Survey of leaf anatomy,especially secretory structures,of tribeCaesalpinieae (Leguminosae,Caesalpinioideae)

We studied leaflet anatomy, emphasizing secretory structures, from herbarium specimens of 128 species of 44 genera of tribeCaesalpinieae, using clearings, resin sections, and scanning electron microscopy. These observations, combined with those from our three earlier papers, provide a survey of 210 species representing all genera. Seventy-three species had secretory structures: 21 had glands or gland-like trichomes, 40 had living mesophyll idioblasts, and nine had cavities (three species each had two different types). Five additional species, all inCercidium (Caesalpinia group), had paired or clustered large spheroidal, thick-walled, empty cells (veinlet idioblasts) interconnected by perforation plate-like gaps. Secretory structures have systematic significance at various taxonomic levels.     

基于不同方法的毛茛族(毛茛科)导管穿孔板比较研究

导管分子的演化与植物的进化相关联.毛茛科是联系基部被子植物和核心真双子叶植物的关键类群,对其导管穿孔板的研究具有重要的系统学意义.为研究毛茛科毛茛族不同属植物导管穿孔板类型及其与环境的相关性,该文利用新的扫描电子显微镜和半薄切片技术,对该族7属8种植物次生木质部导管状分子进行了比较观察.结果表明:木质部管状分子以单穿孔...     

The taxonomic utility of micromorphology in Lepidaploa (Vernonieae: Asteraceae)

Lepidaploa belongs to tribe Vernonieae, one of the most complex tribes of Asteraceae, and the relationships within Lepidaploa and among related genera are poorly understood. Microcharacters may be of taxonomic value and may be used in the identification of taxa at different ranks. To evaluate the reliability of microcharacters as taxonomic markers in this group, we analysed the micromorphology of phyllaries, florets and cypselae in detail in 23 species of Lepidaploa .The species were studied using stereo, light, and scanning electron microscopy. Eight trichome types (eglandular and glandular) were observed on phyllaries, florets and cypselae, in addition to crystals, idioblasts and other microstructures. The results demonstrates that the ocurrence of different combinations of trichome types and crystals, presence of a stylar basal node, idioblasts and glandular apical anther appendages are highly useful to differentiate between related species of Lepidaploa and a diagnostic key using these characters is presented. However, these characters are not of much use to distinguish between closely related genera of Vernonieae since most characters appear homeoplasic and are found in representatives of different genera.     

TYPES OF LATICIFERS AND CRYSTALS IN JATROPHA AND THEIR TAXONOMIC IMPLICATIONS

Anatomical examination of 37 species of Jatropha (Euphorbiaceae) has revealed the occurrence of two distinct types of laticifers—articulated, and nonarticulated—in addition to idioblasts that are irregularly shaped individual cells. With the notable exception of J. augustii Pax & K. Hoffm. (section Peltatae (Pax) Dehgan & Webster), these idioblasts occur in the two most advanced sections of the subgenus Curcas (Adans.) Pax, namely Loureira (Cav.) Muell. Arg. ex Pax and Mozinna (Ortega) Pax. The presence of two laticifer types and “idioblastic laticifers” in the genus, in association with the morphological reduction series found with evolutionary advancement are, therefore, significant in the delimitation of sections and subsections. Further evidence is presented by the occurrence of “chambered crystalliferous cells” in subgenus Curcas, but not in subgenus Jatropha (=Adenorhopium Griseb.). Reexamination of laticifers in other genera of the Euphorbiaceae is suggested as a possible means of alleviating the long-standing taxonomic dilemma of this large and morphologically diverse family.     

Idioblasts and other unusual internal foliar secretory structures in Scrophulariaceae

 Leaf samples of mostly herbarium specimens (237 species of 172 genera) were cleared. Internal secretory structures of large size or unusual shape were detected and observed. Selected samples were processed into resin and sectioned for light microscopy or prepared for scanning electron microscopy. Adding results from two earlier publications, our survey includes 365 species from 174 genera. Five types of internal secretory structure, mostly unknown previously in the traditional Scrophulariaceae, occur in only nine genera: 1) single-celled subepidermal idioblasts, empty at maturity, in Scrophularia and Verbascum (Lersten and Curtis 1997), 2) 2–16 (or more)-celled nodules, with fibrous contents, in mid-mesophyll strata of Graderia and Radamaea, 3) epithelium-lined oil cavities in Leucophyllum (Lersten and Beaman 1998) and Capraria, 4) Kranz-type enlarged bundle sheath in Anticharis, and 5) paraveinal mesophyll (PVM) in Picria and Bonnaya. Received April 24, 2000 Accepted October 27, 2000     

