Dos adiciones al complejo Jacea–Lepteranthus: adaptaciones paralelas en las enigmáticas especies Centaurea subtilis y C. exarata

Centaurea subtilis from south east Italy and C. exarata from south west Iberia were classified in the Acrolophus- Phalolepis group and therein in section Maculosae. A molecular survey based on ITS sequence data indicates that both species should rather be placed in the Jacea-Lepteranthus group instead. This placement is consistent with the chromosome number of the two species, which is x = 11 like the rest of species of the Jacea-Lepteranthus group, and differs from the x = 9 of the other taxa included in sect. Maculosae. These results confi rm previous suggestions on the unnaturality of sect. Maculosae. Centaurea exarata and C. subtilis are quite different from the other species of Jacea-Lepteranthus in some striking morphological characters, which we hypothesize to be the result of parallel adaptation to dryer climates. The lack of competitors for pollination might be a good explanation for the partial or even total loss of showy flowers in these two species.[es] Centaurea subtilis del sureste de Italia y C. exarata del suroeste de la Península Ibérica fueron clasificadas anteriormente en el grupo Acrolophus-Phalolepis y dentro de él en la sect. Maculosae. Una revisión molecular basada en secuencias de la región ITS indica que ambas deberían clasificarse en el grupo Jacea-Lepteranthus. Este cambio es coherente con el número cromosómico de las dos especies, que tienen x = 11 como el resto de las especies del grupo Jacea-Lepteranthus y no x = 9 como las especies del grupo Acrolophus-Phalolepis. Estos resultados confirman advertencias anteriores sobre el carácter artificial de la sect. Maculosae. Centaurea exarata y C. subtilis son bastante diferentes de las otras especies de Jacea-Lepteranthus en algunos caracteres morfológicos importantes, resultado, según nuestra hipótesis, de adaptaciones a un clima más árido. La reducción o total pérdida de las flores estériles radiantes podría ser una adaptación a la falta de especies competidoras en la polinización. [ct] Centaurea subtilis del sud-est d’Itàlia i C. exarata del sud-oest de la Península Ibèrica han estat classificades en el grup Acrolophus-Phalolepis i, dins d’aquest grup, a la secció Maculosae. Una revisió molecular basada en seqüències de la regió ITS indica que ambdues espècies haurien de classificar-se en el grup Jacea-Lepteranthus. Aquest canvi és coherent amb el nombre cromosòmic de les dues espècies, que tenen x = 11 com la resta de les espècies del grup Jacea-Lepteranthus i no x = 9 com les espècies del grup Acrolophus-Phalolepis. Aquests resultats confi rmen advertències anteriors sobre el caràcter artificial de la sect. Maculosae. Centaurea exarata i C. subtilis són bastant diferents de les altres espècies de Jacea-Lepteranthus en alguns caràcters morfològics importants, degut, segons la nostra hipòtesi, a adaptacions a un clima més àrid. La reducció o la total pèrdua de les flors estèrils radiants podria ser una adaptació a la falta d’espècies competidores en la pol·linització

Notas taxonómicas y nomenclaturales en Centaurea: propuesta de clasificación, descripción de secciones y subsecciones nuevas, y lista de especies de una sección Centaurea redefinida

