Karyological features of barley callus tissues culturedin vitro

Long-term callus cultures of two barley cultivars have been investigated at the cellular level. One slowly growing, root forming callus of the barley cv. Bulgarische Nackte consists of cells the majority of which contain the diploid chromosome number. Contrarily, a fast growing callus of the cv. Elgina having no regeneration potency at all, is highly polyploid and includes more than two thirds of aneuploid cells. Tn this callus strain, a great number of multinucleate cells has been found. Some problems are discussed with respect to the relationships between growth rate, karyological stability and regeneration capacity in long-term callus cultures of cereals.     

Phenology and roosting habits of the Central European grey long-eared bat Plecotus austriacus (Fischer 1829)

The authors monitored five maternity colonies of Plecotus austriacus to obtain data about phenology, roosting, and emergence behaviour. The bats occupied their roosts between April and October, with maximum colony sizes in August. Roosting sites in the attic’s roof ridge and temperatures of 20–25°C were favoured. Also considering the small colony (maximum 59) and cluster sizes (maximum 13 bats), P. austriacus behaved less thermophilic than other attic-dwelling species. During low temperatures, the bats chose small crevice-like roosting sites to compensate for that; during daytime, many bats remained hidden in crevices. Emergence began approximately 30 min after sunset; the bats used multiple, preferably crevice-like openings. P. austriacus left its summer roosts comparatively late; renovation works should, therefore, not start before November. For monitoring purposes, we recommend two to three emergence countings outside the attics in early August during warm weather, alongside two attic inspections 1–2 h before emergence for offspring monitoring.

     

Phylogenetic relationships among New World Scrophularia L. (Scrophulariaceae): new insights inferred from DNA sequence data

The genus Scrophularia L. (Scrophulariaceae) comprises 200?C300 species, of which approximately 19 are distributed in North America and the Greater Antilles. To investigate phylogenetic and biogeographic relationships of the New World species, two intergenic spacers (trnQ-rps16 and psbA-trnH) of chloroplast DNA and nuclear ribosomal ITS were sequenced. Phylogenetic analyses revealed three distinct New World clades that correspond to their geographical distribution and are corroborated by morphological characters. Phylogenetic inference indicates the eastern American S. marilandica L. as sister to all Antillean species; for colonization of the Caribbean archipelago, a late Miocene dispersal event from the North American mainland is assumed. There is evidence for a hybrid origin of the most widespread North American species, S. lanceolata Pursh. The results further suggest that S. nodosa L. is sister to all New World and three Japanese species of Scrophularia. The latter form an Eastern Asian?CEastern North American (EA-ENA) disjunction with six New World species. We propose an eastern Asian origin for the New World taxa of Scrophularia. Divergence times estimated using a relaxed molecular clock model suggest one or more Miocene migration events from eastern Asia to the New World via the Bering Land Bridge followed by diversification in North America.     

Against all odds: reconstructing the evolutionary history of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Scrophularia</Emphasis> (Scrophulariaceae) despite high levels of incongruence and reticulate evolution

The figwort genus Scrophularia (Scrophulariaceae), widespread across the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere, comprises about 250 species and is a taxonomically challenging lineage displaying large morphological and chromosomal diversity. Scrophularia has never been examined in a large-scale phylogenetic and biogeographic context and represents a useful model for studying evolutionary history in the context of reticulation. A comprehensively sampled phylogeny of Scrophularia was constructed, based on nuclear ribosomal (ITS) and plastid DNA sequences (trnQ-rps16 intergenic spacer, trnL-trnF region) of 147 species, using Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood approaches. Selected individuals were cloned. A combination of coding plastid indels and ITS intra-individual site polymorphisms, and applying Neighbor-Net and consensus network methods for adequate examination of within-dataset uncertainty as well as among-dataset incongruence, was used to disentangle phylogenetic relationships. Furthermore, divergence time estimation and ancestral area reconstruction were performed to infer the biogeographic history of the genus. The analyses reveal significant plastid-nuclear marker incongruence and considerable amounts of intra-individual nucleotide polymorphism in the ITS dataset. This is due to a combination of processes including reticulation and incomplete lineage sorting, possibly complicated by inter-array heterogeneity and pseudogenization in ITS in the presence of incomplete concerted evolution. Divergence time estimates indicate that Scrophularia originated during the Miocene in Southwestern Asia, its primary center of diversity. From there, the genus spread to Eastern Asia, the New World, Europe, Northern Africa, and other regions. Hybridization and polyploidy played a key role in the diversification history of Scrophularia, which was shaped by allopatric speciation in mountainous habitats during different climatic periods.