Pit membrane remnants in perforation plates of Hydrangeales with comments on pit membrane remnant occurrence, physiological significance and phylogenetic distribution in dicotyledons

Perforation plates from ten species of seven genera of Hydrangeales sensu Thorne were studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The presence of pit membranes in perforations ranges from abundant, as in Carpenteria and Hydrangea, to minimal, as in Deutzia, Escallonia and Philadelphus. Abnormally great pit membrane presence may result from the presence of secondary compounds that inhibit lysis, as in Quintinia serrata; such interference with the natural lysis process may or may not be evident from coarseness and irregularity of pit membrane surface and of threads composing the pit membrane remnants. The presence of pit membrane remnants in perforation plates is hypothesized to be a symplesiomorphy, found in a fraction of dicotyledons with scalariform perforation plates (but still in an appreciable number of species). Pit membrane remnant presence may represent incomplete lysis of primary wall material (cellulose microfibrils) in species that occupy highly mesic habitats, where such impedance in the conductive stream does not have an appreciable negative selective value. This physiological interpretation of pit membrane remnants in perforations is enhanced by the phylogenetic distribution as well as the strongly mesic ecological preferences of species that exemplify this phenomenon in dicotyledons at large. Families with pit membrane presence in perforations are scattered throughout phylogenetic trees, but they occur most often in basal branches of major clades (superorders) or as basal branches of orders within the major clades. Further study will doubtless reveal other families and genera in which this phenomenon occurs, although it is readily detected only with SEM. Phylogenetic stages in the disappearance of pit membrane remnants from perforation plates are described, ranging from intact pit membranes except for presence of pores of various sizes, to presence of membrane remnants only at lateral ends of perforations and in one or two perforations (arguably pits) at the transition between a perforation plate and subadjacent lateral wall pitting. Developmental study of the mechanism and timing of lysis of pit membranes in perforations, and assessment of the role of the conductive stream in their removal, are needed to enhance present understanding of vessel evolution. © 2004 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2004, 146 , 41–51.     

Paraveinal mesophyll: Review and survey of the subtribeErythrininae (Phaseoleae,Papilionoideae, Leguminosae)

Paraveinal mesophyll (PVM) is a distinctive anatomical feature of the leaf mesophyll of some plant taxa that may represent a specialized physiological compartment. A comprehensive review of the 42 published references that mention PVM or similar cell layers and a survey of 121 of the 272 species of all nine genera of thePhaseoleae subtribeErythrininae demonstrate that PVM is nearly exclusively found inLeguminosae. InLeguminosae, PVM is either rare or absent in subfamilyCaesalpinioideae, uncommon inMimosoideae, and extensively distributed amongPapilionoideae. In subtribeErythrininae, PVM is ubiquitous inErythrina, and occurs in four other genera. ThreeErythrininae genera (Apios, Mucuna, andCochlianthus) lack PVM. Unique chloroplast-poor, enlarged conical cells (pellucid palisade idioblasts) occur in 80 species ofErythrina but not in any other genus ofErythrininae.     

Evaluating the performance of multiple remote sensing indices to predict the spatial variability of ecosystem structure and functioning in Patagonian steppes

Assessing the spatial variability of ecosystem structure and functioning is an important step towards developing monitoring systems to detect changes in ecosystem attributes that could be linked to desertification processes in drylands. Methods based on ground-collected soil and plant indicators are being increasingly used for this aim, but they have limitations regarding the extent of the area that can be measured using them. Approaches based on remote sensing data can successfully assess large areas, but it is largely unknown how the different indices that can be derived from such data relate to ground-based indicators of ecosystem health. We tested whether we can predict ecosystem structure and functioning, as measured with a field methodology based on indicators of ecosystem functioning (the landscape function analysis, LFA), over a large area using spectral vegetation indices (VIs), and evaluated which VIs are the best predictors of these ecosystem attributes. For doing this, we assessed the relationship between vegetation attributes (cover and species richness), LFA indices (stability, infiltration and nutrient cycling) and nine VIs obtained from satellite images of the MODIS sensor in 194 sites located across the Patagonian steppe. We found that NDVI was the VI best predictor of ecosystem attributes. This VI showed a significant positive linear relationship with both vegetation basal cover (R² = 0.39) and plant species richness (R² = 0.31). NDVI was also significantly and linearly related to the infiltration and nutrient cycling indices (R² = 0.36 and 0.49, respectively), but the relationship with the stability index was weak (R² = 0.13). Our results indicate that VIs obtained from MODIS, and NDVI in particular, are a suitable tool for estimate the spatial variability of functional and structural ecosystem attributes in the Patagonian steppe at the regional scale.     

