Microbial transformation of polydatin and emodin-8-β-d-glucoside of Polygonum cuspidatum Sieb. et Zucc into resveratrol and emodin respectively by Rhizopus microsporus

Rhizopus microsporus isolated by our laboratory was able to transform polydatin into resveratrol and emodin-8-β-d-glucoside into emodin, respectively, through the fermentation of Polygonum cuspidatum Sieb. et Zucc. The fermentation products were separated and purified by H1020 resin and silica gel column chromatography. Thin layer chromatography (TLC) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) were used to identify the products and evaluate the transformation efficiency. A variety of parameters of submerged state fermentation, including the growth characteristics, the change of β-glucosidase activity and the amount of polydatin, resveratrol, emodin-8-β-d-glucoside, emodin, and the dissolved oxygen, were monitored simultaneously. The amount of resveratrol yielded increased dramatically from 0.04 g/l at the beginning to the maximum value of 0.34 g/l at 36 h of fermentation, and emodin was from 0.4 g/l to 0.65 g/l at 80 h. The transformation rate of glycosides reached 98% and the purity of both resveratrol and emodin was 95%.     

Applicability and limitations of optimal biomass allocation models: a test of two species from fertile and infertile habitats

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The practical applicability of optimal biomass allocation models is not clear. Plants may have constraints in the plasticity of their root : leaf ratio that prevent them from regulating their root : leaf ratio in the optimal manner predicted by the models. The aim of this study was to examine the applicability and limitations of optimal biomass allocation models and to test the assumption that regulation of the root : leaf ratio enables maximization of the relative growth rate (RGR). METHODS: Polygonum cuspidatum from an infertile habitat and Chenopodium album from a fertile habitat were grown under a range of nitrogen availabilities. The biomass allocation, leaf nitrogen concentration (LNC), RGR, net assimilation rate (NAR), and leaf area ratio (LAR) of each species were compared with optimal values determined using an optimal biomass allocation model. KEY RESULTS: The root : leaf ratio of C. album was smaller than the optimal ratio in the low-nitrogen treatment, while it was almost optimal in the high-nitrogen treatment. In contrast, the root : leaf ratio of P. cuspidatum was close to the optimum under both high- and low-nitrogen conditions. Owing to the optimal regulation of the root : leaf ratio, C. album in the high-nitrogen treatment and P. cuspidatum in both treatments had LNC and RGR (with its two components, NAR and LAR) close to their optima. However, in the low-nitrogen treatment, the suboptimal root : leaf ratio of C. album led to a smaller LNC than the optimum, which in turn resulted in a smaller NAR than the optimum and RGR than the theoretical maximum RGR. CONCLUSIONS: The applicability of optimal biomass allocation models is fairly high, although constraints in the plasticity of biomass allocation could prevent optimal regulation of the root : leaf ratio in some species. The assumption that regulation of the root : leaf ratio enables maximization of RGR was supported.     

Barriers to sexual reproduction in Polygonum viviparum: a comparative developmental analysis of P. viviparum and P. bistortoides

Polygonum viviparum is widely distributed in arctic and alpine regions of the northern hemisphere. Fruit set has never been observed in North American populations and has been reported only very rarely in Europe. Although this species is extremely well studied, the impediments to successful fruit production are unknown. We investigated the sexual reproductive process in P. viviparum growing in the southern Colorado Rocky Mountains. For comparison, we also examined this process in the sympatric congener P. bistortoides, in which reproduction is exclusively sexual. Lack of viable fruit production in P. viviparum has no single developmental explanation; defects occur in each of the processes and structures associated with sexual reproduction studied, yet, these processes and structures also appear to function normally in at least some flowers or individuals. Development is abnormal in many ovules of P. viviparum, however, comparison with P. bistortoides shows that these abnormalities do not contribute to differences in seed production between the two species. The virtual absence of sexual reproduction in P. viviparum appears to be due largely to a low rate of fertilization and to embryo/fruit abortion.     

A newly found manganese hyperaccumulator—Polygonum lapathifolium Linn.

In the present work, both field investigation and laboratory experiment were carried out to testify whether Polygonum lapathifolium L. is a potential manganese (Mn) hyperaccumulator. Results from field investigation showed that P. lapathifolium had great tolerance and accumulation to Mn. Mn concentrations in leaves were the highest, varied from 6889.2 mg kg-1 dry weight (DW) to18841.7 mg kg^?1 DW with the average of 12180.6 mg kg^?1. The values of translocation factor (the concentrations of Mn in leaf to that in root) ranged from 5.72 to 9.53. Results from laboratory experiment illuminated that P. lapathifolium could grow well and show no toxic symptoms even under high Mn stress (16 mmol L^?1). Although the changes of antioxidant enzymes activities were triggered under Mn stress, the alterations of pigments were not significant (P > 0.05) as compared with control. Total plant biomass and plant height increased with increasing Mn supply. Mn concentrations in leaves and stems were constantly greater than those in roots, the ratio of concentrations in leaves to that in roots were 2.58–6.72 and the corresponding values in stems to that in roots were 1.45–3.18. The results showed that P. lapathifolium is a Mn-hyperaccumulator.     

