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Premise: Lantana and Lippia (Verbenaceae) are two large Linnean genera whose classification has been based on associated fruit traits: fleshy vs. dry fruits and one vs. two seed-bearing units. We reconstruct evolutionary relationships and the evolution of the two fruit traits to test the validity of these traits for classification., Methods: Previous studies of plastid DNA sequences provided limited resolution for this group. Consequently, seven nuclear loci, including ITS, ETS, and five PPR loci, were sequenced for 88 accessions of the Lantana/Lippia clade and three outgroups., Results: Neither Lantana nor Lippia is monophyletic. Burroughsia, Nashia, Phyla, and several Aloysia species are included within the clade comprising Lantana and Lippia. We provide a hypothesis for fruit evolution and biogeographic history in the group and their relevance for classification., Conclusions: Fleshy fruits evolved multiple times in the Lantana/Lippia clade and thus are not suitable taxonomic characters. Several sections of Lantana and Lippia and the small genera are monophyletic, but Lippia section Zappania is broadly paraphyletic, making circumscription of genera difficult. Lippia sect. Rhodolippia is a polyphyletic group characterized by convergence in showy bracts. Species of Lantana sect. Sarcolippia, previously transferred to Lippia, are not monophyletic. The clade originated and diversified in South America, with at least four expansions into both Central America and the Caribbean and two to Africa. The types species of Lantana and Lippia occur in small sister clades, rendering any taxonomy that retains either genus similar to its current circumscription impossible., (© 2021 Botanical Society of America.)

Background: Brazilian protected areas are essential for plant conservation in the Atlantic Forest domain, one of the 36 global biodiversity hotspots. A major challenge for improving conservation actions is to know the plant richness, protected by these areas. Online databases offer an accessible way to build plant species lists and to provide relevant information about biodiversity. A list of land plants of "Parque Nacional do Caparaó" (PNC) was previously built using online databases and published on the website "Catálogo de Plantas das Unidades de Conservação do Brasil." Here, we provide and discuss additional information about plant species richness, endemism and conservation in the PNC that could not be included in the List. We documented 1,791 species of land plants as occurring in PNC, of which 63 are cited as threatened (CR, EN or VU) by the Brazilian National Red List, seven as data deficient (DD) and five as priorities for conservation. Fifity-one species were possible new ocurrences for ES and MG states., New Information: "Parque Nacional do Caparaó" houses 8% of the land plant species endemic to the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, including 6% of its angiosperms, 31% of its lycophytes and ferns and 14% of its avascular plants. Twelve percent of the threatened species listed for the State of Espírito Santo and 7% listed for the State of Minas Gerais are also protected by PNC. Surprisingly, 79% of the collections analysed here were carried out in Minas Gerais, which represents just 21% of the total extension of the Park. The compiled data uncover a huge botanical collection gap in this federally-protected area., (Marina M Moreira, Tatiana T Carrijo, Anderson G Alves-Araújo, Alessandro Rapini, Alexandre Salino, Aline D Firmino, Aline P Chagas, Ana F A Versiane, André M A Amorim, Andrews V S da Silva, Amélia C Tuler, Ariane L Peixoto, Bethina S Soares, Braz A P Cosenza, Camila N Delgado, Claudia R Lopes, Christian Silva, Daniel E F Barbosa, Daniele Monteiro, Danilo Marques, Dayvid R Couto, Diego R Gonzaga, Eduardo Dalcin, Elton John de Lirio, Fabrício S Meyer, Fátima R G Salimena, Felipe A. Oliveira, Filipe S Souza, Fernando B Matos, Gabriel Depiantti, Guilherme M Antar, Gustavo Heiden, Henrique M Dias, Hian C F Sousa, Isabel T F V Lopes, Isis M Rollim, Jaquelini Luber, Jefferson Prado, Jimi N Nakajima, João Lanna, João Paulo F Zorzanelli, Joelcio Freitas, José F A Baumgratz, Jovani B S Pereira, Juliana R P M Oliveira, Kelly Antunes, Lana S Sylvestre, Leandro C Pederneiras, Leandro Freitas, Leandro L Giacomin, Leonardo D Meireles, Leonardo N Silva, Luciana C Pereira, Luís Alexandre E Silva, Luiz Menini Neto, Marcelo Monge, Marcelo L O Trovó, Marcelo Reginato, Marcos E G Sobral, Mario Gomes, Mário L Garbin, Marli P Morim, Nayara D Soares, Paulo H E Labiak, Pedro L Viana, Pedro H Cardoso, Pedro L R Moraes, Pedro B Schwartsburd, Quélita S Moraes, Raquel F Zorzanelli, Renara Nichio-Amaral, Renato Goldenberg, Samyra G Furtado, Thamara Feletti, Valquíria F Dutra, Vinícius R Bueno, Vinícius A O Dittrich, Rafaela C Forzza.)