鹅掌楸属(木兰科)次生木质部导管穿孔板的比较研究

利用扫描电子显微镜对鹅掌楸属仅存的2个自然种鹅掌楸和北美鹅掌楸的次生木质部导管穿孔板特征进行了详细的研究。结果显示,鹅掌楸属的2个种均以梯状穿孔板为主,同时存在网状-梯状混合穿孔板。鹅掌楸和北美鹅掌楸的导管穿孔板具有明显差异:(1)鹅掌楸具网状穿孔板,而北美鹅掌楸没有观察到;(2)北美鹅掌楸具单穿孔板,而鹅掌楸在该实验中未发现;(3)北美鹅掌楸具有横隔较粗的梯状穿孔板且横隔数目较多;(4)鹅掌楸的导管穿孔板多数横隔较少;(5)北美鹅掌楸的穿孔板倾斜角度较大;(6)北美鹅掌楸具麻黄式穿孔板的存在,且有纹孔膜残留存在。研究认为,北美鹅掌楸导管分子穿孔板分化较鹅掌楸更为剧烈。     

Leaf anatomy ofDombeya andNesogordonia (Sterculiaceae), emphasizing epidermal and internal idioblasts

We studied leaf anatomy, using clearings, resin sections, and scanning electron microscopy, from mostly herbarium specimens of 123 species ofDombeya and 11 species ofNesogordonia (Sterculiaceae). Species were placed in seven idioblast categories, ranging from those without any to single and bicelled epidermal forms to multicelled nodules and single mesophyll idioblasts. Idioblast contents are possibly mucilaginous, but were not identified. In these two genera the range of foliar idioblast morphology surpasses that known previously for the entire family. Leaves are dorsiventral with mostly abaxial anomocytic stomata and typical palisade and spongy layers; paraveinal mesophyll is lacking. Miniature glandular (clavates, capitates) and nonglandular (mostly stellate) trichomes occur. Prismatic crystals predominate; epidermal prismatics and mesophyll druses are rare.     

THE TERMINAL IDIOBLASTS IN MAGNOLIACEOUS LEAVES

The idioblasts terminating the foliar veinlets were studied in 152 species of the following magnoliaccous genera: Alcimandra, Aromadendron, Elmerrillia, Kmeria, Liriodendron, Magnolia, Manglietia, Michelia, Paramichelia, and Talauma. In all genera, except Liriodendron, some of the veinlets in mature leaves terminate in enlarged, nonliving cells called tracheoidal elements. Only one wall-facet (rarely 2) in such elements is differentially thickened; this wall lies adjacent to a conventional tracheary element. Ultimate cells of other veinlets in the Magnoliaceae differentiate as thick-walled sclereids, conventional tracheids, clavate tracheids, reticulate-walled dilated tracheids, or secretory cells. The terminal elements differentiate relatively late during leaf enlargement. In the Magnoliaceae, foliar structure is frequently characteristic at the generic level, and in some cases at the species level.     

国产五味子科植物导管分子的比较解剖

对五味子科 2属 1 9种植物导管分子的结构进行了比较观察。结果表明 :2属均以具缘纹孔导管为主 ,少有梯纹和螺纹导管 ,南五味子属多数种还有梯孔纹导管 ;2属导管长度和宽度差异很小 ,长 /宽比值有差异 ;根据穿孔板的结构可分为 2种形式 :( 1 )单穿孔板 ,这类穿孔板较普遍存在 ;( 2 )梯形穿孔板 ,发现 2属中的红花五味子 (Schisandrarubriflora)、五味子 (S .chinensis)、翼梗五味子 (S .henryi)、铁箍散 (S .propinquavar.sinensis)和黑老虎 (Kadsuracoccinea) 5种植物的导管分子具有此类穿孔板。其中五味子属中的五味子导管分子只具有梯形穿孔板 ,无单穿孔板 ,但横条较少 ,多为 2～ 3条。     

Classification of Tree Species in Overstorey Canopy of Subtropical Forest Using QuickBird Images

