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Maytenus ilicifolia or "Espinheira-Santa" is a renowned Brazilian medicinal plant usually used against intestinal and stomach ulcers. Other species with similar thorny leaves have raised great confusion in order to discern the authentic M. ilicifolia. Misidentifications can lead to product adulteration of authentic M. ilicifolia with other species, which can be found on the Brazilian market. The intake of misclassified herbal products potentially could be fatal, demanding faster reliable fingerprinting-based classification methods. In this study, the use of 1H HR-MAS NMR metabolomics fingerprinting and principal component analysis (PCA) allowed an evaluation of the authenticity for both collected and commercial M. ilicifolia samples, from the content of the flavanol, (-)-epicatechin (2), by observing variations in metabolic patterns. Plant specimen types from cultivated and natural habitats were analyzed by considering seasonal and topological differences. The interand intraplant topological metabolic profiles were found to be affected by seasonal and/or ecological trends such as sunlight, shade, rain, and the presence of pathogens. Moreover, several commercial samples, labeled as M. ilicifolia, were evaluated, but most of these products were of an inadequate quality.

Virus detection is a crucial step for the implementation of clean stock programs that preserve healthy crop species. Viral infections in grapevine, a vegetatively propagated perennial crop, cannot be eradicated from the vineyards by the application of agrochemicals and must be curtailed at the stage of nursery production during the propagation of planting material. Viral detection is routinely performed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) or Reverse Transcription-quantitative Polymerase Chain Reactions (RT-qPCR). High throughput sequencing (HTS) approaches have the potential to detect all viral pathogens in a plant specimen. However, to date, no published HTS-based study has used threshold selection based on ROC curves for discriminating positive from negative samples. To fill this gap, we assessed the specificity and sensitivity of different sequencing and bioinformatics approaches for nine common viruses, which were tested in the same specimens using ELISA and/or RT-qPCR. The normalized detection thresholds giving the best results were 19.28 Fragments Per Kilobase of transcript per Million mapped reads (FPKM) for alignment-based total RNA-Seq approaches, 386 Reads Per Million mapped reads (RPM) for metagenomics-based total RNA-Seq, 1,572 FPKM for alignment-based small RNA-Seq analysis and 0.97% of contigs for de novo analysis of small RNA-Seq data. Validation of the proposed thresholds using independent specimens collected over time from the same stocks and other specimens collected from nearby stocks that had derived from the same propagating material showed that HTS approaches are accurate, with RNA-Seq approaches showing better performance than small RNA-Seq.

Areas of endemism (AEs) are fundamental entities of analysis in biogeography and a key step for biogeographical regionalization. Even though many studies have contributed to the biogeographical knowledge of southern USA flora, no endemicity analysis (EA) has been conducted that would include a large number of native seed plant species from different families. A new analysis of plant spatial patterns is important as a first step for a future updated floristic regionalization of North America North of Mexico. It has become easier to accomplish owing to the increased availability of large-scale digitized distributional data and statistical methods of biogeographic analysis. Here we identify the AEs in SC/SW USA using digitized plant specimen data available from IDigBio. We built a database with 81,851-specimen point records of 400 selected mostly angiosperm species and applied the NDM/VNDM method of endemicity analysis. We then compare the established 26 AEs in the area of study with the floristic provinces in two comparatively recent regionalization systems of USA. To understand the spatial patterns, we also pay attention to the information on relationships of the endemic species found in phylogenetic literature.

Aiming at the problems of large amount of plant specimen information, time-consuming information integration and poor effect, this paper proposes a method of information integration of garden plant specimen based on data mining. The data mining method is used to collect the feature information of plant samples. According to the feature parameters, the correlation values of plant categories are classified, and the corresponding information processing platform is established to improve the efficiency of information sample integration and improve the effect of information integration. The experimental results show that the method proposed in this paper can effectively solve the problem that the traditional method takes too much time, and the integration coverage is higher, which fully meets the research requirements.

