Background: Flowering plants (angiosperms) dominate most global ecosystems today, but their rapid Cretaceous diversi cation has remained poorly understood ever since Darwin referred to it as an 'abominable mystery'. Although numerous Cretaceous fossil owers have been discovered in recent years, most are represented by incomplete charcoali ed fragments that do not preserve delicate structures such as complete petals and surface textures, which means that their similarity to living forms is often di cult to discern. The scarcity of information about the ecology of early angiosperms makes it di cult to test hypotheses about the drivers of their diversi cation. Among other factors, frequent res in the Cretaceous have been postulated as having possibly facilitated the rise of angiosperms. However, to date no early fossil angiosperms displaying re-adapted traits have been known, making the role of re in shaping Cretaceous oras uncertain.Results: We report the discovery of two exquisitely preserved fossil ower species, one identical to the in orescences of the extant crown eudicot genus Phylica and the other recovered as a sister group to Phylica, both preserved as inclusions in Cretaceous amber from northern Myanmar (~99 Ma). These specialized ower structures, named Phylica piloburmensis sp. nov. and Eophylica priscastellata gen. et sp. nov., were adapted to surviving frequent wild res, providing the earliest evidence of re-resistance in angiosperms. The fossils suggest that re was a signi cant selective force in Cretaceous angiosperm oras and that adaptations to re resistance in some eudicot clades have been conserved for at least 99 Ma. This morphological stasis encompasses a range of oral characters, including the production of 'pseudo-owers', and characteristic fruit and pollen architecture. Given its morphological distinctiveness,
Phytoremediation techniques to clean heavy metal pollution soil depend on identifying plant species that can act as phytoremediators. One important approach to screening potential phytoremediators is to evaluate characteristics of heavy metal accumulation. In this study, we performed firsthand analysis of Cd tolerance and accumulation characteristics of three Sansevieria trifasciata cultivars by pot experiment. Plant growth results showed that all three S. trifasciata cultivars can tolerate 50 mg kg −1 soil Cd concentration. After growth under 50 mg kg −1 soil Cd concentration for 4 months, the Cd bioconcentration factors in the shoots of S. ‘Trifasciata’, S. trifasciata ‘Laurentii’, and S. trifasciata ‘Silver Hahnii’ were 1.26, 1.30, and 1.19, while those in the roots were 12.53, 11.43, and 5.45, respectively. This result reveals the considerably low translocation factors of 0.10, 0.12, and 0.22 for S. ‘Trifasciata’, S. trifasciata ‘Laurentii’, and S. trifasciata ‘Silver Hahnii’, respectively. These results suggest that all three S. trifasciata cultivars had high Cd absorption capacities but low Cd translocation capacities. In combination with total Cd accumulation distribution and plant growth characteristics, S. trifasciata can be designed as a phytostabilizer in Cd-contaminated soils in its cultivation regions. Meanwhile, the mechanism of high Cd tolerance and accumulation characteristics in the roots of S. trifasciata should be explored. This study provides new resources for dealing with Cd-contaminated soils and exploring Cd tolerance and accumulation mechanisms in plants.
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