This paper proposes a supervised classification scheme to identify 40 tree species (2 coniferous, 38 broadleaf) belonging to 22 families and 36 genera in high spatial resolution QuickBird multispectral images (HMS). Overall kappa coefficient (OKC) and species conditional kappa coefficients (SCKC) were used to evaluate classification performance in training samples and estimate accuracy and uncertainty in test samples. Baseline classification performance using HMS images and vegetation index (VI) images were evaluated with an OKC value of 0.58 and 0.48 respectively, but performance improved significantly (up to 0.99) when used in combination with an HMS spectral-spatial texture image (SpecTex). One of the 40 species had very high conditional kappa coefficient performance (SCKC ≥ 0.95) using 4-band HMS and 5-band VIs images, but, only five species had lower performance (0.68 ≤ SCKC ≤ 0.94) using the SpecTex images. When SpecTex images were combined with a Visible Atmospherically Resistant Index (VARI), there was a significant improvement in performance in the training samples. The same level of improvement could not be replicated in the test samples indicating that a high degree of uncertainty exists in species classification accuracy which may be due to individual tree crown density, leaf greenness (inter-canopy gaps), and noise in the background environment (intra-canopy gaps). These factors increase uncertainty in the spectral texture features and therefore represent potential problems when using pixel-based classification techniques for multi-species classification.     

Diatoms of Dindifelou fall (upper Basin of the Gambia River,Senegal): floristic inventory

The Dindifelou fall, located in south‐eastern Senegal, receives its water from discharging springs located in Dande plate‐land. These waters form, at the foot of the cliff, a pond that drains into the Thiokoye, a tributary of the Gambia River. The water quality of the pond and the stream is very good based on physicochemical analyses. Around the pond region, a microclimate characterized by a higher humidity and a lower temperature compared with the surrounding area is present. Diatoms study is carried out in different habitat types associated with this fall. The samples were taken by scraping the surface of rocks and rinsing fern leaves with sparkling water. Dande plate‐land is made of Upper Proterozoic sandstones whose gravity accumulations litter the bottom of the pond and the stream. This study allowed us to inventory 61 species and varieties of diatoms belonging to 28 genera. The most represented genera are Achnanthidium (ten species), Eunotia and Pinnularia (eight species each). Twelve species and varieties are reported for the first time in Senegambia including five of the genera Achnanthidium. The microflora is dominated by Achnantidium minutissimum and Achnanthidium catenatum, followed by Ulnaria ulna and various species of the genera Eunotia and Brachysira. Aerial habitats are more diversified here than the epilithic samples.     

Silicon-accumulating idioblasts in leaves of Cecropiaceae (Urticales)

A survey of the structure and mineral composition of leaf idioblasts in the Cecropiaceae was conducted. In all six genera of the family, idioblasts usually occur as trichomes or enlarged epidermal cells and nearly always accumulate Si, in marked contrast to the idioblasts of other members of the Urticales, which mostly possess cystoliths containing abundant Ca and Si. The horizontally elongate, mineralized structures ofPoikilospermum, reported formerly as “cystoliths” also contain mainly Si and little Ca. Six genera of Cecropiaceae share a common character in accumulating abundant Si in idioblasts of the leaf epidermis, while lacking cystoliths composed of abundant Ca and Si.     

Huia caspica gen. & comb. nov., a dinoflagellate species that recently crossed the marine‐freshwater boundary

The dinoflagellate subfamily Diplopsalidoideae encompasses 11 genera whose plate patterns show a large diversity. In a recently published molecular phylogeny (Liu et al. 2015) some of these genera (e.g. Diplopsalis, Diplopelta) are polyphyletic, suggesting that further subdivision of these genera is needed. Here we established the cyst‐theca relationship of Diplopsalis caspica by incubating cysts collected from the East China Sea. Cells of D. caspica display a plate formula of Po, X, 3′, 1a, 6″, 3c+t, ?4s, 5″′, 1″″, characterized by a small, parallelogrammic anterior intercalary plate (1a) located in the middle of the dorsal part of the epitheca. The cysts are spherical and smooth‐walled with a theropylic archeopyle. In addition, we obtained four large subunit ribosomal DNA (LSU rDNA) sequences from the germinated motile cells by single‐cell polymerase chain reaction. Strains of D. caspica from the marine environment of the East China Sea differ at 0–2 positions of LSU rDNA sequences from that of lacustrine strains from NE China. In the molecular phylogeny, D. caspica was close to Lebouraia pusilla but distant from D. lenticula, the type species of Diplopsalis. Our results support the systematic importance of plate 1a, and therefore D. caspica was transferred to a new genus, Huia. The conservative LSU rDNA sequences in H. caspica suggest that the marine‐freshwater transition occurred recently.     

