Search

Distyly rarely occurs on oceanic islands. Indeed, this form of polymorphism is absent on the Hawaiian Islands and in New Zealand. However, Psychotria homalosperma (Rubiaceae), which is endemic to the oceanic Bonin Islands of Japan, was presumed to maintain a distylous breeding system and floral morphology. We investigated the floral and reproductive characteristics of this species and examined incompatibility in self- and intramorph pollination. Psychotria homalosperma is morphologically and functionally distylous, based on findings with the examined populations, but its stigma and anther heights are not exactly reciprocal between the two morphs. This is the second example of distyly among the flora from the Bonin Islands, the other being the endemic P. boninensis. Both of these distylous species contrast with the Hawaiian Psychotria species, which have already become dioecious. The flowers of the long (L)-styled (pin) morph of the Bonin Islands plants are completely self- and intramorph incompatible, while the flowers of the short (S)-styled (thrum) morphs are partially intramorph compatible. The S-styled morph was more abundant in the examined populations from three islands of the archipelago, probably due to the existence of partial S–S intramorph compatibility.

A total of 55 microsatellite loci were developed and characterized using four Pittosporum taxa endemic to the Ogasawara (Bonin) Islands, Japan: Pittosporum boninense var. boninense, P. boninense var. chichijimense, Pittosporum parvifolium var. parvifolium and P. parvifolium var. beecheyi. Transferability of these markers among the Ogasawara Pittosporum taxa as well as Pittosporum tobira was also evaluated. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 2 to 23 in P. boninense var. boninense, from 2 to 16 in P. boninense var. chichijimense, from 1 to 7 with in P. parvifolium var. parvifolium, and from 1 to 8 in P. parvifolium var. beecheyi. During cross-amplification tests, the majority of these loci were successfully amplified and showed moderate to high levels of genetic variation. The markers described here could be used to achieve a more accurate determination of genetic diversity and genetic structure of the taxa from which they were derived.

We investigated the effects of litter accumulation by an alien tree, Casuarina equisetifolia, on the germination and seedling establishment of Rhaphiolepis wrightiana, a shrub native to the Ogasawara (Bonin) Islands, in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, in a field experiment. We compared the emergence of seedlings in forests dominated by C. equisetifolia with that in native forests, with and without litter removal. More than 75% of seedlings emerged during a year except at the C. equisetifolia sites with litter removal (approximately 45%). Thus, seeds of R. wrightiana can germinate under C. equisetifolia if they are dispersed on the ground.

Twelve microsatellite loci were isolated and characterized for Melicope quadrilocularis, an insular endemic tree species of the Bonin Islands. The observed number of alleles at each locus ranged from 1 to 18. The range of expected heterozygosity was 0.0000–0.9445. The inter-specific applicability of these loci was evaluated by analyzing two other endemic species and one endemic variety of Melicope that are also distributed on the Bonin Islands. All primer pairs for the 12 loci tested successfully amplified the loci in all taxa, except for primers for four loci in M. nishimurae.

Dystaenia (Apiaceae) consists of two species, one distributed in Japan (D. ibukiensis), and the other endemic to Ullung Island, Korea (D. takesimana). In comparison with representative outgroup taxa in Ligusticum, Seseli, Angelica, and Osmorhiza, Dystaenia is shown to be monophyletic based on sequences from chloroplast trnL-F intron and spacer regions confirming previously published results using ITS sequences. Loss of one large part of trn L-F in D. takesimana strongly suggests that this species evolved from D. ibukiensis rather than the reverse. AFLP analysis within and among twelve populations (six from each species; total 126 individuals) using three primer combinations reveals 130 reliable fragments. Neighbour-joining analysis shows the two species to be distinct populational systems. Levels of overall genetic variation as measured by Shannon Diversity are significantly higher in D. takesimana. Geographic structuring of genetic variation occurs within D. ibukiensis but not within D. takesimana, suggesting that the Ullung species exists as a single population. It is hypothesised that after a founder-effect reduction of genetic variation, anagenetic speciation may have occurred in D. takesimana by gradual morphological divergence accompanied by accumulation of genetic variation through mutation, recombination and drift.

