Seed micromorphology of central European Orobanche and Phelipanche (Orobanchaceae) in relation to preferred hosts and systematic implications

2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renata Piwowarczyk

Holoparasitic genera within family Orobanchaceae are characterised by greatly reduced vegetative organs; therefore, seed micromorphology has proved to be a useful complementary taxonomic criterion. Seeds of 160 samples from 54 localities of 26 taxa of the Orobanche and Phelipanche genera occurring in central Europe, specifically from Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria and Slovakia, supplemented by samples from Spain, France and Ukraine, were investigated using scanning electron microscopy. Thirteen quantitative or qualitative morphological characters of seeds were analysed. The following three types of periclinal wall sculpture of seeds were identified: veined and fibrillar in Phelipanche; with oval or elliptic perforations (pitted) in almost all species of Orobanche; with outer periclinal wall smooth, granular or rugged (very rarely visibly pitted), impeding vision of the inner one, occurring only in O. gracilis Sm. and O. coerulescens Stephan in Willd. The influence of different hosts on the features of seeds of eight species is also presented, as well as relationships between seed morphology and taxonomic classification, including problematic taxa. The best diagnostic features include type of ornamentation of the periclinal wall, perforation diameter (in pitted sculpture), fibrillar diameter (in fibrillar sculpture) and width of anticlinal walls. Size and shape of the seeds and cells and the presence of median troughs are variable; however, these features can be helpful when using larger samples. The usefulness of micromorphological studies on seeds of Orobanche and Phelipanche is demonstrated.

Biologia ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 63 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leszek Bednorz ◽  
Aneta Czarna

AbstractThe paper presents the results of the study on seed morphology of four following Ornithogalum species: O. boucheanum Asch., O. nutans L., O. pyrenaicum L., and O. umbellatum L. Several macro-and micro-morphological characters were observed using stereoscope and scanning electron microscope. Differences were found especially in micromorphological characters of the seed surface, the shape of raphe and micropylar pole. These characters can be used as an additional taxonomic criterion at specific level for this genus. Only the seeds of O. boucheanum and O. nutans — two closely related and morphologically very similar species are practically undistinguished.


Phytotaxa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 432 (3) ◽  
pp. 223-251
Author(s):  
RENATA PIWOWARCZYK ◽  
KAROLINA RURAŻ ◽  
YULIYA KRASYLENKO ◽  
JUSTYNA KASIŃSKA ◽  
ÓSCAR SÁNCHEZ PEDRAJA

Obligate parasitic plant species from the Orobanchaceae family belong to the most critical genera of world flora. Due to their strongly reduced vegetative organ architecture, there arise many difficulties and mistakes in species identification, and extra characteristics of systematic importance are required. Seed micromorphology is a highly informative taxonomic criterion that helps to resolve ambiguities in plant taxonomy and evolution, and has proved to be a valuable complementary tool for Orobanchaceae species identification. In this study, seeds of 43 holoparasitic species from the Cistanche, Diphelypaea, Orobanche and Phelipanche genera collected in the Caucasus were subjected to micromorphological analysis. The Caucasus is one of the most important centres of world biodiversity, with many endangered and endemic parasitic plants. Twenty two quantitative/qualitative micromorphological seed parameters were analysed using stereo ZOOM, confocal scanning laser (CLSM) and scanning electron (SEM) microscopy. Three types of seed were established based on periclinal wall ornamentation: 1) clearly pitted sculpturing in all Cistanche, Diphelypaea, and most Orobanche seeds; 2) fibrillar and veined sculpturing in Phelipanche seeds; and 3) smooth, granular or rugged (very rarely visibly pitted) outer periclinal wall in O. coerulescens and O. colorata seeds. However, CLSM, used in present studies for Orobanchaceae seeds for the first time, revealed more details of wall lignification and ornamentation invisible in SEM images. The best micromorphological characteristics for species identification are the type of ornamentation of the periclinal wall, the width of anticlinal wall, the character of perforation, perforation length and width, the fibrillar character, and fibrillar and vein width. A comparison of the main characteristics distinguishing the seeds of Orobanchaceae is also presented and discussed.