Phenotypic Plasticity in the Annual Weed Polygonum aviculare

Reaction norms of fourteen life history and morphological traits were investigated in four tetra- and two hexaploid genotypes of the annual weed species complex, Polygonum aviculare. The plants were cultivated in six treatments consisting of factorial combinations of three pot sizes and two fertility levels. All characters, except life span, were plastic but the relative importance of genotype (G), treatment (T) and interaction (G × T) to total variance was strongly trait-specific. Consistent genetic differentiation, not correlated with ploidy level, was found in metamer size and life history: genotypes originating from trampled sites had smaller metamers and shorter shoots while those originating from sites with a short growing season, due to weeding activities, had a shorter life span, an earlier flowering date and a higher biomass allocation to reproduction compared to genotypes from less disturbed sites. Significant variation was found in reaction norms for all characters, including a lower amount of plasticity in metamer size in genotypes with numerous metamers and a lower amount of plasticity in total weight in shortlived genotypes. This suggested that variation in phenotypic plasticity reflected developmental constraints imposed by contrasting life span and metamer size in different genotypes. There was no evidence for niche differentiation along the soil resource gradient, suggesting that the species is comprised of “general purpose” genotypes with respect to soil fertility. It is concluded that the Polygonum aviculare complex has evolved a “dual” adaptive strategy i.e. a combination of genetic polymorphism and high phenotypic plasticity.     

PHENOTYPIC PLASTICITY IN POLYGONUM PERSICARIA. III. THE EVOLUTION OF ECOLOGICAL BREADTH FOR NUTRIENT ENVIRONMENT

Norms of reaction for a number of growth and reproductive characters were determined for 15 randomly sampled Polygonum persicaria genotypes, from two natural populations originating in sites with very different nutrient availabilities. Under severely limiting nutrient conditions, these genotypes shared not only plastic responses such as increased root-to-shoot ratio, but a surprising constancy in such functionally essential characters as leaf area ratio, leaf nitrogen concentration, and propagule nitrogen content. Because functional homeostasis depends on flexibility in underlying characters, similar homeostatic results can be achieved through different combinations of underlying plastic and fixed responses in genetically different entities. For example, plants in each population maintained a relatively constant propagule nitrogen content under extreme low-nitrogen conditions by varying either the size or the tissue nitrogen concentration of propagules. These genotypes also tolerated excessive nutrient levels toxic to many plants, evidently by storing excess nutrients in shoots. Although development was altered under such circumstances, reproductive fitness was maintained.     

A numerical taxonomic study of thePolygonum aviculare complex (Polygonaceae) in Belgium

16 morphological characters were assessed in 300 plants sampled from 27 populations ofPolygonum aviculare sensu lato representative of the whole ecological range of the species in Belgium. The three multivariate treatments performed, namely principal component analysis, cluster analysis and discriminant analysis provide evidence thatP. aviculare can be divided in 4 units, roughly corresponding to the four taxa recognized byChrtek. However, the results point out that subsp.monspeliense and subsp.calcatum should be included at the varietal rank within respectively subsp.aviculare (=P. heterophyllum) and subsp.aequale (=P. arenastrum) as defined byLindman. Fruit dimensions, fruit shape and tepal length are the most discriminant characters for separating the four taxa, while several other characters are discriminant at the population level only. The evolutionary significance of the variation pattern of the whole complex is discussed in terms of life history differentiation and ecological specialization.     

Reproductive Biology of an Amphicarpic Annual, Polygonum thunbergii (Polygonaceae): Spatio-temporal Changes in Growth, Structure and Reproductive Components of a Population over an Environmental Gradient

Abstract The process and mechanisms of spatio-temporal changes in growth, population structure, as well as various yield and reproductive components of a population of an amphicarpic annual, Polygonum thunbergii (Polygonaceae), with two reproductive systems (aerial chasmogamous flowers and subterranean cleistogamous flowers) along an environmental gradient (light, moisture and soil nitrogen levels) were investigated in the field.
The results clearly demonstrate that growth and allocation patterns, population structure, and reproductive output of individuals changed sharply along the environmental gradient in response to seasonal and spatial changes in resource availability. Models predicted that light conditions bring about one-sided competition, whereas nutrient conditions in the soil engender two-sided competition. As expected, the degree of one-sided competition was prominent in the case of a planophile, Polygonum thunbergii. Allocation patterns, seed outputs, individual seed size as well as relative energy costs of chasmogamous and cleistogamous seed as affected by light and nutrient levels were also critically analyzed. The most noteworthy finding was that the size of chasmogamous seeds sharply decreased in response to a decrease in the light regime, while cleistogamous seed size remained constant along the gradient. However, relative cost of both chasmogamous and cleistogamous seeds sharply increased with decrease in the light level, reflecting different degrees of environmental stress, biotic interference, or both.     

Embryology of Plagiopteron suaveolens Griffith (Plagiopteraceae) and its systematic implications

A study of the embryology of Plagiopteron suaveolens Griffith is presented in order to evaluate the affinities of the genus. Anther wall formation is of the dicotyledonous type. The anther tapetum is glandular and its cells become two to four nucleate. Cytokinesis in the microspore mother cell is simultaneous and the resultant tetrad is tetrahedral. The mature pollen grains are two-celled. The anther has 4-locules at anthesis. The ovule is anatropous, bitegmic and weakly crassinucellate with only one cell-layered parietal tissue. The micropyle is zig-zag in section and formed by both inner and outer integuments which are three and three to four cell layers thick respectively. The megaspore archesporium is one-celled and the embryo sac development is of the Polygonum type. An endothelium is formed with early disintegration of nucellar tissue. The antipodals multiply to 15 to 20 cells. Embryological evidence supports the placement of Plagiopteron in its own family, Plagiopteraceae, with closest relationship with Celastraceae and close relationship with Elaeocarpaceae, Rhizophoraceae and some families of the Geraniales.