Ready-to-use DNA extracted with a CTAB method adapted for herbarium specimens and mucilaginous plant tissue

This report summarizes major changes in previously published protocols for DNA extraction to improve the quality of DNA extracted from plants. Here, we highlight the critical modifications in the original protocols. The efficiency of these changes results in high-quality DNA ready to use in a variety of phytogenetically distant plant families, in particular species with mucopolysaccharides. The DNA obtained can be used without further purification in various molecular biology assays, including direct sequencing and AFLP and RAPD (random-amplified polymorphic DNA) analyses. The effectiveness of this method is proven by the amplification and sequencing of PCR products of up to 1 kb with DNA extracted from herbarium tissue ≥60 years old. This versatility is not usually found in DNA extraction protocols. In addition, this method is quick, adaptable to standard laboratories, and most important, safer and more cost-effective.     

紫堇属模式标本馆藏现状及分析

模式标本是发表新种的依据,对稳定物种学名至关重要。紫堇属(Corydalis DC.)隶属于罂粟科(Papaveraceae)荷包牡丹亚科(Fumarioideae)紫堇族(Corydaleae),是分类学研究的困难属之一。该研究首先基于《中国植物志》、Flora of China以及全球物种名录查询获得被认可的526个紫堇属物种,然后通过检索全球数字化植物标本数据库(JSTOR)、全球生物多样性信息网络数据库(GBIF)和中国数字植物标本馆(CVH)获得了其中395个物种1 894份模式标本,最后对获得的标本信息进行核实、整理和归纳,提取模式类型、馆藏地、采集人、模式产地和采集时间等关键信息进行统计分析。结果表明:紫堇属每个物种平均仅有约5份模式标本; 该属模式标本散落在全球80个标本馆中,其中超过85%为国外采集者采集。未来应当结合文献,加强对该属模式标本的信息考证和规范化整理。     

高校新型植物标本馆的建立与发展——以河南农业大学植物标本馆为例

高校标本馆作为重要的科普和教学实践基地,是连接大学与社会的桥梁,在提升高校社会影响力和加快高校发展中起着重要作用。目前,高校标本馆普遍存在经费少和缺乏管理等问题。如何立足高校现状,有效解决标本采集和标本数字化过程中耗时耗力的难题,建设具有地方特色的新型植物标本馆,是高校标本馆建设关注的焦点之一。该文以河南农业大学植物标本馆新馆建设为例,介绍了河南农业大学标本馆成立以来,充分发挥高校的人力资源优势,让学生通过实验课或野外实习积极参与新型植物标本馆的建设,基本实现了标本采集、制作、鉴定和数字化的同步进行。在这一过程中,既有效锻炼了学生能力,加深了学生对植物形态的认识,发挥了植物标本馆在教学、科学研究及科学普及中的积极作用,又极大地丰富了标本馆馆藏量,有效地促进了高校新型植物标本馆的发展。     

岭南大学植物标本室设于一九一六年

1916年,岭南学校在高鲁甫主持下成立农学部,并拟设立植物标本室,派学生赴菲律宾科学局梅尔处学习标本制作。不久后,请梅尔来广州,为之设立标本室。此为中国较早之植物标本室,对现代植物学在中国传播有积极作用。然而此段历史并不为学界所周知,该文依据史料,将其梳理呈现。     

中国植物采集先行者钟观光的采集考证

基于文献与标本的研究, 本文重新梳理和考证了中国植物采集先行者钟观光先生的采集历史。钟观光是我国第一个进行大规模植物标本采集的学者, 已知其最早的标本采自1912年(采集于北京), 最晚的是1933年(采集于浙江)。目前能够确定的钟观光采集的馆藏标本计10,228份, 其中大部分保存于北京大学生物系植物标本室(PEY, 4,584份)、中国科学院植物研究所植物标本馆(PE, 2,966份)和北京师范大学生命科学学院植物标本室(BNU, 2,032份), 共计9,582份, 约占钟观光馆藏标本总数的93.7%。英国皇家植物园邱园植物标本馆、爱丁堡植物园标本馆、美国哈佛大学植物标本馆等亦存有少量钟观光采集的标本(16份)。     

Prediction of Arctic plant phenological sensitivity to climate change from historical records

The pace of climate change in the Arctic is dramatic, with temperatures rising at a rate double the global average. The timing of flowering and fruiting (phenology) is often temperature dependent and tends to advance as the climate warms. Herbarium specimens, photographs, and field observations can provide historical phenology records and have been used, on a localised scale, to predict species’ phenological sensitivity to climate change. Conducting similar localised studies in the Canadian Arctic, however, poses a challenge where the collection of herbarium specimens, photographs, and field observations have been temporally and spatially sporadic. We used flowering and seed dispersal times of 23 Arctic species from herbarium specimens, photographs, and field observations collected from across the 2.1 million km² area of Nunavut, Canada, to determine (1) which monthly temperatures influence flowering and seed dispersal times; (2) species’ phenological sensitivity to temperature; and (3) whether flowering or seed dispersal times have advanced over the past 120 years. We tested this at different spatial scales and compared the sensitivity in different regions of Nunavut. Broadly speaking, this research serves as a proof of concept to assess whether phenology–climate change studies using historic data can be conducted at large spatial scales. Flowering times and seed dispersal time were most strongly correlated with June and July temperatures, respectively. Seed dispersal times have advanced at double the rate of flowering times over the past 120 years, reflecting greater late‐summer temperature rises in Nunavut. There is great diversity in the flowering time sensitivity to temperature of Arctic plant species, suggesting climate change implications for Arctic ecological communities, including altered community composition, competition, and pollinator interactions. Intraspecific temperature sensitivity and warming trends varied markedly across Nunavut and could result in greater changes in some parts of Nunavut than in others.     

Effectiveness of dry heat as a seed sterilisation technique: Implications for ex situ conservation

Seed-borne pathogens are a daily issue for ex situ collection managers who try to solve it using various chemicals more or less harmful to the staff and the plant material stored. The most common physical method for seed sterilisation is moist heat, in contrast to dry heat which is used much less frequently. Consequently, the efficiency of dry heat as disinfection method and the behaviour of seeds undergoing this treatment are currently poorly known, especially for wild species. In this study, seed viability was estimated by performing germination tests according to standard procedures. Germination tests were conducted on 13,200 seeds from 66 wild species of temperate regions belonging to 22 different families. Results indicate that dry seeds exposed to 60°C during 1hour were less infected by seed-borne pathogens in 14% of the cases, whereas no change has been registered in the other cases. For all 66 studied species, no decrease in germination percentage was detected after the heat treatment. Given its positive effect on infection control without affecting seed viability, dry heat treatment as proposed here opens opportunities for seed bank managers, but also for the disinfection of herbarium collections.     

Rapid genetic adaptation precedes the spread of an exotic plant species

Human activities have increasingly introduced plant species far outside their native ranges under environmental conditions that can strongly differ from those originally met. Therefore, before spreading, and potentially causing ecological and economical damage, non‐native species may rapidly evolve. Evidence of genetically based adaptation during the process of becoming invasive is very scant, however, which is due to the lack of knowledge regarding the historical genetic makeup of the introduced populations and the lack of genomic resources. Capitalizing on the availability of old non‐native herbarium specimens, we examined frequency shifts in genic SNPs of the Pyrenean Rocket (Sisymbrium austriacum subsp. chrysanthum), comparing the (i) native, (ii) currently spreading non‐native and (iii) historically introduced gene pool. Results show strong divergence in flowering time genes during the establishment phase, indicating that rapid genetic adaptation preceded the spread of this species and possibly assisted in overcoming environmental constraints.