Assessment of the lateral petals parameters of the compressed signal at the inverse filter output under the conditions of uncertainty

The paper presents the results of the parameters assessment of the lateral petals of the compressed signal at the inversion filter output under the conditions of uncertainty, caused by the presence of zero values in the signal spectrum when using the methods of correction and limiting the signal spectrum or frequency spectrum. Assessment of the lateral petals parameters was made according to the radio of the main peak energy to the energy of the lateral petals and the level of maximum lateral petal.

Comparative floral and pollen morphology of some invasive and native impatiens species

To evaluate the hypothesis of competitive superiority of invasive species, we compared the invasive Impatiens parviflora DC. and I. Glandulifera royle, the naturalized I. Nevskii pobed. and the native I. Noli-tangere L. in the flowers’ morphometric characters at different phases of anthesis. The characters in which alien species have a competitive superiority over closely related I. Noli-tangere are revealed. Morphological variability was studied by morphometric observations of the following characters: bud: length and diameter; spurred sepal: length and width; spur: length and diameter; lateral sepal: length and width; largest petal: length and death; large lobe of lateral petal: length and width; small lobe of lateral petal: length and width; anther: length; stamen’s filament: length; calyptra: length and width; ovary: length and diameter; length of a style, length of a stigma. There is a tendency for alien Impatiens species of the earlier development of androecium and gynoecium: сaliptra is formed at the stage of uncolored bud, the pistil is differentiated in ovary, short style and stigma is formed at the stage of colored bud. No other flowers’ morphometric characters, representing competitive advantage of the invasive I. Glandulifera and I. Parviflora over the native I. Noli-tangere and naturalized I. Nevskii were identified.

Differential expression and functional analysis of two short-chain alcohol dehydrogenases/reductases in Hedychium coronarium

In this study, the full cDNA sequences of HcADH2 and HcADH3 were cloned from Hedychium coronarium. The amino acid sequences encoded by them contained three most conserved motifs of short-chain alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), namely NAD+ binding domain, TGxxx[AG]xG and active site YxxxK. The highest similarity between two genes and ADH from other plants was 70%. Phylogenetic analysis showed that they belonged to a member of the short-chain dehydrogenases/reductases 110C subfamily, but they were distinctly clustered in different clades. Real-time polymerase chain reaction analyses showed that HcADH2 was specifically expressed in bract, and it was expressed higher in no-scented Hedychium forrestii than other Hedychium species, but was undetectable in Hedychium coccineum. HcADH3 was expressed higher in the lateral petal of the flower than in other vegetative organs, and it was expressed the most in H. coronarium that is the most scented among Hedychium species, and its expression levels peaked at the half opening stage. HcADH2 and HcADH3 had almost no significant expression in leaves, but HcADH2 was expressed in response to external stimuli. The mechanical injury and methyl jasmonate (MeJA) treatment could induce expression of HcADH2 in leaves, whereas HcADH3 could have an induced expression only by MeJA. The recombinant HcADH3 protein, but not HcADH2, expressed in Escherichia coli-catalysed conversion of geraniol into citral. It was speculated that HcADH3 had an induced expression in vegetative organ of H. coronarium and took part in monoterpenoid biosynthesis in H. coronarium flowers, but the role of HcADH2 is relevant only for defensive reactions.

Floral development and vascularization help to explain merism evolution inPaepalanthus(Eriocaulaceae, Poales)

BackgroundFlowers in Eriocaulaceae, a monocot family that is highly diversified in Brazil, are generally trimerous, but dimerous flowers occur inPaepalanthusand a few other genera. The floral merism in an evolutionary context, however, is unclear.Paepalanthusencompasses significant morphological variation leading to a still unresolved infrageneric classification. Ontogenetic comparative studies of infrageneric groups inPaepalanthusand in Eriocaulaceae are lacking, albeit necessary to establish evolution of characters such as floral merism and their role as putative synapomorphies.MethodsWe studied the floral development and vascularization of eight species ofPaepalanthusthat belong to distinct clades in which dimery occurs, using light and scanning electron microscopies.ResultsFloral ontogeny in dimerousPaepalanthusshows lateral sepals emerging simultaneously and late-developing petals. The outer whorl of stamens is absent in all flowers examined here. The inner whorl of stamens becomes functional in staminate flowers and is reduced to staminodes in the pistillate ones. In pistillate flowers, vascular bundles reach the staminodes. Ovary vascularization shows ventral bundles in a commissural position reaching the synascidiate portion of the carpels. Three gynoecial patterns are described for the studied species: (1) gynoecium with a short style, two nectariferous branches and two long stigmatic branches, in most species; (2) gynoecium with a long style, two nectariferous branches and two short stigmatic branches, inP. echinoides; and (3) gynoecium with long style, absent nectariferous branches and two short stigmatic branches, inP. scleranthus.DiscussionFloral development of the studied species corroborates the hypothesis that the sepals of dimerous flowers ofPaepalanthuscorrespond to the lateral sepals of trimerous flowers. The position and vascularization of floral parts also show that, during dimery evolution inPaepalanthus, a flower sector comprising the adaxial median sepal, a lateral petal, a lateral stamen and the adaxial median carpel was lost. In the staminate flower, the outer whorl of staminodes, previously reported by different authors, is correctly described as the apical portion of the petals and the pistillodes are reinterpreted as carpellodes. The occurrence of fused stigmatic branches and protected nectariferous carpellodes substantiates a close relationship betweenP.sect.ConodiscusandP.subg.Thelxinoë. Free stigmatic branches and exposed carpellodes substantiate a close relationship betweenP. sect.Diphyomene,P. sect.EriocaulopsisandP. ser.Dimeri. Furthermore, the loss of nectariferous branches may have occurred later than the fusion of stigmatic branches in the clade that groupsP. subg.ThelxinoëandP. sect.Conodiscus.

On the taxonomic identity and lectotypification of Impatiens uncipetala C.B.Clarke ex Hook.f.

Impatiens yui S.H.Huang from NW Yunnan is treated as a synonym of I. uncipetala C.B.Clarke ex Hook.f., known from eastern Himalaya of Nepal, Sikkim, West Bengal and Arunachal Pradesh. The species epithet of the latter is misleading because observations of living specimens do not support the hook-like shape for the appendage of the upper lateral petal. The name I. uncipetala C.B.Clarke ex Hook.f. is lectotypified herewith.