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Vasconcellea pubescens A. DC., commonly referred to as mountain papaya, belongs to the Caricaceae family and is native to the Andean highlands. In Indonesia, mountain papaya can be found on the Dieng Plateau and has become one of the typical processed products from the Dieng area. The aim of the study is to explore the diversity and phenetic relationship of mountain papaya from the Dieng Plateau based on morphological markers. This study is important to provide information in guiding future conservation efforts. 18 samples were collected from three areas with different altitudes in the Dieng Plateau. In addition, it proved valuable results by elucidating patterns of variation, enabling the identification of distinct groups. A total of 18 samples were collected from three areas with varying altitudes in the Dieng Plateau. Morphological analysis used 22 characters with The Clustering Analysis Method, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and Diversity Analysis using Multivariate Statistical Package (MVSP) software version 3.1A. The results of cluster analysis showed that mountain papaya accessions were grouped into two main clusters and five sub-clusters. Cluster grouping based on sex distribution characters, flower stalk length, and inflorescence density; there is no grouping based on geographical location or altitude. The Shannon's Index Value (H') for mountain papaya shows moderate phenetic diversity. This suggests that the mountain papaya community remains stable within its substrate and its environmental parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pemphis acidula is a wild plant in rocky or sandy coastal areas and mangrove ecosystems. Different geographic characteristics may affect plant adaptability and have an impact on the emergence of various genotypes. This study was performed to reveal the phenetic relationship and genetic variation of P. acidula in 3 different areas in Tomini Bay, Gorontalo Province, Indonesia. We took 3 samples from each location and analysed them using 14 morphological characters and molecular approaches based on ISSR markers and ITS gene. The results showed that P. acidula on Olele had bigger sizes in some morphological features compared to the plants in other study areas. The phenetic analysis showed that P. acidula at Biluhu and Dulanga were more closely related, although P. acidula at the 3 locations had 100% similarity. Genetic variation analysis showed the highest genetic similarity based on ISSR markers was found in Dulanga and Biluhu samples (76.8%). Phylogenetic based on ITS gene revealed that Olele samples were in the same clade with P. acidula accession from GenBank (genetic distance 0-0.19%), while Biluhu samples were a sister group (genetic distance 24.97-25.03%) even though their percentage identity corresponds to P. acidula (81.34%). Plant adaptation to different habitat conditions may affect the genetic diversity of P. acidula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Iraqi Journal of Agricultural Sciences is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Previous circumscriptions of Olinia rochetiana A. Juss. ( Oliniaceae) presented a taxonomically variable and widespread species complex in central and tropical East Africa. Results of numerical phenetic analyses of morphological variation within O. rochetiana sensu lato indicate the existence of four taxa which are recognisable at specific rank corresponding to O. huillensis Welw. ex A. & R. Fern., O. ruandensis Gilg, O. rochetiana A. Juss. sensu stricto and O. usambarensis Gilg ex Engl. The analyses also indicate that O. huillensis, hitherto reported to occur only in Angola, occurs widely in southern Africa and shows geographic segregates characterised as O. huillensis Welw. subsp. huillensis, O. huillensis subsp. burttdavii Sebola and O. huillensis subsp. discolor Sebola (Map 2). The major delimiting characters were found to be the shapes of petals and leaves, presence or absence of indumentum and the degree of hairiness on floral parts, and the form of inflorescence units (i.e. being either compact or spreading). Phenetic and ecological concepts of species are applied at the specific and subspecific ranks, respectively. Keys to distinguish between the species and infraspecific taxa are presented, and full descriptions and citations of examined specimens are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the present investigation was to compare similarities and differences in immune response among Echinacea species, which are commonly used to treat upper respiratory infections. The investigation involved two components: acquisition of immunomodulatory data reported here for the first time, and combined phenetic analysis of these data along with previous reports. Experimental data were obtained by stimulating human PBMC in vitro with extracts from Echinacea spp. and assaying production of three cytokines (interleukin-1β [IL-1β], interleukin-2 [IL-2], and tumor necrosis factor-α [TNF-α]). Phenetic analyses were employed to compare responses across the entire data set, including UPGMA (Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Mean) and neighbor-joining methods. In the immune experiments conducted for this investigation, E. angustifolia, E. paradoxa, E. purpurea, E. simulata, and E. tennesseensis extracts significantly augmented IL-1β and TNF-α production, whereas no extracts significantly modulated IL-2. All phenetic methods produced similar dendrograms, revealing two species pairs (E. angustifolia + E. simulata and E. pallida + E.sanguinea) where both species cluster tightly and have similar immune-response profiles. These two species-pairs are maximally dissimilar from each other. The remaining species (E. paradoxa, E. purpurea, and E. tennesseensis) occupy intermediate positions in the dendrogram. Our results suggest that Echinacea spp. act heterogeneously on immune function. The utility of these data for science and industry is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Male Badarian crania were analyzed using the generalized distance of Mahalanobis in a comparative analysis with other African and European series from the Howells's database. The