A colour illustration together with a full description of Scutellaria longituba Koidz. (Lamiaceae) is provided. The horticultural requirements of this perennial which is endemic to Ogasawara-shoto are outlined. In addition the general geography and botany of these islands are discussed.

Eight microsatellite loci were identified and characterized for the endangered Machilus pseudokobu (Lauraceae), an endemic tree species of the Bonin Islands. The observed number of alleles at each locus ranged from 1 to 20 with an average of 6.2, and the expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.00 to 0.83 with an average of 0.47. All eight loci were screened in cross-amplification tests for two other endemic Machilus species that also inhabit the Bonin Islands. All loci were successfully amplified in these species.

To elucidate the affinity and phylogeny of the endemic North American genus Uvularia, two chloroplast genes, matK and rbcL, were sequenced for all five species of the genus (Uvufaria floridana, U. grandifolia, U. perfoliata, U. puberula, and U. sessilifolia) and four selected members of the Liliales (Erythronium japonicum, Disporum sessile, Medeola virginiana, and Clintonia borealis). Sequence data of both matK and rbcL genes support an Uvularia which consist of two clades, section Oakesiella and section Uvularia. Though sessile-leaved and associated with section Oakesiella, U. puberula exhibits several intermediate characteristics between the sections. However, the overall molecular results correspond to an earlier sub-grouping based upon gross morphology, karyology and ecological life history traits. These two cpDNA genes, notably matK tree, proved to be informative in reaffirming relationships within Uvularia. Differentiation patterns among selected morphological, karyological and life history traits were also analyzed in comparison to the resulting molecular topologies. In comparison to the selected outgroups, Disporum sessile proved to be closely related to Uvufaria in a narrowly defined Uvulariaceae -Uvulariea sensu Takhtajan (1997) or an expanded Colchicaceacae with a “uvularioid line”sensu Nordenstam (1998). The outgroup taxa, Erythronium, Medeola, and Clintonia, associate as a well supported lineage within a narrowly defined Liliaceae. Comment is also made on the multiple origins of berry fruits inthe Liliales.

A mutation in theCENTRORADIALIS (CEN) gene ofAntirrhinum and in theTERMINAL FLOWER 1 (TFL1) gene ofArabidopsis causes their indeterminate inflorescence to determinate. We clonedCEN/TFL1 homologs fromNicotiana tabacum, the wild-type of which has a determinate inflorescence. TheCEN gene was expressed in the inflorescnece meristem and kept its inflorescence meristem identity, whereas the tobacco homolog (NCH) was expressed at a low level throughout the plant’s development. AlthoughCEN andNCH are highly homologous genes, they may have been recruited to different developmental functions during their evolution. TwoNCH genes are derived from amphidiploidN. tabacum, but both of them hybridized with its diploid parents,N. sylvestris andN. tomentosiformis. Southern blotting, and the genomic organization ofTFL1 inArabidopsis revealed that anotherCEN homolog exists in the genome ofArabidopsis. These results suggest that there are two copies of theCEN homolog per diploid plant.

