Potentialities of plants with underground storage organs in the Egyptian desert flora

1978 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. A. El-Ghonemy ◽  
A. Wallace ◽  
E. M. Romney ◽  
S. Dowaidar ◽  
A. El-Gazzar
Keyword(s):  
Underground Storage ◽  
Storage Organs ◽  
Egyptian Desert ◽  
Desert Flora

An overview on therapeutic potential of Iris Persica

2020 ◽  
Vol 06 ◽  
Author(s):  
Faiq H. S. Hussain ◽  
Hawraz Ibrahim M. Amin ◽  
Dinesh kumar Patel ◽  
Omji Porwal
Keyword(s):  
Therapeutic Potential ◽  
Biological Activities ◽  
Folk Medicine ◽  
Underground Storage ◽  
Kurdistan Region ◽  
Traditional Medicines ◽  
The Family ◽  
Storage Organs ◽  
Radical Generation ◽  
Perennial Herbs

: The family Iridaceae contains 92 genera and more than 1800 species, mostly perennial herbs with underground storage organs called rhizomes (bulbs). Some genera are important in traditional medicines, especially Iris and Gladiolus. The genus Iris belongs to this family and comprises about hundreds species among them, 12 species are found in Iraq. It has been widely used various medicines worldwide especially Iris persica is used in folk medicine in the Kurdistan region of Iraq as an effective treatment against tumours, antibacterial, antifungal and treating inflammation. Earlier finding confirmed that Iris persica and its constituents play role in the scavenging of free radical generation and prevention of disease pathogenesis. Each part of the Iris persica herb has some medicinal property. This review gives a eagle eye view mainly on the biological activities of the Iris persica and some of their compounds isolated, pharmacological actions of the Iris persica extracts and products, and plausible medicinal and therapeutically applications.

scholarly journals Ethylene Production by Slices of Green Banana Fruit and Potato Tuber Tissue During The Development of Induced Respiration

1969 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 489 ◽  
Author(s):  
WB Mcglasson
Keyword(s):  
Ethylene Production ◽  
Plant Tissues ◽  
Underground Storage ◽  
Banana Fruit ◽  
Physiological Changes ◽  
Tissue Slices ◽  
Tuber Tissue ◽  
Plant Parts ◽  
Storage Organs ◽  
Green Banana

It is well known that injury and infection by disease organisms may stimulate ethylene production by plant tissues (Williamson 1950; Burg 1962; McGlasson and Pratt 1964). The increased ethylene production which results from injury in fruit tissues may hasten the onset of a respiratory climacteric. This response, which has been observed in slices cut from three-quarter-grown cantaloupe fruit, may herald the commencement of physiological changes leading to natural ripening (McGlasson and Pratt 1964). However, in underground storage tissues, stimulated ethylene production may be concerned with the mechanisms of wound healing (Stahmann, Clare, and Woodbury 1966; Imaseki, Uchiyama, and Uritani 1968). The phenomenon of induced respiration in tissue slices of bulky underground storage organs has been known for many years (Laties 1967) and more recently it has been found to occur in sections or slices of other plant parts (ap Rees 1966). Palmer and McGlasson (1969) observed a similar rise in slices of green banana fruit which they considered to be a form of "induced" respiration.

Inulin contents and tissue distribution in underground storage organs of Asteraceae species from the Brazilian rocky fields

Botany ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 92 (11) ◽  
pp. 827-836 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emanuela de Oliveira Joaquim ◽  
Rita de Cássia Leone Figueiredo-Ribeiro ◽  
Adriana Hissae Hayashi ◽  
Maria Angela Machado de Carvalho
Keyword(s):  
Tissue Distribution ◽  
Polarized Light ◽  
Dry Mass ◽  
Soluble Carbohydrates ◽  
Underground Storage ◽  
Secretory Structures ◽  
Storage Organs ◽  
Response To Stress ◽  
Adverse Environmental Conditions ◽  
Survival Mechanisms

Geophytes are widespread in rocky fields, having evolved to survive adverse environmental conditions mainly because of their underground storage organs and reserve compounds. Among these compounds, carbohydrates have several functions other than as an energy source, including protection against drought and extreme temperatures. In this work, we analyzed the composition and tissue distribution of carbohydrates in the underground organs of four Asteraceae species from a preserved area of rocky fields in the Brazilian Cerrado. Soluble carbohydrates were quantified and analyzed by HPAEC–PAD, and starch was analyzed by an enzymatic assay. All species (Baccharis subdentata DC., Chresta curumbensis (Philipson) H.Rob., Lessingianthus floccosus (Gardner) H.Rob., and Strophopappus glomeratus (Gardner) R.Esteves) store long-chain inulin-type fructans. Among them, C. curumbensis presented the highest amount of soluble carbohydrates, comprising 25% of the reserve organ dry mass. Inulin sphero-crystals were visualized under polarized light, mainly in the vascular cylinder. Buds were found on the underground organs of B. subdentata and C. curumbensis, and secretory structures were identified in S. glomeratus, L. floccosus, and C. curumbensis. The occurrence of buds, secretory structures, and fructans in these organs is probably related to ecophysiological strategies used as defense and survival mechanisms in response to stress conditions, particularly drought and fire, that occur frequently in rocky fields.

