Gondwanan vicariance (assuming that our age estimates provide minimal ages only). Separation of land masses caused by sea level changes during the Pliocene and Pleistocene may have been triggers for speciation in the Caribbean genus Spathelia.status: publishe

The botanical expedition of Hermann Wendland in Central America: a nomenclatural study and travel report.

The plant collections gathered by Hermann Wendland during an expedition to Central America in 1856 – 1857 are significant because of the high number of new species that were described from them. Many of Wendland’s specimens have been lost, misplaced or have incorrectly been assessed or overlooked in regards to their nomenclatural or typification status. Wendland’s Central American specimens in GOET have recently been collated as a group and digitized, thus making them available for wider study. About 1,280 herbarium specimens associated with Wendland’s expedition have been located in a number of herbaria. These represent about 540 distinct gatherings. Wendland’s travel outcomes are associated with the publication of 185 names. The first part of this work deals with the nomenclature of these names. Original material is found in 30 plant families in the following groups: Bryophytes (2 families), Lycophytes (1), Ferns (7), and Angiosperms (20). Of the 185 names associated with Wendland’s material, 50 names are represented by holotypes, and 67 lectotypes and 5 neotypes have been published by previous authors. Herein, 51 new lectotypes and 5 neotypes have been designated. Typification remains unresolved for 7 names. The second part of this work consists of an annotated English translation of Wendland’s expedition correspondence originally published in German in Hamburger Garten- und Blumenzeitung (1857). This translation provides information concerning the itinerary and the locations and dates of several of Wendland’s collections. Las herborizaciones de Hermann Wendland durante su expedición a América Central en 1856 – 57 son relevantes porque constituyeron la base para la descripción de un importante número de nuevas especies. Muchos de sus especímenes se han perdido, extraviado, o han sido evaluados de forma incorrecta en términos de nomenclatura y tipificación. No obstante, sus especímenes centroamericanos conservados en GOET han sido recientemente procesados y digitalizados, lo cual posibilita la realización de nuevos estudios. Se han localizado en diferentes herbarios alrededor de 1,280 especímenes procedentes de la expedición. Éstos representan unas 540 colecciones. Los materiales de la expedición de Wendland están asociados a la publicación de 185 names. La primera parte de este trabajo trata sobre la nomenclatura de dichos nombres. Existe material original en 30 familias de plantas correspondientes a briófitos (2 familias), licófitos (1), helechos (7) y angiospermas (20). De los 185 nombres asociados al material de Wendland, 50 están representados por holotipos, así como 67 lectotipos y 5 neotipos fueron publicados en trabajos anteriores. En la presenta contribución se designan 51 lectotipos y 5 neotipos. Asimismo, 7 nombres permanecen sin tipificar. En la segunda parte del trabajo se presenta una traducción anotada en inglés de la correspondencia de Wendland durante su expedición, originariamente publicada en alemán en Hamburger Garten- und Blumenzeitung (1857). La traducción brinda información de su itinerario, además de las localidades y fechas de algunas de sus colecciones

Phylogram of the 50% majority-rule consensus tree of the Bayesian analysis based on the ETS dataset.

<p>Posterior probability (PP) values of the Bayesian analysis and bootstrap values (BS) of the Garli analysis are displayed above the branches and unsupported nodes are marked with a hyphen (-). The voucher number is displayed after the species name for all taxa. The clade numbers refer to the clades from <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0136296#pone.0136296.g001" target="_blank">Fig 1</a>. <i>A</i> = <i>Acronychia</i>; <i>C</i> = <i>Comptonella</i>; <i>E</i> = <i>Euodia</i>; <i>M</i> = <i>Melicope</i>; <i>Ma</i> = <i>Maclurodendron</i>; <i>Me</i> = <i>Medicosma</i>; <i>T</i> = <i>Tetractomia</i>.</p

Voucher information and Genbank accession numbers for specimens used in the combined analyses.

<p>Herbarium acronyms are according to Index Herbariorum (<a href="http://sweetgum.nybg.org/ih/" target="_blank">http://sweetgum.nybg.org/ih/</a>). <i>A</i> = <i>Acronychia</i>; <i>C</i> = <i>Comptonella</i>; <i>E</i> = <i>Euodia</i>; <i>M</i> = <i>Melicope</i>; <i>Ma</i> = <i>Maclurodendron</i>; <i>Me</i> = <i>Medicosma</i>; <i>T</i> = <i>Tetractomia</i>. An asterisk (*) indicates sequences that were obtained in this study.</p

Fruit characters plotted on the 50% majority-rule consensus tree of the Bayesian analysis of the concatenated data set (Fig 1).

<p>The left tree contains the information about the fusion of carpels whereas the right tree shows the characters states for mesocarp texture. The voucher number is displayed after the species name for all taxa. Drawings by M. Appelhans (1–3) and Donald Fortesque (reprinted with permission from CSIRO). <i>A</i> = <i>Acronychia</i>; <i>C</i> = <i>Comptonella</i>; <i>E</i> = <i>Euodia</i>; <i>M</i> = <i>Melicope</i>; <i>Ma</i> = <i>Maclurodendron</i>; <i>Me</i> = <i>Medicosma</i>; <i>T</i> = <i>Tetractomia</i>.</p

Voucher information and Genbank accession numbers for specimens additionally used for the separate ETS and ITS analyses.

<p>Herbarium acronyms are according to Index Herbariorum (<a href="http://sweetgum.nybg.org/ih/" target="_blank">http://sweetgum.nybg.org/ih/</a>). <i>A</i> = <i>Acronychia</i>. An asterisk (*) indicates sequences that were obtained in this study.</p