Seed surface ultrastructure shows a wide variation among different species of the genus Allium that could potentially provide valuable characters in inferring the relationships. In order to evaluate inter-and intraspecific variation of testa microsculpturing in the leek alliance, 33 seed samples of Allium representing its two subgenera, six sections, and 23 species were studied. Seed testa surface was analyzed using both SEM and Stereomicroscopy. Minor differences in testa cell arrangement were observed between members of sect. Allium and sect. Avulsea (both of subg. Allium), but major contrasts were discerned between them and members of subg. Cepa.Significant similarity was distinguished in anticlinal walls of the members of sect. Allium and sect.Avulsea: they were variously undulated (U-, to AEΩ-like). Testa cells in members of subg. Cepa, and some of subg. Allium (sect. Caerulea, sect. Codonoprasum, and sect. Longivaginata) showed ribbed anticlinal walls suggesting a close relationship between them. The periclinal walls were concave, flat to convex with testa cells densely granulose at margins in sect. Caerulea; flat to convex, irregularly granulose-verrucose in sect. Codonoprasum; concave, densely granulose at margins and center in sect. Longivaginata; and convex, densely irregularly granulose, sometimes centrally verrucose in subg. Cepa. Irregularly polygonal cells were present in most species, but elongated polygonal cells in two species, A. iranicum and A. wendelboi (sect. Allium). We found significant micromorphological similarity in seed surface features between A. abbasii and A. fuscoviolaceum; A. esfandiarii and A. atroviolaceum; and A. longipapillatum and A. rotundum, corroborating close relationships. K E Y W O R D SIran, leek, micromorphology, taxonomy, testa sculpturing
Managers in conservation biology are continually faced with the dilemma of needing to demonstrate which areas should receive conservation priority based on the diversity of species contained. Darenasab (Hashtadpahloo) forest catchment with dominated oak species in Mediterranean forests of Zagross in Iran was chosen as a case study. In order to estimate plant species richness in different vegetation types at landscape level, field method that sample both trees and herbs strata simultaneously (modified multi-scale Whittaker plots) was used to make species-area curves. Twenty-one modified multi-scale Whittaker plots (250 m 2 area) were located randomly in four vegetation types. Three species-area, species-log (area) and log (species)-log (area) curves models were constructed. The log (species)-log (area) model had the highest adjusted r 2 among others. Based on Jaccard's coefficient, the pure oak vegetation type was the most heterogeneous (22% overlap), and the cushion plants vegetation type is the most homogeneous (29% overlap). The slope of species-area curves had the least range (0.05) and the slope of species-log (area) curves had the largest range (4.38). When the slopes of species-log (area) curves divided by mean Jaccard's coefficient, the species-log (area) curves estimated values closest to those observed. The index of vegetation types contribution to regional diversity for determining conservation priority in off-reserve area, based on ranking of the observed mean species per plots, slopes of the species-log (area) curves, mean of Jaccard's coefficient, mean unique species per plot, and the number of threatened species in each vegetation types were calculated. This composite index may provide a scientific method to rank vegetation types with high conservation value.
Peganum harmala is a valuable wild plant that grows and survives under adverse conditions and produces pharmaceutical alkaloid metabolites. Using different assemblers to develop a transcriptome improves the quality of assembled transcriptome. In this study, a concrete and accurate method for detecting stress-responsive transcripts by comparing stress-related gene ontology (GO) terms and public domains was designed. An integrated transcriptome for P. harmala including 42 656 coding sequences was created by merging de novo assembled transcriptomes. Around 35 000 transcripts were annotated with more than 90% resemblance to three closely related species of Citrus, which confirmed the robustness of the assembled transcriptome; 4853 stress-responsive transcripts were identified. CYP82 involved in alkaloid biosynthesis showed a higher number of transcripts in P. harmala than in other plants, indicating its diverse alkaloid biosynthesis attributes. Transcription factors (TFs) and regulatory elements with 3887 transcripts comprised 9% of the transcriptome. Among the TFs of the integrated transcriptome, cystein2/histidine2 (C2H2) and WD40 repeat families were the most abundant. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase) signaling map and the plant hormone signal transduction map showed the highest assigned genes to these pathways, suggesting their potential stress resistance. The P. harmala whole-transcriptome survey provides important resources and paves the way for functional and comparative genomic studies on this plant to discover stress-tolerance-related markers and response mechanisms in stress physiology, phytochemistry, ecology, biodiversity, and evolution. P. harmala can be a potential model for studying adverse environmental cues and metabolite biosynthesis and a major source for the production of various alkaloids.
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