Flexible feeding on cultivated underground storage organs by rainforest-dwelling chimpanzees at Bossou, West Africa

2010 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberley J. Hockings ◽  
James R. Anderson ◽  
Tetsuro Matsuzawa
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Underground Storage ◽  
Storage Organs

scholarly journals Foraging potential of underground storage organ plants in the southern Cape, South Africa

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elzanne Singels ◽  
Alastair J Potts ◽  
Karen J Esler ◽  
Richard M Cowling ◽  
Curtis W Marean ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Critical Role ◽  
Soil Surface ◽  
Middle Stone Age ◽  
Underground Storage ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Modern Humans ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Return Rates ◽  
Storage Organs ◽  
Minimal Effort

Underground storage organs (USOs) serve as a staple source of carbohydrates for many hunter-gatherer societies and they feature prominently in discussions of diets of early modern humans. While the way of life of hunter-gatherers in South Africa’s Cape is no longer in existence, there is extensive ethnographic, historical and archaeological evidence of hunter-gatherers’ use of such plants as foodstuffs. This is to be expected, given that the Cape supports the largest concentration of plants with USOs globally. The southern Cape is the location of several Middle Stone Age sites that are highly significant to research on the origins of behaviourally modern humans, and this provided the context for our research. Here we evaluate the foraging potential of USOs by identifying how abundant edible biomass is in a coastal setting of the southern Cape, how easily it is gathered, and how nutritious it is. We staged a range of foraging events to provide an indication of the potential return rates for selected USOs when a forager is likely to be naïve about foraging for them. Nearly all of the sites sampled (83%) contained edible USOs, and the edible biomass can be highly concentrated in space. The edible USO biomass fell within the range of biomass observed in areas supporting extant hunter-gatherer communities. The six USO species we assessed for nutritional content contained between 40-228 calories/100 g. They also grow near the soil surface, mostly in sandy soils, and were gathered with minimal effort. Some 50% of the foraging events conducted yielded enough calories to meet the daily requirements of a hunter-gatherer of small stature within 2 hours. Thus, we demonstrate that USOs are a readily available source of carbohydrates in the southern Cape landscape and that they likely played a critical role in providing food for early humans.

Manual skills for processing plant underground storage organs by wild bearded capuchins

2019 ◽  
Vol 170 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentina Truppa ◽  
Luca A. Marino ◽  
Patricia Izar ◽  
Dorothy M. Fragaszy ◽  
Elisabetta Visalberghi
Keyword(s):  
Processing Plant ◽  
Underground Storage ◽  
Storage Organs ◽  
Manual Skills

scholarly journals Unearthing modes of climatic adaptation in underground storage organs across Liliales

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carrie M. Tribble ◽  
Michael R May ◽  
Abigail Jackson-Gain ◽  
Rosana Zenil-Ferguson ◽  
Chelsea D. Specht ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Comparative Method ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Tissue Type ◽  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Underground Storage ◽  
Phylogenetic Comparative Method ◽  
Storage Organs ◽  
Ecological Patterns

The evolution of major innovations in life history strategies (how organisms gather and store energy and reproduce) is a primary theme of biodiversity research. In one remarkable example of a life history innovation, certain plants --- geophytes --- retreat underground using underground storage organs (USOs), and thus survive extended periods of unfavorable conditions. Geophytes have evolved multiple times independently across all major vascular plant lineages. Even within closely related lineages, however, geophytes show impressive variation in the morphological modifications (i.e. 'types' of USOs) that allow them to survive underground. With all this variation, it is unclear to what extent geophytes with different USO morphologies have converged in climatic niche, or have evolved distinct niches. To test this hypothesis, we extended existing phylogenetic comparative method approaches to test for links between hierarchical discrete traits and adaptation to environmental variation. We inferred a phylogeny of 621 species of Liliales and used the phylogeny and analysis pipeline to test the relationship between underground morphologies and different adaptive optima of climate seasonality. Contrary to expectation, plants with the same USO type do not share climatic niches more than expected by chance, with the exception of root morphology, where modified roots are associated with lower temperature seasonality. These findings suggest that root tubers may be adaptations to different climatic conditions than other types of USOs. Thus, the tissue type and developmental origin of the structure may influence the way it mediates ecological relationships and draws into question the appropriateness of ascribing broad ecological patterns uniformly across geophytes. This work provides a new framework for testing adaptive hypotheses and for linking ecological patterns across morphologically varying taxa.

The Implications of Morphology, Mechanics, and Microstructure of Teeth for Understanding Dietary Drivers in Human Evolution

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriele A. Macho
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Brain Development ◽  
Human Evolution ◽  
Competitive Exclusion ◽  
Underground Storage ◽  
Enamel Microstructure ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Habitat Differences ◽  
Storage Organs ◽  
Dietary Strategies

Hominins evolved in mosaic to open habitats that experienced seasonal and larger timescale fluctuations in resources. Yet they were able to thrive and to evolve large brains that require a constant supply of high-quality foods. Analyses of overall tooth morphology and enamel microstructure indicate that mid-Pliocene hominins broadened their dietary niches and incorporated increasing amounts of abrasive foods; they probably underwent a shift towards consumption of starch-rich foods, including underground storage organs (USOs). Starches are complex carbohydrates that can be converted into simple sugars, essential for brain development and maintenance. In unheated state, however, starches are abrasive and require lengthy chewing. This conceivably explains the evolution of hominins’ large, thick-enamelled and wear-resistant teeth, as well as their relatively robust cranial morphologies. Habitat differences and competitive exclusion probably account—in large part—for differences in dietary strategies among early hominins (e.g. East and South Africa) and, hence, cranio-dental morphologies.

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