In this paper, we summarize the results of our long-date research on the genus Centaurea. The first part of the paper deals with the overall classification of the genus, which we propose to divide into three subgenera: subgenus Centaurea, subgenus Cyanus and subgenus Lopholoma. The second part of this publication gives a recopilation of the species of the redefined section Centaurea, a group that includes former sections Acrolophus (sect. Centaurea s. str.), Phalolepis and Willkommia, together with taxonomical, geographical, ecological and karyological considerations. Finally, new descriptions or nomenclatural combinations are proposed to correlate nomenclature to the new classification: a new combination (sect. Acrocentron subsect. Chamaecyanus) is proposed in subgenus Lopholoma; three new sections (sects. Akamantis, Cnicus, and Hyerapolitanae) are described in subgenus Centaurea; two subsections (subsects. Phalolepis and Willkommia) in sect. Centaurea; and three subsections (subsects. Exarata, Jacea, and Subtilis) in sect. Phrygia.En este trabajo presentamos los resultados de nuestras investigaciones de larga fecha en el género Centaurea. La primera parte del trabajo trata de la clasificación del género, que proponemos dividir en tres subgéneros: subgénero Centaurea, subgénero Cyanus y subgénero Lopholoma. La segunda parte es una recopilación de las especies de la redefinida sección Centaurea, que incluye las antiguas secciones Acrolophus (sect. Centaurea s. str.), Phalolepis y Willkommia, junto con consideraciones geográficas, ecológicas y cariológicas. Por último, proponemos nuevas secciones, subsecciones y combinaciones para correlacionar nomenclatura y clasificación: proponemos una nueva (sect. Acrocentron subsect. Chamaecyanus) en el subgénero Lopholoma; se describen tres secciones nuevas (sects. Akamantis, Cnicus y Hyerapolitanae) en el subgénero Centaurea; dos subsecciones (subsects. Phalolepis and Willkommia) en la sección Centaurea; y tres subsecciones (subsects. Exarata, Jacea y Subtilis) en la sección Phrygia

Phylogenetic studies in Gnaphalieae (Compositae): The genera Phagnalon Cass. and Aliella Qaiser & Lack

130 p., tablas, mapas, fot. -- Se corresponde con el capítulo 7 del libro Recent Advances in Pharmaceutical Sciences IIIThe precise generic delimitation of Aliella and Phagnalon, and their closest relatives within the Gnaphalieae are discussed in this review. Among the main results obtained, we have found that the genera Aliella and Phagnalon are nested within the “Relhania clade” and Anisothrix, Athrixia and Pentatrichia are their closest relatives. Macowania is also part of the “Relhania clade”, whereas the subtribal affinities of Philyrophyllum lie within the “crown radiation clade”. The monophyly of Aliella and Phagnalon is not supported statistically. In addition, Aliella appears to be paraphylethic in most of the analyses performed. The resulting phylogeny suggests an African origin for the ancestor of Aliella and Phagnalon and identifies three main clades within Phagnalon that constitute the following natural groups on a geographic basis: (1) the Irano-Turanian clade; (2) the Mediterranean-Macaronesian clade; and (3) the Yemen-Ethiopian clade. Some endemics to Yemen and Ethiopia appeared merged in the Mediterranean-Macaronesian clade, providing new evidence of the phytogeographical links between Macaronesia, Eastern Africa and Southern Arabia. Incongruities between the chloroplast and nuclear molecular data and the lack of resolution in some clades may indicate that hybridization could have played an important role in the evolution and diversification of both Phagnalon and Aliella.This work has been partly financed by the Spanish government (REN2002-04634-C05-01, CGL2004-04563-C02-01/BOS) and the Catalan government (“Ajuts a grups de recerca consolidats” 2009/SGR/00439).Peer reviewe

Phylogeography of western Mediterranean Cymbalaria (Plantaginaceae) reveals two independent long-distance dispersals and entails new taxonomic circumscriptions

The Balearic Islands, Corsica and Sardinia (BCS) constitute biodiversity hotspots in the western Mediterranean Basin. Oligocene connections and long distance dispersal events have been suggested to cause presence of BCS shared endemic species. One of them is Cymbalaria aequitriloba, which, together with three additional species, constitute a polyploid clade endemic to BCS. Combining amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) fingerprinting, plastid DNA sequences and morphometrics, we inferred the phylogeography of the group and evaluated the species' current taxonomic circumscriptions. Based on morphometric and AFLP data we propose a new circumscription for C. fragilis to additionally comprise a group of populations with intermediate morphological characters previously included in C. aequitriloba. Consequently, we suggest to change the IUCN category of C. fragilis from critically endangered (CR) to near threatened (NT). Both morphology and AFLP data support the current taxonomy of the single island endemics C. hepaticifolia and C. muelleri. The four species had a common origin in Corsica-Sardinia, and two long-distance dispersal events to the Balearic Islands were inferred. Finally, plastid DNA data suggest that interspecific gene flow took place where two species co-occur

Amplificación cruzada de microsatélites en el género Centaurea (Compositae).

