http://amborella.net/2010PlantSystematics/DATA/3-24-APG%202003%20Bot%20J%20Linn%20Soc%20APGII.pdf

An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG II

Perp. punya vol. X. Flowering plant, eudicots : sapindales, cucurbitales, myrtaceae. Perp.punya: 1eks.

The Families And Genera Of Vascular Plants

What is ecological speciation

Epidemiological evidence suggests that flavonoids may play an important role in the decreased risk of chronic diseases associated with a diet rich in plant-derived foods. Flavonoids are also common constituents of plants used in traditional medicine to treat a wide range of diseases. The purpose of this article is to summarize the distribution and biological activities of one of the most common flavonoids: luteolin. This flavonoid and its glycosides are widely distributed in the plant kingdom; they are present in many plant families and have been identified in Bryophyta, Pteridophyta, Pinophyta and Magnoliophyta. Dietary sources of luteolin include, for instance, carrots, peppers, celery, olive oil, peppermint, thyme, rosemary and oregano. Preclinical studies have shown that this flavone possesses a variety of pharmacological activities, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and anticancer activities. The ability of luteolin to inhibit angiogenesis, to induce apoptosis, to prevent carcinogenesis in animal models, to reduce tumor growth in vivo and to sensitize tumor cells to the cytotoxic effects of some anticancer drugs suggests that this flavonoid has cancer chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic potential. Modulation of ROS levels, inhibition of topoisomerases I and II, reduction of NF-kappaB and AP-1 activity, stabilization of p53, and inhibition of PI3K, STAT3, IGF1R and HER2 are possible mechanisms involved in the biological activities of luteolin.

Distribution and biological activities of the flavonoid luteolin.

Preface. Part I: Molecules and genomes in plant systematics. Chloroplast DNA and the study of plant phylogeny: present status and future prospects - M T Clegg and G Zurawski Use of chloroplast DNA rearrangements in reconstructing plant phylogeny - S R Downie and J D Palmer Mitochondrial DNA in plant systematics: applications and limitations - J D Palmer Ribosomal RNA as a phylogenetic tool in plant systematics - R K Hamby and E A Zimmer Evolution of the NOR and 5S DNA loci in the Triticeae - R Appels and B Baum Part II: Molecular approaches to plant evolution Intraspecific chloroplast DNA variation: systematic and phylogenetic implications - D E Soltis, P S Soltis and B G Milligan Molecular data and polyploid evolution in plants - P S Soltis, J J Doyle and D E Soltis Molecular systematics and crop evolution - J Deobley Part III: Model studies of phylogenetic relationships Contributions of molecular data to polyploid evolution in plants - P S Soltis, J J Doyle and D E Soltis Molecular systematics and crop evolution - J Deobley Contributions of molecular data to papilionoid legume systematics - J J Doyle, M Levin and A Bruneau Chloroplast DNA variation in the asteraceae: phylogenetic and evolutionary implications - R K Jansen, H J Michaels, R S Wallace, K-J Kim, S C Keeley, L E Watson and J D Palmer Chloroplast DNA restriction site variation and the evolution of the annual habit in North American Coreopsis (Asteraceae) - D J Crawford, J D Palmer and M Kobayashi Molecular systematics of onagraceae: examples from Clarkia and Fuschia - K J Systema and J E Smith Floral morphology and chromosome number in the subtribe oncidiinae (Orchidaceae): evolutionary insights from a phylogenetic analysis of the chloroplast DNA restriction site variation - M W Chase and J D Palmer Part IV: Theoretical perspectives The suitability of molecular and morphological evidence in reconstructing plant phylogeny -M J Donaghue and M J Sanderson Character-site weighting for restriction site data in phylogenetic reconstruction, with an example from chloroplast DNA - V A Albert, B D Mishler and M W Chase Polymorphism, hybridization and variable evolutionary rate in molecular phylogenies - K Ritland and J E Eckenwalder Index.

