Arecaceae

About: Arecaceae is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 729 publications have been published within this topic receiving 16484 citations. The topic is also known as: the palm family & palm tree.

How will oil palm expansion affect biodiversity

Abstract: Oil palm is one of the world's most rapidly increasing crops. We assess its contribution to tropical deforestation and review its biodiversity value. Oil palm has replaced large areas of forest in Southeast Asia, but land-cover change statistics alone do not allow an assessment of where it has driven forest clearance and where it has simply followed it. Oil palm plantations support much fewer species than do forests and often also fewer than other tree crops. Further negative impacts include habitat fragmentation and pollution, including greenhouse gas emissions. With rising demand for vegetable oils and biofuels, and strong overlap between areas suitable for oil palm and those of most importance for biodiversity, substantial biodiversity losses will only be averted if future oil palm expansion is managed to avoid deforestation.

Field guide to the palms of the Americas

Abstract: This user-friendly and authoritative book will serve scientists, growers, and sightseers as a guide to the 67 genera and 550 species of naturally occurring palms found in the Americas. Its purpose is to give an introduction to the diversity of palms and allow almost anyone to identify a palm from this part of the world. Providing scientifically accurate descriptions and a rich supply of illustrations, including color photos taken in the wild of over 256 species, this guide is extraordinary in its coverage of the plant that has become for many people the symbol of the tropical landscape. Palms are not only aesthetically pleasing, but they also make up an economically and ecologically important family of plants. In industry, for example, the coconut, oil palm, and date palm have a wide and varied use. In the lowland rain forest, palms are usually one of the most abundant and diverse families of plants. Field Guide to the Palms of the Americas will appeal to professional scientists or students working in the tropics-including agronomists, anthropologists, ecologists, entomologists, natural historians, and zoologists-as well as to amateur and professional growers of palms, to "eco-tourists" who visit tropical regions, and to inhabitants of these regions who are interested in the native flora.

Genera Palmarum: The evolution and classification of palms

Abstract: Genera Palmarum - The Evolution and Classification of the Palms is the standard reference work for information on the biology of the palm family, especially evolution, systematics, structure, fossil record and classification. Genera Palmarum - The Evolution and Classification of Palms is a completely rewritten edition of the acclaimed standard reference work for the palm family, a group of plants of immense economic and horticultural significance. In the new edition, genus treatments include complete descriptions, nomenclature, etymology and discussions of diversity, distribution, phylogeny, morphology, uses and ecology. All genera of palms are illustrated with analytical plates, maps and numerous photographs, mostly taken in the wild. The introduction consists of essays on the structure of palms, their pollen, cytology, chemistry, fossil record, evolution, phylogeny, natural history and biogeography, providing essential background information to the classification presented within the book. The classification itself is substantially revised and based on the latest phylogenetic evidence. Since the first edition, published in 1987, several new genera have been discovered and the wealth of new research into the phylogeny of palms has revealed relationships not appreciated in the past, resulting in substantial reorganization of subfamilies, tribes, subtribes and genera. An illustrated glossary and geographical listings complete this essential reference book to the palm family. Winner of the 2009 Technical category CBHL (The Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries) Annual Award for a Significant Work in Botanical or Horticultural Literature.

Oil palm genome sequence reveals divergence of interfertile species in Old and New worlds

Abstract: The genome sequence of the African oil palm, the main source of oil production, is used to predict at least 34,802 genes, including oil biosynthesis genes; comparison with the draft sequence of the South American oil palm reveals that the two species may have diverged in the New World and that segmental duplications of chromosome arms define the palaeotetraploid origin of palm trees. Two papers published in this issue of Nature deal with the genetics of two variants of one of the most important crops in use today — the African oil palm Elaeis guineensis and its South American cousin Elaeis oleifera. Palm oil accounts for almost half the edible oil consumed worldwide and is also a biofuel, although not without controversy, as in many areas palm oil monoculture has replaced valuable natural forest. Analyses of the 1.8-gigabase genome sequence of E. guineensis and draft sequence of E. oleifera provide insights into oil biosynthesis genes and their regulators, and a record of genome evolution. A key event in the domestication and breeding of the oil palm was loss of the thick, coconut-like shell. The second of the two papers identifies mutations the SHELL gene that specify the different fruit forms found in the oil palm and shows that SHELL gene mutations that originated in pre-colonial Africa are responsible for the single gene hybrid vigour and high yields attained by the oil palm. Oil palm is the most productive oil-bearing crop. Although it is planted on only 5% of the total world vegetable oil acreage, palm oil accounts for 33% of vegetable oil and 45% of edible oil worldwide, but increased cultivation competes with dwindling rainforest reserves. We report the 1.8-gigabase (Gb) genome sequence of the African oil palm Elaeis guineensis, the predominant source of worldwide oil production. A total of 1.535 Gb of assembled sequence and transcriptome data from 30 tissue types were used to predict at least 34,802 genes, including oil biosynthesis genes and homologues of WRINKLED1 (WRI1), and other transcriptional regulators1, which are highly expressed in the kernel. We also report the draft sequence of the South American oil palm Elaeis oleifera, which has the same number of chromosomes (2n = 32) and produces fertile interspecific hybrids with E. guineensis2 but seems to have diverged in the New World. Segmental duplications of chromosome arms define the palaeotetraploid origin of palm trees. The oil palm sequence enables the discovery of genes for important traits as well as somaclonal epigenetic alterations that restrict the use of clones in commercial plantings3, and should therefore help to achieve sustainability for biofuels and edible oils, reducing the rainforest footprint of this tropical plantation crop.

Comparative transcriptome and metabolite analysis of oil palm and date palm mesocarp that differ dramatically in carbon partitioning.

Abstract: Oil palm can accumulate up to 90% oil in its mesocarp, the highest level observed in the plant kingdom. In contrast, the closely related date palm accumulates almost exclusively sugars. To gain insight into the mechanisms that lead to such an extreme difference in carbon partitioning, the transcriptome and metabolite content of oil palm and date palm were compared during mesocarp development. Compared with date palm, the high oil content in oil palm was associated with much higher transcript levels for all fatty acid synthesis enzymes, specific plastid transporters, and key enzymes of plastidial carbon metabolism, including phosphofructokinase, pyruvate kinase, and pyruvate dehydrogenase. Transcripts representing an ortholog of the WRI1 transcription factor were 57-fold higher in oil palm relative to date palm and displayed a temporal pattern similar to its target genes. Unexpectedly, despite more than a 100-fold difference in flux to lipids, most enzymes of triacylglycerol assembly were expressed at similar levels in oil palm and date palm. Similarly, transcript levels for all but one cytosolic enzyme of glycolysis were comparable in both species. Together, these data point to synthesis of fatty acids and supply of pyruvate in the plastid, rather than acyl assembly into triacylglycerol, as a major control over the storage of oil in the mesocarp of oil palm. In addition to greatly increasing molecular resources devoted to oil palm and date palm, the combination of temporal and comparative studies illustrates how deep sequencing can provide insights into gene expression patterns of two species that lack genome sequence information.