11p. Fotog. en color. Tablas.[EN] Microsatellites are widely used for population genetic studies although the development of these species-specific markers is costly and time-consuming. One strategy for saving time and money is the use of markers developed for one species (source species) in a different species (target species). This is known as cross-amplification. In the present work, two sets of microsatellites are used to test their transferability to six narrow endemic Centaurea species: i) 16 nuclear loci previously published for three congeneric species and ii) 10 universal chloroplast markers designed from Nicotiana tabacum sequences. Seventeen of the 26 markers tested were transferable and 14 of them were also polymorphic and therefore useful for future works. Nuclear markers were more variable and thus more informative than chloroplast markers. Interspecific amplification performed better for the nuclear loci developed for different Centaurea species than for the universal chloroplast markers developed for Nicotiana tabacum. Likewise, transferability was more successful for the species from sect. Phalolepis than for sect. Lepteranthus. Therefore, our results support the idea that the success of the cross-amplification is influenced by the evolutionary distance between the target and the source species.[ES] Los microsatélites se usan habitualmente en estudios de genética de poblaciones aunque su desarrollo es un proceso caro y largo dada su elevada especificidad. Una estrategia que permite ahorrar tiempo y dinero es la llamada amplificación cruzada que consiste en amplificar el DNA de una especie determinada (especie objetivo) usando marcadores que han sido diseñados para una especie diferente (especie fuente). En este trabajo se ha realizado un ensayo sobre amplificación cruzada usando seis endemismos del género Centaurea y dos conjuntos de microsatélites: i) 16 marcadores nucleares desarrollados para tres especies congenéricas y ii) 10 marcadores cloroplásticos universales diseñados para Nicotiana tabacum. Diecisiete de los 26 marcadores evaluados resultaron transferibles, de los cuales 14 fueron polimórficos siendo así útiles para futuros trabajos. Las regiones nucleares se mostraron más variables y por lo tanto más informativas que las cloroplásticas. La amplificación cruzada funcionó mejor para los marcadores nucleares específicos de Centaurea que para los cloroplásticos universales específicos de Nicotiana tabacum. A su vez, se obtuvo mejor resultado para las especies de la sección Phalolepis que para las de la sección Lepteranthus. En consecuencia, nuestros resultados apoyan la idea de que el éxito de la amplificación cruzada está estrechamente ligado a la distancia evolutiva entre especie fuente y especie objetivo.Financial support from the Spanish MICINN (Project CGL2007-60781 and CGL2010/18631) and the Generalitat de Catalunya (Ajuts a Grups de Recerca Consolidats 2009/ SGR/00439-GREB) is gratefully acknowledged.Peer reviewe

ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF NOVEL MICROSATELLITE MARKERS FOR ARCTIUM MINUS (COMPOSITAE)

[EN] Premise of the study: Microsatellite primers were developed for the invasive plant Arctium minus to investigate the effects of facultative self-pollination and the biannual habit on population genetic structure, as well as the colonization of the Americas by this Eurasian species. Methods and Results: Sixteen di- and trinucleotide microsatellite loci were identifi ed in six populations. The number of alleles per locus ranged from one to 10, observed heterozygosities ranged from 0.000 to 0.897, and the mean value of F IS was 0.316. Conclusions: These results indicate the utility of these loci in future studies of population genetics in A. minus .Peer reviewe

Leaf micromorphology, antioxidative activity and a new record of 3-deoxyamphoricarpolide of relict and limestone endemic Amphoricarpos elegans Albov (Compositae) from Georgia