Background: Brazil is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, with about 37,000 species of land plants. Part of this biodiversity is within protected areas. The development of online databases in the last years greatly improved the available biodiversity data. However, the existing databases do not provide information about the protected areas in which individual plant species occur. The lack of such information is a crucial gap for conservation actions. This study aimed to show how the information captured from online databases, cleaned by a protocol and verified by taxonomists allowed us to obtain a comprehensive list of the vascular plant species from the "Parque Nacional do Itatiaia", the first national park founded in Brazil. All existing records in the online database JABOT (15,100 vouchers) were downloaded, resulting in 11,783 vouchers identified at the species level. Overall, we documented 2,316 species belonging to 176 families and 837 genera of vascular plants in the "Parque Nacional do Itatiaia". Considering the whole vascular flora, 2,238 species are native and 78 are non-native., New Information: The "Parque Nacional do Itatiaia" houses 13% of the angiosperm and 37% of the fern species known from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Amongst these species, 82 have been cited as threatened, following IUCN categories (CR, EN or VU), seven are data deficient (DD) and 15 have been classified as a conservation priority, because they are only known from a single specimen collected before 1969., (Marina M Moreira, Tatiana T Carrijo, Anderson Alves-Araújo, André M A Amorim, Alessandro Rapini, Andrews V S da Silva, Braz A P Cosenza, Claudia R Lopes, Camila N Delgado, Cíntia Kameyama, Dayvid R Couto, Daniel E F Barbosa, Daniele Monteiro, Diego R Gonzaga, Eduardo C Dalcin, Elsie F Guimarães, Elton John de Lírio, Fernando B Matos, Fátima R G Salimena, Felipe A Oliveira, Gustavo Heiden, João M Lanna, José Fernando Baumgratz, José F B Pastore, Juliana R P M Oliveira, Laísa B Barcelos, Lana S Sylvestre, Leandro Freitas, Leandro L Giacomin, Leandro Pederneiras, Leonardo D Meireles, Lúcia G Lohmann, Luciana C Pereira, Luis Alexandre E Silva, Luiz M Neto, Marcelo C Souza, Marcelo Trovó, Marcos E G Sobral, Mário Luís Garbin, Mario Gomes, Marli P Morim, Michelle Christine A Mota, Paulo H Labiak, Pedro L Viana, Pedro Luís R de Moraes, Renato Goldenberg, Rubens Luiz G Coelho, Samyra G Furtado, Sebastião José da Silva-Neto, Thiago B Flores, Valquíria F Dutra, Vinícius R Bueno, Rafaela C Forzza.)

Premise: Plant genomes vary in size and complexity due in part to polyploidization. Latitudinal analyses of polyploidy are biased toward floras of temperate regions, with much less research done in the tropics. Lippia alba has been described as a tropical polyploid complex with diploid, triploid, tetraploid, and hexaploid accessions. However, no data regarding relationships among the ploidal levels and their origins have been reported. Our goals are to clarify the relationships among accessions of Lippia alba and the origins of each ploidal level., Methods: We investigated 98 samples representing all five geographical regions of Brazil and all ploidal levels using microsatellite (SSR) allelic variation and DNA sequences of ITS and trnL-F. Nine morphological structures were analyzed from 33 herbarium samples, and the chemical compounds of 78 accessions were analyzed by GC-MS., Results: Genetic distance analysis, the alignment block pattern, as well as RAxML and Bayesian trees showed that accessions grouped by ploidal level. The triploids form a well-defined group that originated from a single group of diploids. The tetraploids and hexaploid grouped together in SSR and trnL-F analyses. The recovered groups agree with chemical data and morphology., Conclusions: The accessions grouped by ploidal level. Only one origin of triploids from a single group of diploids was observed. The tetraploid origin is uncertain; however, it appears to have contributed to the origin of the hexaploid. This framework reveals linkages among the ploidal levels, providing new insights into the evolution of a polyploid complex of tropical plants., (© 2020 Botanical Society of America.)

Lippia species share various pharmacological activities and are used in traditional cooking and medicine worldwide. Combined chromatographic techniques such as column chromatography, high-performance liquid chromatography, and countercurrent chromatography led to the purification of two new antifungal phenylpropanoid glycosides, lippiarubelloside A (1) and lippiarubelloside B (2), by bioactivity-directed fractionation of an ethanol-soluble extract from Lippia rubella, in addition to the known active related compounds forsythoside A (3), verbascoside (4), isoverbascoside (5), and poliumoside (6). The structures of compounds 1 and 2 were determined by comparison of their NMR spectroscopic data with the prototype active compound 4. Cryptococcus neoformans, which causes opportunistic lung infections, was sensitive to compounds 1-6 in the concentration range of 15-125 μg/mL. A synergistic effect (FIC index = 0.5) between 3 and amphotericin B was demonstrated. The glycosylated flavonoids pectolinarin (7), linarin (8), and siparunoside (9) were also isolated.

Background: The genus Lippia comprises 150 species, most of which have interesting medicinal properties. Lippia sidoides (syn. L. origanoides) exhibits strong antimicrobial activity and is included in the phytotherapy program implemented by the Brazilian Ministry of Health. Since species of Lippia are morphologically very similar, conventional taxonomic methods are sometimes insufficient for the unambiguous identification of plant material that is required for the production of certified phytomedicines. Therefore, genetic and chemical analysis with chemotype identification will contribute to a better characterization of Lippia species., Methods: Amplified Length Polymorphism and Internal Transcribed Spacer molecular markers were applied to determine the plants' genetic variability, and the chemical variability of Lippia spp. was determined by essential oil composition., Results: Amplified Length Polymorphism markers were efficient in demonstrating the intra and inter-specific genetic variability of the genus and in separating the species L. alba, L. lupulina and L. origanoides into distinct groups. Phylogenetic analysis using Amplified Length Polymorphism and markers produced similar results and confirmed that L. alba and L. lupulina shared a common ancestor that differ from L. origanoides. Carvacrol, endo-fenchol and thymol were the most relevant chemical descriptors., Conclusion: Based on the phylogenetic analysis it is proposed that L. grata should be grouped within L. origanoides due to its significant genetic similarity. Although Amplified Length Polymorphism and Internal Transcribed Spacer markers enabled the differentiation of individuals, the genotype selection for the production of certified phytomedicines must also consider the chemotype classification that reflects their real medicinal properties.