study was carried out to examine the affinities of the Badarians to evaluate, in preliminary fashion, a demic diffusion hypothesis that postulates that horticulture and the Afro-Asiatic language family were brought ultimately from southern Europe. (The assumption was made that the southern Europeans would be more similar to the central and northern Europeans than to any indigenous African populations.) The Badarians show a greater affinity to indigenous Africans while not being identical. This suggests that the Badarians were more affiliated with local and an indigenous African population than with Europeans. It is more likely that Near Eastern/southern European domesticated animals and plants were adopted by indigenous Nile Valley people without a major immigration of non-Africans. There was more of cultural transfer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Velvetbean (Mucuna sp.) is a self-pollinated crop classified within the Leguminosae. Using AFLP markers, gene diversity and phenetic relationships were estimated in a collection of 40 velvetbean accessions from cultivated species and different eco-geographic regions. Eleven selective primer combinations generated a total of 508 amplification products. The average number of scorable fragments was 23 per primer combination. A total of 251 polymorphic markers was detected. The polymorphisms obtained ranged from 36% to 61% with an average of 49%. The final phenetic trees were constructed using Nei and Li’s coefficient of similarity with UPGMA. Other clustering algorithms were examined and all had high co-phenetic correlations, indicating the goodness of fit for the resulting phylogenetic trees. The phenetic tree as well as principal component analysis (PCA) separated the 40 velvetbean accessions into two main clusters. Bootstrap and Jackknife analyses were completed and their values indicated strong to moderate support for the two main clusters. This grouping confirmed the existing phenological difference with regard to maturity. The high values of the similarity coefficients observed (0.87 to 0.97) imply that the accessions used in this study are similar. The level of genetic variability detected within the velvetbean accessions with AFLP analysis suggests that it is a reliable, efficient, and effective marker technology for determining genetic relationships in velvetbean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By virtue of their low vagility, flightless insects are useful indicators of biogeographical history. Relationships of the flightless dung beetle genus, Gyronotus, are of particular interest due to its Gondwanaland ancestry, distinctive relict distribution along the south-eastern seaboard of Africa, and its restriction to forests which are seriously threatened by exploitation. Because of the limited number of diagnostic morphological characters, it was necessary to code morphometric data in order to conduct distance and cladistic parsimony analysis of interspecific relationships in Gyronotus. There was a good correlation between relationships indicated by the dendrograms/cladograms and those determined by an examination of aedeagus character states both of which indicate a disjunction between south and east African species and a broad separation between northern and southern South African species. Comparison of the bilaterally asymmetrical aedeagi of Gyronotus with the symmetrical aedeagi of the sister genus, Anachalcos Hope, suggests geographical polarization of character states from greater plesiomorphy in east African Gyronotus to greater apomorphy in South African species, particularly in the southernmost element in which the aedeagus shows extreme asymmetry. Furthermore, body shape follows a similar geographical gradient in that the three Gyronotus species of tropical east Africa are significantly more elongate than the three ovoid, lowland/afromontane species of South Africa. An examination of historical factors suggests that this spatially-restricted distribution is the relict of a very old tropical lowland pattern. In extant taxa, the phylogenetic polarization is towards one of five main centres of afrotropical forest biodiversity in the geologically old Eastern Arc and the adjoining lowland forest (Swahili centre of endemism). Survivors from old lineages may be one reason for such centres of high biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phenetic investigations were undertaken to evaluate differences between the cloud forest endemic Viola domingensis of the Dominican Republic and the morphologically similar V. macloskeyi of continental North America. Cluster, principal components (PCA), and canonical variates analyses (CVA) of leaf characters and of ratios derived from them consistently separate V. macloskeyi subsp. macloskeyi of the Pacific states from V. domingensis and transcontinental V. macloskeyi subsp. pallens. However, all analyses portray the latter two as extensively intergradient extremes of a continuum, with V. domingensis plants tending to be smaller. Phenetic analyses of capsule and seed features, which are often divergent among other species of subsect. Stolonosae, show V. domingensis to be nested within a broader V. macloskeyi subsp. pallens. Similarly, floral morphology does not provide observable differences between the pair. Results support the synonymy of V. domingensis under V. macloskeyi subsp. pallens and reveal that it represents a disjunct outlier of an otherwise continental North American violet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) restriction site analysis of nine species of Daucus (covering four of five sections) and nine carrot accessions was done using 14 Petunia cpDNA clones as probes and 10 restriction enzymes. Cladistic analysis yielded a phylogeny generally concordant with a recent morphological classification. A cpDNA insertion-deletion mutation was found in the cultivated carrots (probe P10– Bgl II digest). Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) restriction site analysis of the same material using four maize mtDNA clones as probes and 10 enzymes exhibited extensive mitochondrial diversity in Daucus, both within and between sections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]