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Ranunculus acris L. is a native species widely distributed throughout Europe and is invasive in nonnative areas, causing substantial economic losses in pasture productivity. The present study examined the effects of sodic salinity on the growth and functioning of this species. Salinity stresses the germination process and seedling growth, indicating that the studied species experience serious limitations at 60–90 mmol dm−3 NaCl and cannot establish in habitats where salinity is equal to or greater than 150 mmol dm−3 NaCl. R. acris is tuned to subsaline habitats characteristic of temperate meadows, as its growth and functioning were the best when the plants were treated with 30 mmol dm−3 NaCl. Increasing salinity (60 and 90 mmol dm−3 NaCl) hampered growth, leaf morphology and photosynthesis but not mineral nutrition, as Na accumulation seemed to be the most outlined effect of NaCl application. Changes in leaf morphological characteristics coordinated well with Na content in those organs, which indicates that leaf appearance can be easily catchable sign of progressing salinity. Ultimately, progressing salinity reduces the competitiveness of the studied species, shifting its strategy to ruderal behavior, but under subsaline conditions, the strategy of this species seems to be most balanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the genetic variability of hybrids provides information on their current and future evolutionary role. In this paper, we focus on the interspecific hybrid Ranunculus circinatus × R. fluitans that forms spontaneously within the group Ranuculus L. sect. Batrachium DC. (Ranunculaceae Juss.). Genome-wide DNA fingerprinting using amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLP) was employed to determine the genetic variation among 36 riverine populations of the hybrid and their parental species. The results demonstrate a strong genetic structure of R. circinatus × R. fluitans within Poland (Central Europe), which is attributed to independent hybridization events, sterility of hybrid individuals, vegetative propagation, and isolation through geographical distance within populations. The hybrid R. circinatus × R. fluitans is a sterile triploid, but, as we have shown in this study, it may participate in subsequent hybridization events, resulting in a ploidy change that can lead to spontaneous fertility recovery. The ability to produce unreduced female gametes of the hybrid R. circinatus × R. fluitans and the parental species R. fluitans is an important evolutionary mechanism in Ranunculus sect. Batrachium that could give rise to new taxa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asymmetric Configuration (As-Co) in the electrochemical noise (EN) was used to evaluate Ranunculus Arvensis / silver nanoparticles (RA/Ag NPs) as corrosion inhibitor for aluminum alloy (AA 2030) when gets exposed to 3.5% NaCl media. The ECN results of Asymmetric Configuration (As-Co) and Symmetric Configuration (Sy-Co) were interpreted using wavelet and statistical methods. The standard deviation of partial signal (SDPS) plots derived using of wavelet. The SDPS plot of As-Co demonstrated that the quantity of electric charge (Q) decreased with the addition of the inhibitor up to the optimum amount (200 ppm) due to the decreased corrosion rate. Moreover, the use of As- Co leads to record signal of one electrode and prevent recording extra signals arising from two identical electrodes which confirmed by the statistical parameters. The As-Co made of Al alloys were more satisfactory for estimating inhibiting effect of RA/Ag NPs compared to Sy-Co. Besides, aqueous extract of Ranunculus Arvensis (RA) plant as reducing agent mediates the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (RA/Ag NPs). The prepared NPs have been elaborately characterized using Field-Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis, and Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) that revealed suitable synthesize of the RA/Ag NPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We demonstrate a wide distribution and abundance of hybrids between the river species Ranunculus aquatilis, R. fluitans and R. kauffmannii with the still water species R. circinatus (Batrachium, Ranunculaceae) in rivers of two postglacial landscapes of East Europe, i.e., Lithuania and Central European Russia. The Batrachium species and hybrid diversity is higher in the rivers of Lithuania (4 species and 3 hybrids vs. 2 and 1) and represented mainly by western R. aquatilis, R. fluitans and their hybrids whereas in Central European Russia, the East European species R. kauffmannii and its hybrid are the only dominant forms. Hybrids make up about 3/4 of the studied individuals found in 3/4 of the studied river localities in Lithuania and 1/3 of the individuals found in 1/3 of the localities in Central European Russia. Such extensive hybridization in river Batrachium may have arisen due to the specificity of rivers as open-type ecosystems. It may have been intensified by the transformation of river ecosystems by human activities and the postglacial character of the studied landscapes combined with ongoing climate change. Almost all hybrids of R. aquatilis, R. fluitans and R. kauffmannii originated from unidirectional crossings in which R. circinatus acted as a pollen donor. Such crossings could be driven by higher frequency and abundance of R. circinatus populations as well as by some biological mechanisms. Two hybrids, R. circinatus × R. fluitans and R. circinatus × R. kauffmannii, were formally described as R. × redundans and R. × absconditus. We found a hybrid which most likely originated from additional crossing between R. aquatilis and R. circinatus × R. fluitans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluates the antioxidant activity of Ranunculus muricatus and isolation and structure elucidation of the active constituents. The aerial parts of the plants were shade dried at room temperature and powdered and extracted with methanol. The free radical scavenging activity was evaluated by 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) assay. The percentage scavenging activity was determined based on the percentage of DPPH radical scavenged. Column chromatography was used in order to isolate the active compounds. Spectral techniques UV, IR, 1H NMR, 13CNMR and HREI-MS were used for the structure elucidation of the isolated compounds. Two isolated compounds, A (caffeoyl-β-d-glucopyranoside) and B (1,3-dihydroxy-2-tetracosanoylamino-4-(E)-nonadecene), exibited a significant antioxidant activity as showed by DPPH radical scavenging method. Percentage inhibition for compound A (at 0.5 mM) was 82.67 ± 0.19 with IC50 of 93.25 ± 0.12 (μM), and for compound B (at 0.5 mM) was 69.23 ± 0.19 with IC50 of 183.34 ± 0.13 (μM). Quercetin was used as standard control. It was conclued from the present study that caffeoyl-β-d-glucopyranoside and 1,3-dihydroxy-2-tetracosanoylamino-4-(E)-nonadecene isolated from methanol extract of aerial parts of Ranunculus muricatus posses antioxidant activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adaptation to aquatic habitats is a formidable challenge for terrestrial angiosperms that has long intrigued scientists. As part of a suite of work to explore the molecular mechanism of adaptation to aquatic habitats, we here sequenced the transcriptome of the submerged aquatic plant Ranunculus bungei, and two terrestrial relatives R. cantoniensis and R. brotherusii, followed by comparative evolutionary analyses to determine candidate genes for adaption to aquatic habitats. We obtained 126,037, 140,218 and 114,753 contigs for R. bungei, R. cantoniensis and R. brotherusii respectively. Bidirectional Best Hit method and OrthoMCL method identified 11,362 and 8,174 1:1:1 orthologous genes (one ortholog is represented in each of the three species) respectively. Non-synonymous/synonymous (dN/dS) analyses were performed with a maximum likelihood method and an approximate method for the three species-pairs. In total, 14 genes of R. bungei potentially involved in the adaptive transition from terrestrial to aquatic habitats were identified. Some of the homologs to these genes in model plants are involved in vacuole protein formation, regulating 'water transport process' and 'microtubule cytoskeleton organization'. Our study opens the door to understand the molecular mechanism of plant adaptation from terrestrial to aquatic habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]