In this paper, we examine the phylogenetic affinities of Trilliaceae sensu late. DNA sequences of the rbc L gene were analyzed for 8 species from Trilliaceae sensu lato ( Trillium kamtschaticum, T. sessile, Daiswa polyphylla, Kinugasa japonica, Paris tetraphylla, Scoliopus bigelovii, S. hallii, and Medeola virginiana ) and 10 other species from Liliaceae sensu lato . The analysis indicates that Trilliaceae sensu stricto ( Trillium, Daiswa, Kinugasa, and Paris ) is monophyletic and that Trilliaceae sensu lato is not monophyletic. Scoliopus and Medeola do not form a clade with Trilliaceae sensu stricto . Instead, they form a clade with Uvulariaceae and Liliaceae sensu stricto , respectively. Relative to the rbc L genes of Trilliaceae sensu stricto , Scoliopus and Medeola displayed approximately 14-24 synonymous substitutions per 100 sites. In similar comparisons with Streptopus and Clintonia (Uvulariaceae), these displayed approximately 1-4 synonymous substitutions per 100 sites. The rbc L gene analysis supports the previous suggestion that Scoliopus and Medeola should be moved from Trilliaceae to Liliaceae sensu stricto . The analysis also indicated that Veratrum (Melanthiaceae) may be related to Trilliaceae sensu stricto . For reconstructing the phylogeny of lower taxonomic level as such, it was found that data on nonsynonymous base substitution as well as weighting in the first and second positions of codons are not useful.

• Premise of the study: Expressed sequence tag (EST)–derived microsatellite markers were developed for Elaeocarpus photiniifolia, an endemic taxon of the Bonin Islands. • METHODS: and Results: Initially, a complementary DNA (cDNA) library was constructed by de novo pyrosequencing of total RNA extracted from a seedling. A total of 267 primer pairs were designed from the library. Of the 48 tested loci, 25 loci were polymorphic among 41 individuals representing the entire geographical range of the species, with the number of alleles per locus and expected heterozygosity ranging from two to 14 and 0.09 to 0.86, respectively. Most loci were transferable to a related species, E. sylvestris. • CONCLUSIONS: The developed markers will be useful for evaluating the genetic structure of E. photiniifolia.

The chloroplast gene encoding ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate-carboxylase (rbcL) was sequenced for phylogenetic analysis of 13 species (10 genera) in the tribePolygonatae s.l. of theLiliaceae-Asparagoideae. The data were analysed using maximum parsimony and neighbour-joining methods. There were 233 phylogenetically informative sites out of 1368 base pairs compared. The results suggest that there are three monophyletic groups withinPolygonatae s.l. with high bootstrap confidence values. Group A representsPolygonatae s.str., with generaMaianthemum, Smilacina, Convallaria, Disporopsis, andPolygonatum. Group B containsUvularia andDisporum and group C includesStreptopus, Tricyrtis, Clintonia, andProsartes. The study suggests thatPolygonatae s.l. are not a monophyletic group, including at least three groups of different phylogenetic origin. Monophyly of the taxa within groups A, B, and C is supported by the high bootstrap confidence values (85–100%) of the bootstrap replications for both parsimony and neighbour-joining methods. The differences between each group (calculated as 100x base substitutions per site) were 6.99–9.03 for group A and B, 4.92–7.35 for A and C, and 6.66–7.57 for B and C.

Volatile substances emitted from the flowers of eight Magnolia taxa (M. sieboldii ssp. japonica, M. praecocissima var. praecocissima and var. borealis, M. tomentosa, M. salicifolia, M. obovata, M. denudata, and M. grandiflora) and one Michelia species (M. compressa) (Magnoliaceae) were examined and identified using GC-MS. Volatile substances of these Magnolia and Michelia species consist primarily of monoterpenoids and sesquiterpenoids produced by the mevalonate pathway, acetogenins by the acetate-malonate pathway, and phenyl-propanoids by the shikimate pathway. These Magnolia and Michelia species all possessed various combinations of volatile monoterpenoids, acetogenins, and phenylpropanoids, except for Magnolia obovata, which emitted primarily sesquiterpenoids. Free amino acids in pollen of 12 Magnolia and one Liriodendron species were also analyzed, and their value as food sources for pollinators evaluated. Pollinators visiting the flowers of five Magnolia species were collected in their native sites and identified. Their behaviors and roles as pollinating agents were assessed.

Domatia of myrmecophytes have been reported only in vegetative organs so far. In this paper, we report the first record of domatia formed on the legume surface of Mucuna interrupta. The domatium consists of 12-16 vertical lamellae which traverse the fruit surface obliquely to form long, narrow hollows, providing two ant species with a nest site.