Over the past 300 years of plant collecting for herbaria, the basic method of preservation has remained remarkably consistent - a plant press with absorbent paper. However, the difficulty of drying plant specimens in the humid tropics has led to a variety of additions to this basic technique, primarily to prevent the specimens succumbing to fungal and bacterial breakdown. These additions include drying gently in tents over low fires, soaking the specimens in alcohol before pressing and, more recently, drying the specimens with forced heat from hair dryers. The process of drying is, however, known to cause breakage and damage to the plant's DNA, as well as providing time for non-plant organisms (bacteria and fungi) to multiply in the tissue, potentially 'swamping' the plant specimen’s own DNA. Contemporary plant collectors therefore usually collect a separate sample for DNA work, usually rapidly dried in silica gel desiccant; historical collections, however, may have been treated with alcohol and/or heat. We have recently shown that Hyb-Seq provides a reliable method for retrieving robust sequence data from even very old and degraded herbarium specimens. In this study we have used a panel of specimens preserved using a variety of methods to assess whether Hyb-Seq is capable of retrieving informative amounts of sequence data from duplicate specimens preserved using a range of specimen preservation methods. We present data on the amount and quality of DNA and of sequence data retrieved, the variation in error types between preservation techniques and the utility of the data for phylogenetic analysis.

Knowledge of the extent of the symptoms of a plant disease, generally referred to as severity, is a key to both fundamental and applied aspects of plant pathology. Most commonly, severity is obtained visually and the accuracy of each estimate (closeness to the actual value) by individual raters is paramount as it directly affects inferences and decisions based on average data. Thus, the more accurate the visual estimate of severity made by a rater for each specimen, the lower the magnitude of errors in the analysis, and thus the lower the risk of incorrect decisions. Errors in estimates of severity on diseased specimens are becoming better understood and ways to minimize them have been developed during the last 25 years. The development of various tools to aid raters prior to, or during the assessments provides a basis for greater accuracy. Severity is often based on the continuous percentage scale to represent the proportion of area diseased. However, some tools, such as those based on category scales have been shown to harm accuracy of some estimates under specific conditions, potentially leading to Type II errors. On the other hand, ensuring raters are familiar with symptom identity, assessment training and the use of standard area diagrams (a series of pictorial representations of examples of actual severity), can lead to improved accuracy of each (or at least most) estimate(s) by raters, particularly those who are innately less accurate. In this review, the need for accuracy of visual estimates of disease severity on plant specimens is emphasized in relation to the sample mean and variance, and the history of accuracy in disease estimation is described, the advantages of tools to aid accuracy are presented and future research needs are outlined.

Ethnopharmacological relevance Ashwagandha, also known as Indian Ginseng, is a highly traded medicinal plant, which is used in Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani systems of medicine to improve cognitive function, decrease inflammation, and to counter the ill-effects of aging. Withanolide A and Withaferin A from Ashwagandha were shown to improve immunity and have anti-cancer property, respectively. Aim of the study Here, we aimed to create reference DNA barcodes for W. somnifera and to authenticate root and powder samples of Ashwagandha collected from markets. Materials and methods Three plant specimen of W. somnifera were collected, and reference DNA barcodes were generated using rbcL, matK, trnH-psbA, and ITS2 DNA barcode markers. Market samples in the form of root (n = 33) and powder (n = 70) were collected and authenticated using ITS2 and trnH-psbA DNA barcodes. Results Genomic DNA was successfully isolated from all plant specimens and market samples. DNA barcoding showed that 77% of samples were authentic. About 22% of non-authentic samples were powder samples and only 1% were root samples. Among the non-authentic samples, 18% were completely substituted with single species (Mucuna pruriens (L.) DC., Trigonella foenum-graceum L., or Senna auriculata (L.) Roxb.) and 82% were mixed samples containing more than one species. About 63% of the mixed samples contained Ashwagandha as the major ingredient. Furthermore, we identified that six taxonomically divergent plant species from four families were present as adulterants in the mixed samples. Conclusion DNA barcoding revealed that botanical adulteration in the market samples of Ashwagandha is significant. Powder samples are more prone to adulteration than root samples. The adulterated samples contained plant material that is not related to Ashwagandha, which warrants strict quantity control and market surveillance to derive the true medicinal benefits of this medicinal plant.

