Systematics of Vitaceae from the viewpoint of plastid rbcL DNA sequence data

A phylogenetic analysis of plastid rbcL DNA sequences for 20 species of Vitaceae s.l. (including Leeaceae) and eight outgroups from Dilleniaceae and Santalales is presented. Patterns of floral and vegetative morphology and ontogeny within the family are compared to the phylogenetic trees produced. Despite the limited sampling of large and variable genera, there is a good correspondence with hypothesized floral and vegetative ontogenetic trends, with Leea and Ampelopsis ancestral, Cissus and Ampelocissus intermediate and Vitis most derived. A clade containing Parthenocissus , Tetrastigma , Cyphostemma and Vitis is found in all shortest trees. Cyphostemma and Parthenocissus are shown to be closely related to Vitis , to which clade Tetrastigma and Cayratia comprise the sister clade. © 2002 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2002, 138 , 421–432.     

Glyoxal fixation: how it works and why it only occasionally needs antigen retrieval

Over the past 13 years, glyoxal has become the leading alternative to formaldehyde as a histological fixative because of its low inhalation risk, faster reaction rate and selective control over crosslinking. The latter attribute is especially important, because most of the difficulties relating to use of formaldehyde-fixed specimens for immunohistochemistry stem from its aggressive crosslinking behavior. With suitable catalysts or other reaction accelerators, glyoxal forms 2-carbon adducts with nearly all end groups in proteins and carbohydrates, leaving most of them unimpaired for subsequent immunohistochemical demonstration. Only arginine is seriously impaired by the formation of imidazoles, which is the basis for the well known arginine blockade method using glyoxal. A special glyoxal-specific antigen retrieval method using high pH and high temperature effectively reverses the blockade and restores immunoreactivity. Other methods for antigen retrieval are rarely beneficial and in most cases damage the specimen. Special stains work well, except silver methods for Helicobacter pylori. Routine hematoxylin and eosin preparations exhibit clarity and cellular detail rarely seen with formaldehyde.     

Accomplishments of the Trustees and laboratory staff of the Biological Stain Commission, 2002–2013

During the 12 years from 2002 to 2013, the Trustees and laboratory personnel of the Biological Stain Commission (BSC) can claim many accomplishments. These accomplishments are itemized under 11 categories: continuous publication of the official journal, Biotechnic & Histochemistry; production of four special issues of Biotechnic & Histochemistry devoted to specific dyes or stains; standardization of staining and dye purity; mechanisms of staining and prediction of dye behavior; publication of books or book chapters; effects of fixation and processing on staining; cancer research; immunohistochemistry; BSC Laboratory activities; miscellaneous publications; and administrative accomplishments.     

News from the Biological Stain Commission No. 15

In the 15^th issue of News from the Biological Stain Commission (BSC), under the heading of Regulatory affairs, the Biological Stain Commission’s International Affairs Committee presents information from the plenary meetings of the International Standards Organization ISO/TC 212 Clinical laboratory testing and in vitro diagnostic test systems held on August 22–24, 2012 in Berlin, Germany. An additional discussion of the use of food dyes in India also is included.     

Morphometric, AFLP and plastid microsatellite variation in populations of Scalesia divisa and S. incisa (Asteraceae) from the Galápagos Islands

Analysis of the stem vasculature of the American climbing palm Desmoncus reveals structural features differing significantly from the Old World rattan genus Calamus . Desmoncus has a more directly continuous vascular system but nevertheless shows a vessel distribution that makes for high hydraulic resistance in the axial xylem. Desmoncus is like Calamus in having a single very wide metaxylem vessel in each central axial bundle and is also without direct vascular contact between protoxylem and metaxylem tracheary elements. However, in Desmoncus the stem vascular bundle system resembles that in tree palms (as has been described in the model palm Rhapis excelsa ) in having a continuing axial bundle that branches from each outgoing leaf trace together with a large number of bridge connections between leaf traces and peripheral axial bundles. Resistance to axial water transport is, however, evident in the narrowness of the continuing metaxylem elements in the peripheral stem vascular region. Desmoncus has scalariform perforation plates with few thickening bars in the metaxylem vessels, unlike the simple perforation plates found in Calamus . Thus, Desmoncus shows only limited convergence in stem vascular architecture toward the extreme modifications found in Calamus . This is not unexpected since it is clear that the climbing habit evolved independently in the two genera.  © 2003 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2003, 142 , 243−254.