Wood anatomy ofTrimeniaceae

Four collections of three species ofTrimenia and one collection ofPiptocalyx were studied; early-formed and later-formed wood was analyzed for oneTrimenia. Liquid-preserved material permitted analysis of mucilage and starch storage in wood ofT. neocaledonica andP. moorei. BecausePiptocalyx is scandent whereasTrimenia is arborescent, wood differences relative to evolution of a climbing habit could be examined.Piptocalyx contrasts withTrimenia in having wider vessels, more numerous per mm², resulting in a conductive area five times greater per unit area than that of theTrimenia woods averaged.Piptocalyx has appreciably fewer bars per perforation plate and thus much greater conductive area per perforation plate than have the species ofTrimenia. Rays inPiptocalyx are much taller and wider than those ofTrimenia. Wood ofTrimeniaceae is highly primitive in its scalariform perforation plates, scalariform lateral wall pitting on vessels, relatively long vessels elements, and heterocellular rays. Imperforate tracheary elements are septate nucleate fibertracheids (or even libriform fibers) rather than tracheids, but loss of borders on pits (and thus lowered conductive function of the imperforate tracheary elements) can be explained by the development of these elements into starchstoring cells. Some fiber-tracheids inT. neocaledonica are enlarged mucilagecontaining cells. Details of vessel structure inTrimeniaceae are similar to those ofMonimiaceae (s. s.), but similarity to some other lauralean (annonalean) families may be found: in mucilage presence,Trimeniaceae resembleLauraceae rather thanMonimiaceae. Wood ofTrimeniaceae may be regarded as highly mesomorphic, corresponding to the moist habitats in which all of the species occur.     

Protoperidinium tricingulatum sp. nov. (Dinophyceae), a new motile form of a round,brown, and spiny dinoflagellate cyst

A small, broadly ovoidal and heterotrophic dinoflagellate containing round, brownish, and spiny cyst was found in the water column of Huibertsplaat in the Wadden Sea off the coast of the Netherlands. This dinoflagellate had these conspicuous morphological characters: a five‐sided first apical plate (1′), only three cingular plates, and an extremely small first antapical plate. Based on these morphological features, Protoperidinium tricingulatum Kawami, vanWezel, Koeman et Matsuoka is described as a new species. The flagellar pore of P. tricingulatum is covered with a small fin, which rises from the left side of the right sulcal plate to the large V‐shaped posterior sulcal plate. This feature suggests that P. tricingulatum is assigned to the Abé's Monovela Group. The cyst stage of P. tricingulatum was positively linked to the vegetative stage by comparison of the ribosomal 5.8S rDNA, internal transcribed spacers (ITS1 and ITS2). Living cysts of P. tricingulatum are round, brownish, and covered with many slender spines bearing capitate or cauliforate distal ends. The cyst also possesses a theropylic archeopyle formed by a slit corresponding to parasutures between three apical and two apical intercaraly plates. These morphological characters indicate that this species is morphologically related to two dinoflagellate cyst‐genera Islandinium and Echinidinium.     

Can the morphology of the integumentary spicules be used to distinguish genera and species of phyllidiid nudibranchs (Porostomata: Phyllidiidae)?

Thirty-eight specimens belonging to four genera and 15 species of the nudibranch family Phyllidiidae were examined to investigate whether the morphology of their integumentary calcareous spicules and/or the occurrence of the spicules within the regions of the body could be used to distinguish genera and species. The spicules were studied separately from five regions of the body of each specimen—the foot, gills, mantle, dorsal pustules (or ridges in Reticulidia) and rhinophores. The mantle itself plus its pustules were found to possess the full complement of spicules in every individual. Four types of spicules were recorded overall—smooth diactines, centro-polytylote diactines, triactines and tetractines. Different regions of the body were found to possess different spicule types: (a) only smooth diactines in the gills, (b) both smooth diactines and triactines in the foot and (c) all of smooth diactines, centro-polytylote diactines and triactines in the mantle, dorsal pustules and the rhinophores. Among the genera, three types of spicules (smooth diactine, triactine, and tetractine) are present in Phyllidia, Phyllidiopsis and Reticulidia, but the form of the spicules is not diagnostic between these genera or between the constituent species. The fourth type of spicule (centro-polytylote diactine) is present exclusively in Phyllidiella, and is diagnostic for that genus. However, we failed to find any difference in spicule form, or composition, or location in the body between the three (closely related) species of Phyllidiella we investigated. Therefore, our key conclusion is that spicule morphology is an extremely important character to tell the genus Phyllidiella apart from all the other genera of the family, but it is not taxonomically informative at the level of species.