A large number of important cultural objects in museums were seriously damaged by the tsunami that accompanied the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11,2011.Many plant specimens were also affected by the tsunami and were left wet for several months. When they were salvaged, different degrees of fungal damage were observed in the specimens though they remained under the same conditions.In this study,34 mount papers were examined after plant specimens had bee removed.As a result of identification of the fungi responsible for their discoloration, Penicillium commune, P. expansum and P. polonicum were dominantly isolated from light yellow, normal yellow and deep yellow spotted mount papers, respectively. Some correlation was shown between color pigments and fungal species. The relationship was further assessed between the level of seawater exposure and the degree of fungal damage with regard to the plant specimens in plastic bags. Specimens that were left entirely wet with seawater in a plastic bag showed clearly less fungal damage than the specimens with a dry portion.Among the specimens with a dry portion, those with more than half wet portion had most severe fungal damage. These results showed that the difference of the fungal damage in the specimens depended on the quantity of air as well as on the relative humidity in the plastic bag.Fungal damage of the mount papers was concentrated on parts where the specimens had been pasted. It is suggested that some organic compounds from plant and micro-ambient humidity facilitated fungal growth.

The Compliance and Interoperability Working Group of the Genomic Standards Consortium facilitates the establishment of a community of experts and the development of recommendations to describe genomic data and associated information. Here we present our ongoing conation to harmonise the reporting of contextual plant specimen data associated with genomics and functional genomics. This commentary summarises the current state of our plant sample contextual data harmonisation efforts to engage a broad plant science community.

Kumbira forest is a discrete patch of moist forest of Guineo-Congolian biome in Western Angola central scarp and runs through Cuanza Norte and Cuanza Sul province. The project aimed to document the floristic diversity of the Angolan escarpment, a combination of general walk-over survey, plant specimen collection and sight observation was used to aid the characterization of the vegetation. Over 100 plant specimens in flower or fruit were collected within four identified vegetation types. The list of species includes two new records of Guineo-Congolian species in Angola, one new record for the country and one potential new species.

Ethnobiological studies of local economic or folk religious uses of plants often rely on the assumption that plant use relates to folk knowledge about specific taxa. However, in some cases, folk knowledge is more about beliefs concerning an individual plant. When Carl Linnaeus traveled in 1749 through his native province of Småland, Sweden, he observed a striking specimen of a royal fern (Osmunda regalis L.), which was being used by a local healer. The appearance and unusually large size of this individual plant specimen were possibly responsible for its use. This species has not been used elsewhere in Sweden and historical data refer only to the single specimen observed by Linnaeus.

This paper aims to raise awareness of the importance of plant specimen vouchers in wood anatomy and wood identification in keeping abreast of plant name changes. It reveals the strong possibility that many wood specimens in xylaria are currently misidentified because corresponding plant specimen vouchers have been lost or separated from collections and not revisited. It appeals to the systematic wood anatomy community to reconnect wood specimens in xylaria with their corresponding plant specimen vouchers in order to update nomenclature. More specific recommendations are aimed at the International Association of Wood Anatomists (IAWA) to promote and educate those in the wood community on the importance and value of plant specimen vouchers in wood identification and systematic wood anatomy. Of equal importance is the adoption and promotion of a wood specimen citation system that unambiguously indicates whether research is based upon wood specimens with corresponding plant specimen vouchers and whether these vouchers have been consulted so that the research reflects current nomenclature.

Iltis, H. H. (Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin, 430 Lincoln Drive, Madison Wisconsin 53706, U.S.A.; tscochra@facstaff.wisc.edu). Studies in the Capparaceae XXIV: Edward Palmer in Corumba, Brazil and the first collection of Capparis coimbrana. Brittonia 57: 162–166. 2005.—The new Bolivian endemic, Capparis coimbrana, was first collected by the 22-year-old Edward Palmer while a member of the U.S. Navy's “Exploration of the River La Plata” expedition, supervised under Captain T. J. Page from 1853–1856. Since the plant specimen lacks a specific geographic location, it was necessary to interpret carefully the cryptic, penciled notes that accompany it, and to correlate these with the published itinerary of the expedition's sailing vessel, the Water Witch. This historical research revealed that the plant must have been collected on 2 Dec 1853 at Corumba, Matto Grosso, Brazil, which was then a tiny village just across the Rio Paraguay from Puerto Suarez, Bolivia. This site is at the very edg...