Author(s):  
Tetiana Fedorchak

The author investigates political radicalism in the Czech Republic, a rather heterogeneous current considering the structure of participants: from political parties to the extremist organizations. The peculiarity of the Czech party system is the existence, along with typical radical parties, of other non-radical parties whose representatives support xenophobic, nationalist and anti-Islamic statements. This is primarily the Civil Democratic Party, known for its critical attitude towards European integration, and the Communist party of the Czech Republic and Moravia, which opposes Czech membership in NATO and the EU. Among the Czech politicians, who are close to radical views, analysts include the well-known for its anti-Islamic position of the Czech President M. Zeman and the leader of the movement ANO, billionaire A. Babich. Voters vote for them not because their economic or social programs are particularly attractive to the electorate, but because of dissatisfaction with the economic situation in the state. Almost all right populist parties oppose European integration, interpreting it as an anti-national project run by an elite distorted by a deficit of democracy and corruption. Keywords: Czech Republic, right-wing radical political parties, European integration, nationalism.


Author(s):  
Zdeněk Laštůvka ◽  
Aleš Laštůvka

Synanthedon mesiaeformis (Herrich-Schäffer, 1846) has been found in the Czech Republic and in Spain for the first time. The species was found in the south-easternmost part of the Czech Republic, near the town of Břeclav (faunistic quadrat 7267) in May 2008. The holes and pupae were found only in one, solitary growing group of trees about 20 years old. This finding place lies at a distance of more than 250 km from the localities in SW Hungary and about 550 km from the localities in eastern Poland. In June 2008, the species was found also in alders growing in the flat river alluvium on gravel sands between La Jonquera and Figueres in northern Catalonia. This locality is in a close contact with the fin­ding places near Perpignan and Beziers in southern France. The diagnostic morphological characters and bionomics of this species are briefly summarized and figured. The history of its distribution research is recapitulated and the causes of its disjunct range are discussed as follows. The present disjunct range represents a residual of the former distribution over the warmer and moister postglacial period; landscape modifications and elimination of solitary alder trees as „weeds“ from the 18th up to the mid-20th century in large areas of Europe; narrow and partly unknown habitat requirements and specific population ethology; an insufficient level of faunistic investigations in several parts of sou­thern and eastern Europe.


2014 ◽  
Vol 67 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 275-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorota Wrońska-Pilarek

This paper presents results of studies on pollen morphology of 6 Polish species of the genus Ribes L. (family Grossulariaceae). Observations were carried out with LM and SEM. Pollen diagnoses were illustrated by series of microphotographs. Grains of examined species are small to medium-sized and prolate spheroidal or subprolate in shape, rarely prolate. They represent three pollen classes: zonocolporate, pantoaperturate and pantoporate. Three types of ectoapertures have been observed: colpi, pori and colpoids. Endoapertures are pori, in number (4-) 6-7-8 (-14) per grain. Ornamentation is psilate or fossulate, with the exception of the ectoaperture areas, which are granulate. According to the author, the polarity or apolarity, type of pollen class and ectoaperture, number of endopori and ratio of exine thickness to grain diameter are the main diagnostic features of the pollen grains of the native species of Ribes. The key to Polish species, basing on the morphological characters of grains is given too.


2011 ◽  
Vol 73 (4) ◽  
pp. 293-300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irmina Maciejewska-Rutkowska ◽  
Leszek Bednorz

This paper presents the results of the study on seed morphology of five Polish species of the genus <em>Sorbus</em> L. (<em>S. aria</em> (L.) Crantz, <em>S. aucuparia</em> L. Emend. Hedl., <em>S. chamaemespilus</em> (L.) Crantz, <em>S. intermedia</em> (Ehrh.) Pers. and <em>S. torminalis</em> (L.) Crantz). Observations and measurements were carried out with stereoscope and scanning microscopes. Four types of seed microsculpture were distinguished on the ground of SEM observations. The key to determine Polish species, based on morphological characters of seeds is given too.


2021 ◽  
Vol 912 (1) ◽  
pp. 012103
Author(s):  
Elimasni ◽  
R A Nasution

Abstract Abstrak. Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica Lindl.) is a flowering plant that belongs to the Rosacea family. The loquat has many health benefits. Cultivation and information about loquat plants in Indonesia are still limited, so they are rarely found and known by the public. Limited information and data regarding loquat plants is also an obstacle to the development of loquat plants. Research on loquat plants aims to analyze the morphological characters in three districts, namely, Karo, Dairi, and Simalungun districts. This research was conducted using a descriptive method. The analysis of the morphological characteristics of loquat plants using morphological data scoring into binary data. The similarity between individuals was analyzed using clusters with the NTSYS program version 2.0 with the UPGMA method of the SimQual function. Morphological Observation Results Loquat plants (Eriobotrya japonica Lindl.) in Karo, Dairi, and Simalungun Districts have uniform characters in the morphology of stems, leaves, and flowers. However, the observed fruit and seed morphology showed different characters. Different characters exist in the shape of the fruit and seeds. The morphological similarity level of loquat plants was grouped at a similarity coefficient value of 95%. Clusters I and II have the highest similarity with a coefficient value of 100%. Cluster III has the lowest similarity with a coefficient value of 97%.


