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This study investigated the attributes of pod and seed and their role in taxonomic delimitation of Senna species. This is consequent upon their ethno-botanical importance in orthodox medicine, pests and disease control, production of dyes and tannins, and as ornamental trees. A total of twenty-two accessions of five Senna species: Senna alata, S. occidentalis, S. hirsuta, S. obtusifolia and S. acutifolia were obtained from different locations in Abeokuta, Ogun State Nigeria. The morphological attributes of the pod and seed accessions were evaluated to reveal their phenotypic and phylogenetic relationships. Statistical analyses of quantitative data were done using SAS/PC Version 9.1. The common generic feature which supports their classifications as members of the same genus is exhibited in their fruit type (pod). Percent seed-set and germination performance are high for all the accessions. Germination performance ranges from 72% to 100%. The variation between species in pod and seed characters is highly significant at 0.001 probability level (p < 0.001). The dendrogram categorizes the 22 accessions (genotypes) into 4 phenotypic groups within the two extremes of similarity levels (0.0-3.5SL). Pod and seed attributes are of taxonomic importance in the genus Senna. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the attributes of pod and seed and their role in taxonomic delimi- tation of Senna species. This is consequent upon their ethno-botanical importance in orthodox medicine, pests and disease control, production of dyes and tannins, and as ornamental trees. A total of twenty-two accessions of five Senna species: Senna alata, S. occidentalis, S. hirsuta, S. obtusifolia and S. acutifolia were obtained from different locations in Abeokuta, Ogun State Nigeria. The morphological attributes of the pod and seed accessions were evaluated to reveal their phenotypic and phylogenetic relationships. Statistical analyses of quantitative data were done using SAS/PC Version 9.1. The common generic feature which supports their classifications as members of the same genus is exhibited in their fruit type (pod). Percent seed-set and germination performance are high for all the accessions. Germination performance ranges from 72% to 100%. The variation between species in pod and seed characters is highly significant at 0.001 probability level ( p < 0.001). The dendrogram categorizes the 22 accessions (genotypes) into 4 phenotypic groups within the two extremes of similarity levels (0.0-3.5SL). Pod and seed attributes are of taxonomic importance in the genus Senna. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Knowledge of the Trichoderma taxa is important for both control efficiency and environmental conservation. Therefore, the objective of this study is to isolate and identify Trichoderma species from various rhizosphere soil samples using phenotypic and molecular characterization. Methodology and results: Native Trichoderma spp. were isolated from agricultural fields in 17 sites from seven states of Malaysia. These isolates were characterized via morphological observation and molecular phylogenetic analysis based on the translation elongation factor-1α (tef1-α) gene. About 42 isolates were classified into eight Trichoderma species, which are Trichoderma asperellum, T. hamatum, T. harzianum, T. koningiopsis, T. rodmanii, T. spirale, T. viride and T. virens. Comparison of DNA sequences of tef1-α showed that the isolates were 98-100% similar to respective Trichoderma species from GenBank, thus confirming the fungal identity. Phylogenetic trees of maximum likelihood (ML) dataset of tef1-α inferred that the isolates were clustered according to species. Conclusion, significance and impact of study: Findings in the present study will be beneficial for the purposes of biodiversity conservation and plant disease management using biocontrol agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The genus Ocimum L. (Lamiaceae) is composed of aromatic plants known for their peculiar strong smell added to their close similarities in morphological attributes, increase attention and applications as ethnobotanicals of culinary and medicinal use. There are reports of difficulty in Ocimum taxonomy. Seedling morphology and molecular characterization of some Ocimum accessions collected from Southwest states of Nigeria were carried out to delimit members of the genus. Morphological measurements were carried out on the seedlings characters and recorded. Molecular characterization was carried out on their fresh leaf‐samples. Statistical analyses of quantitative seedling data were performed using SAS/PC1 version 9.01. Seedling morphology reveals phanerocotylar epigeal with foliaceous cotyledon type; reniform and flabellate cotyledon shape, obcordate and obtuse cotyledon apex, cordate and truncate cotyledon base. There is a significant mean difference in all the quantitative seedling characters at p<0.05. Blast query reveals the accessions as five species exhibiting 99 % homologous identities with previous submissions in the GenBank database. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]