Tstomu Ishidoya (1891-1958), a Japanese taxonomist and pharmacognosist, conducted his plant explorations on the Korean peninsula from 1911 to 1943. Especially from 1912 to 1923 Ishidoya, as a governmentemployee of Chosen Governor-General collected numerous specimens of woody plants which were later studied by T. Nakai. Collection numbers totalling 6,487 (= collections) were recorded according to Nakai's studies, while only 1,350 speciemens are confirmed to be preserved now in three Japanese herbaria (Tokyo Universtiy, Kyoto University and National Museum of Nature and Science). All collection sites were described by Nakai using romanized characters with Japanese pronunciation. For this study, one hundred seventy three locality names were reviewed using those of Ishidoya's specimens that are deposited at TI, KYO, and TNS; the database, Korean Biodiversity Information System (http://www.nature.go.kr), and the articles and literature of Nakai and Ishidoya. These are listed in the order of his collection dates.

PlantsVN is a software that combines the plant database functions with the utility of family identification of plant specimen. PlantsVN allows users to create and manage personal plant database and identify plant specimen. Apart from the software accompanied key, the users can easily create own keys using the key file child window. The result of the identification is documented by displaying all the taxa of the plant database matched with the characters of the plant specimen.

Ferrer-Gallego, P., E. Laguna, R. Rosello, J. Gomez & J. B. Peris (2014). Typification of Inula montana L. (Asteraceae). Candollea 69: 5–8. In Spanish, English and French abstracts.The name Inula montana L. (Asteraceae) is lecto- and epitypified. The designated lectotype corresponds to an icon from Robert Morison published in 1699 and the epitype to a plant specimen collected by Morison and conserved at OXF (Morisonian Herbarium).

We have developed a fast hardware friendly bi-exponential fluorescence lifetime algorithm suitable for 2D CMOS single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) arrays. The performance of the proposed algorithm against other techniques is demonstrated on the data from a plant specimen (Convallaria) by using 0.13µm CMOS SPAD arrays mounted on a multi-beam multi-photon microscopy system.

A study was undertaken to evaluate the inorganic elements for humans in two Indian medicinal plants leaves, namely Sphaeranthus indicus, and Cassia fistula by Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA). INAA experiment was performed by using 20 kW KAMINI Reactor at Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Kalpakkam. The emitted gamma rays were measured using gamma ray spectrometer. The concentrations of Al, Br, Ca, Fe, K, La, Mg, Mn, Na, Sc, V and Zn were determined in the selected medicinal plants. The medicinal leaves are using in treatment of various important ailments. The elemental content in selected medicinal leaves is various proportions depending on the soil composition, location of plant specimen and the climate in which the plant grows.

The name Taraxacum canariense Soest (Asteraceae) is lectotypified. The lectotype corresponds to a plant specimen collected in La Gomera (Canary Islands), deposited at L.

An 8-year-old, crossbred beef cow was referred to the Indiana Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory at Purdue University for a complete necropsy in October 2009. The cow was the sixth to die in a 7-day period. Affected cows were reportedly stumbling and became weak, excitable, and recumbent. Histologically, myonecrosis was severe in the skeletal muscles and mild in the heart and tongue. According to the submitter, exposure to a poisonous plant was suspected, and a plant specimen received from this case was identified as white snakeroot ( Ageratina altissima). Using the white snakeroot specimen, a gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analytical method for the detection of tremetone and dehydrotremetone (2 components of white snakeroot) was developed. Both tremetone and dehydrotremetone were detected in the plant specimen. Dehydrotremetone was recovered from the liver, while neither component was recovered in the rumen content. In the past, because of the lack of standard reference material, the diagnosis of white snakeroot poisoning was based mainly on history of exposure and the presence of the plant in the rumen. The analytical method described herein can be used to document exposure to tremetone or dehydrotremetone in cases of suspected white snakeroot poisoning when coupled with the appropriate clinical signs and lesions.