Molecular Systematics of Plants

Floral nectaries in Melastomataceae and their systematic and evolutionary implications

Understanding the role of habitat-associated adaptation in reducing gene flow resulting in population differentiation and speciation is a major issue in evolutionary biology. We demonstrate a significant role for habitat divergence in species isolation between two naturally hybridizing riparian and nonriparian plants, Ainsliaea faurieana and A. apiculata (Asteraceae), on Yakushima Island, Japan. By analyzing the fine-scale population structure at six sympatric sites, we found that variations in leaf shape, geography, light conditions, and genotype were strongly correlated across riverbank-forest transitions. No evidence of effective gene flow was found between the two species across the majority of the transition zones, although the NewHybrid clustering analysis confirmed interspecific hybridization. However, a relatively high level of gene flow was observed across one zone with a more diffuse ecotone and intermediate flooding and light conditions, possibly generated by human disturbances. These results suggest that the barriers to gene flow between the riparian and forest species are primarily ecological. Additional common garden experiments indicated that the two species are adaptively differentiated to contrasting flooding and light environments. Overall, our study suggests that adaptations to different habitats can lead to the formation of reproductive isolating barriers and the maintenance of distinct species boundaries.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1558-5646.2010.01129.x

Ecological barriers to gene flow between riparian and forest species of Ainsliaea (Asteraceae).

For a better understanding of pollen-tube guidance in relation to pollen-pistil interaction, we investigated the mode of pollen-tube growth in pistils of Casuarina equisetifolia, a monoecious, wind-pollinated species that undergoes chalazogamous fertilization. The pistil is bicarpellate, but only one of the two carpels develops with two ovules. One of these ovules develops more than four embryo sacs. Pistils usually require more than 1 month to reach maturity after pollen grains have been deposited on the stigmas. During that period, pollen-tube growth proceeds discontinuously in five distinct steps that lead up to fertilization: (1) from the stigma to the upper region of the style, (2) from the upper region of the style to a septum in the ovary, (3) from the septum to the surface of the funiculus, (4) from the funiculus to chalaza in the ovule, and (5) from the chalaza to an egg apparatus. Probably because of competitive interaction between male and female gametophytes (or ovules), one pollen tube is selected from among many during the first step (just before the second step), one ovule from the two during the second and third steps, and one embryo sac from more than four during the fourth and fifth steps. On the basis of our results, erroneous drawings and explanations reported in earlier publications on chalazogamy in Casuarinaceae should be brought into question.

Pollen-tube growth pattern and chalazogamy in Casuarina equisetifolia (Casuarinaceae)

The embryology and taxonomic relationships of Bretschneidera (Bretschneideraceae)

Austrobaileyales, comprising the four families Austrobaileyaceae, Trimeniaceae, Schisandraceae, and Illiciaceae, are included in the basal angiosperms along with Amborellaceae and Nymphaeaceae. Here, we present the first developmental study of the female gametophyte in Austrobaileya scandens, the only species of Austrobaileyaceae, which are sister to the rest of the Austrobaileyales. Austrobaileya scandens has a four-celled/four-nucleate embryo sac as in the derived families of the order, e.g., Illiciaceae and Schisandraceae. It is monosporic, with the chalazal megaspore of a tetrad developing into the embryo sac composed of an egg cell, two synergids, and one polar nucleus. This mode of embryo sac formation was first reported in Schisandra over 40 years ago and should now be established as the Schisandra type. Its occurrence in A. scandens shows that the Schisandra-type embryo sac is likely common to the whole Austrobaileyales as well as to Nymphaeaceae. Amborellaceae were recently reported to have an eight-celled/nine-nucleate embryo sac, clarifying that none of the basal angiosperms has the seven-celled/eight-nucleate Polygonum-type embryo sac found in the majority of angiosperms, and that the Polygonum-type embryo sac represents a derived character state in angiosperms.

Hiroshi Tobe

Papers

Floral nectaries in Melastomataceae and their systematic and evolutionary implications

Ecological barriers to gene flow between riparian and forest species of Ainsliaea (Asteraceae).

Pollen-tube growth pattern and chalazogamy in Casuarina equisetifolia (Casuarinaceae)

The embryology and taxonomic relationships of Bretschneidera (Bretschneideraceae)

Development and structure of the female gametophyte in Austrobaileya scandens (Austrobaileyaceae)