Phytotaxa ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 92 (2) ◽  
pp. 25
Author(s):  
XIAO-FENG JIN ◽  
BING-YANG DING ◽  
YING-YING ZHOU ◽  
SHUI-HU JIN ◽  
WANG-WEI YANG

In this paper, we present a revision of the Rhododenron taipaoense complex, including R. taipaoense and eight other named species, based on literature survey, field collections and observations, inspection of herbarium specimens, statistical analysis of morphological characters, and SEM observation of seed shape and testa. We evaluated all characters that have previously been used to diagnose these species: indumentum of young shoots and abaxial surfaces of leaves; filament dimensions; style base; leaf color, size, and apex shape; flower number per inflorescence; corolla length; and length of the stamen and pistil. Cluster analysis of 146 individuals showed that individuals from different populations are interdigitated, irrespective of traditional taxonomic limits. Analysis of morphological data using principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) likewise shows a continual gradation between populations, rather than disjunctures between named species. Consequently, only one species is recognized in the present paper, and R. apricum, R. falcinellum (R. apricum var. falcinellum), R. florulentum, R. hepticum, R. piceum, R. rufulum, R. spadiceum, and R. rufoindumentum (nom. nud.) are all reduced to synonyms of R. taipaoense.


2020 ◽  
pp. 359-388
Author(s):  
Spyros Sfenthourakis ◽  
Alan A. Myers ◽  
Stefano Taiti ◽  
James K. Lowry

Among crustaceans, only Amphipoda, Isopoda, and Decapoda have invaded truly terrestrial environments, but only two groups show full adaptations to live on land: the family Talitridae among the Amphipoda and the suborder Oniscidea among the Isopoda. The Talitridae occur primarily in forest leaf litter, but a number of other habitats, including caves, are recorded. Talitrids are important ecological contributors to the litter fauna, often occurring in high densities. Their adaptations to a terrestrial way of life include the retention of the mitten-shaped second gnathopods, a neotenic condition among males; the first article of antenna 2 greatly enlarged and fixed to the side of the head; and enlarged gills and pleopods often reduced, sometimes to vestigial stumps. Talitrids have a skewed world distribution being at their most diverse in New Zealand, Tasmania, and Japan/Taiwan. They occur in the Caribbean and Central America but are absent from South and North America except as introduced taxa. Their distribution is largely a result of tectonic activity during the past 150 million years and of extinctions during the Tertiary due to increasing aridity of the climate. The Oniscidea (terrestrial isopods) are the only crustaceans that have managed to adapt to almost all habitat types on land and have become the most species-rich suborder of Isopoda. Although monophyly of the Oniscidea is generally accepted, current taxonomy, based almost entirely on morphological characters, needs extensive revision. Terrestrial isopods present a number of unique adaptations to life on land, some of which result from what can be considered as pre-adaptations of ancestral marine isopods, such as egg development in a marsupium, being dorso-ventrally oblate and having a pleopodal respiration. Other crucial adaptations of Oniscidea include the water-conducting system, the structure of their cuticle, and the “covered” type of pleopodal lungs, all of which are responses to the acute problem of desiccation. They are also among the most speciose taxa in caves, some species have even returned to an aquatic life, and a few species have evolved social behavior. Oniscidea are increasingly being used in biogeographical, phylogeographical, ecological, and evolutionary research and can become model organisms for a broad range of biological studies.


Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4657 (1) ◽  
pp. 177-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
MICHAL MOTYKA

Almost all net-winged beetles are members of Müllerian complexes and their similarity due to phenotypic coevolution sometimes complicates species identification and generic placement. Therefore, large specimen series, detailed exhaustive examination of morphological characters and molecular data are needed to clarify the taxonomic placement. Using mitochondrial DNA sequences, I investigated the sexual dimorphism and generic placement of the recently described species Calochromus pardus Kazantsev, 2018. I found that the species does not belong in Calochromus Guérin-Méneville, 1833 and all morphological characters and molecular analyses point to its placement in Micronychus Motschulsky, 1861. Therefore, Micronychus pardus (Kazantsev, 2018), comb. nov. is proposed. Additionally, the male is described here for the first time showing the sexual dimorphism in the species. Unlike the females, the males do not superficially resemble members of Xylobanus Waterhouse, 1879 with bright coloured elytral costae and black background, but mimics the sympatrically occurring yellow and black lycids in the genus Cautires Waterhouse, 1879. 


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