We examined for the first time the leaf micromorphology, phytochemistry and biological activity of the rare and stenoendemic Amphoricarpos elegans Albov (Compositae) from Georgia. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed the presence of glandular trichomes on the leaves, which appeared as glandular dots that are considered the main sites of biosynthesis and accumulation of sesquiterpene lactones. Using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy analyses, we identify and characterized 3-deoxyamphoricarpolide, a known sesquiterpene lactone for the genus Amphoricarpos Vis. Regarding chemotaxonomic significance, 3-deoxyamphoricarpolide represents a link between Balkan and Caucasian species of the genus. The antioxidative capacity of different leaf extracts, obtained using a Soxhlet extractor, was evaluated by two radical scavenging assays: DPPH 91,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) radical and the 2,2-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS), and ferric ion reducing antioxidant power (FRAP). The total phenolic and flavonoid contents were also determined. The highest antioxidative activity and the highest phenolic and flavonoid contents were detected in the methanol fraction, as a result of the contribution of not only phenols, but probably also lactones. The considerable antioxidative potential indicates possible applications in pharmacy and medicine

“Muntanyes i refugis”: investigadors de l’IBB publiquen un estudi genètic sobre endemismes de les muntanyes de Grècia

Noticia publicada en la web institucional del Instituto Botánico de Barcelona el 5 de noviembre de 2015 -- Disponibles PDFs en español y catalán y capturas de pantalla de la noticia en la web.Peer reviewe

Speciation and genetic diversity in Centaurea subsect. Phalolepis in Anatolia

14 p., mapas, tablasMountains of Anatolia are one of the main Mediterranean biodiversity hotspots and their richness in endemic species amounts for 30% of the flora. Two main factors may account for this high diversity: the complex orography and its role as refugia during past glaciations. We have investigated seven narrow endemics of Centaurea subsection Phalolepis from Anatolia by means of microsatellites and ecological niche modelling (ENM), in order to analyse genetic polymorphisms and getting insights into their speciation. Despite being narrow endemics, all the studied species show moderate to high SSR genetic diversity. Populations are genetically isolated, but exchange of genes probably occurred at glacial maxima (likely through the Anatolian mountain arches as suggested by the ENM). The lack of correlation between genetic clusters and (morpho) species is interpreted as a result of allopatric diversification on the basis of a shared gene pool. As suggested in a former study in Greece, post-glacial isolation in mountains would be the main driver of diversification in these plants; mountains of Anatolia would have acted as plant refugia, allowing the maintenance of high genetic diversity. Ancient gene flow between taxa that became sympatric during glaciations may also have contributed to the high levels of genetic diversity.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación [project CGL2010/18631] and Generalitat de Catalunya [Ajuts a Grups de Recerca Consolidats 2014-SGR514-GREB]Peer reviewe

First record of the alien pest Rhaponticum repens (Compositae) in the Iberian Peninsula

First record of the alien pest Rhaponticum repens (Compositae) in the Iberian Peninsula.- Rhaponticum repens is reported for the first time for the flora of the Iberian Peninsula. The species is native from Central Asia and has become invasive in Argentina, Canada, Europe and the USA. It was detected for the first time in abandoned fields from Vilablareix, near the city of Girona (Catalonia, Spain) and in the valley of the Vinalopó in Alicante (Valencia, Spain), where it was collected as early as in 1959 but misdentified. Molecular data, based on nrDNA region ITS, suggest that the reported populations may be closely related to plants from the United States. Due to the extremely noxious character of the species and the possible relationship of Spanish plants with the invasive American populations, some kind of monitoring is recommended.Rhaponticum repens (Compositae), una nueva planta alóctona para la Península Ibérica.- Se cita por primera vez la especie Rhaponticum repens para la flora de la Península Ibérica. Rhaponticum repens es una especie nativa de Asia central que actúa como invasora en diversos países como Argentina, Canadá o los Estados Unidos. Se ha encontrado por primera vez en campos de cultivo abandonados en el pueblo de Vilablareix, cerca de la ciudad de Girona (Cataluña, España) y en el valle del Vinalopó (Valencia, España), donde fue recolectada y mal identificada en 1959. Los datos moleculares, obtenidos a partir de la región ITS del nrDNA, sugieren que estas poblaciones podrían estar relacionadas con plantas invasoras de Estados Unidos. Debido al carácter extremadamente invasor de la especie, y a su posible origen secundario a partir de las poblaciones norteamericanas, se recomienda el seguimiento de estas poblacione