Three isomeric pairs of ursolic acid (1, 3, and 5) and oleanolic acid (2, 4, and 6) glycosides were isolated as predominant constituents from seeds of Patrinia scabiosaefolia Fischer (Valerianaceae). Based on chemical and spectral evidence, their structures were established to be 3-O-[alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1-->2)-alpha-L-arabinopyranosyl] ursolic acid (1) and oleanolic acid (2), 3-O-[beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1-->3)-alpha-L-arabinopyranosyl] ursolic acid (3) and oleanolic acid (4), and 3-O-[alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1-->2)-[beta-D-glucopyranosyl- (1-->3)]-alpha-L-arabinopyranosyl] ursolic acid (5) and oleanolic acid (6), respectively. Glycosides 1, 5, and 6 are new compounds and named as patrinia-glycosides A-I, B-I, and B-II, respectively. Glycoside 3 is a known but is the first naturally occurring product. Ursolic acid glycosides were first found from this plant specimen.

A 300-strong Angus-Brahman cattle herd near Springsure, central Queensland, was being fed Acacia shirleyi (lancewood) browse during drought and crossed a 5-hectare, previously burnt area with an almost pure growth of Dysphania glomulifera subspecies glomulifera (red crumbweed) on their way to drinking water. Forty cows died of cyanide poisoning over 2 days before further access to the plant was prevented. A digital image of a plant specimen made on a flat-bed scanner and transmitted by email was used to identify D glomulifera. Specific advice on the plant's poisonous properties and management of the case was then provided by email within 2 hours of an initial telephone call by the field veterinarian to the laboratory some 600 km away. The conventional method using physical transport of a pressed dried plant specimen to confirm the identification took 5 days. D glomulifera was identified in the rumen of one of two cows necropsied. The cyanogenic potential of D glomulifera measured 4 days after collection from the site of cattle deaths was 18,600 mg HCN/kg in dry matter. The lethal dose of D glomulifera for a 420 kg cow was estimated as 150 to 190 g wet weight. The plant also contained 4.8% KNO3 equivalent in dry matter, but nitrate-nitrite poisoning was not involved in the deaths.

We present data from a study of mercury concentrations in air and plant specimens from the MAF Herbarium in Madrid (Spain). Hg (gas) emissions from old plant collections treated with mercuric chloride (HgCl 2 ) in herbaria may pose a health risk for staff working in installations of this type. This is an issue not yet properly addressed. Plants that underwent insecticide treatment with HgCl 2 at the MAF Herbarium until the mid 1970s have persistent high concentrations of Hg in the range 1093−11,967 μg g − 1 , whereas untreated specimens are in the range of 1.2−4.3 μg g − 1 . The first group induces high concentrations of Hg (gas) in the main herbarium room, with seasonal variations of 404−727 ng m − 3 (late winter) and 748−7797 ng m − 3 (early summer) (baseline for Hg: 8 ng m − 3 ). A test survey at another herbarium in Madrid showed even higher concentrations of Hg (gas) above 40,000 ng m − 3 . The World Health Organization guidelines for chronic exposure to Hg (gas) are estimated at a maximum of 1000 ng m − 3 . While staff was aware of the existence of HgCl 2 treated plants (the plant specimen sheets are labelled as ʻpoisoned'), they had no knowledge of the presence of high Hg (gas) concentrations in the buildings, a situation that may be relatively common in herbaria.

These notes address conventional specimen preparation for higher plant tissues. While in many cases freeze-substitution has been shown to be a superior method, the equipment required is not generally available in most electron microscopic laboratories, Thus, the more conventional procedures outlined herein have been found to work satisfactorily for most leaf material, and have been most successful in the fixation and embedment of small root slices (from near the root tip), An adjustment of the osmotic pressure may be necessary if the plant material used is highly vacuolated and if there is an exceptionally high water content.

Two ESA facilities will be available for plant research and other biological experiments on the International Space Station: the Modular Cultivation System (MCS) and BIOLAB. While BIOLAB will be launched with the European “Columbus” Module, MCS will be part of the Early Utilisation Agreement with NASA and integrated in the US Lab. Both facilities use standard Experiment Containers, mounted on two centrifuge rotors providing either microgravity or variable g-levels up to 2xg. Transparent covers allow illumination and observation (also near-infrared) of the internal experiment hardware containing the plant specimen. Standard interface plates provide each container with power and data lines, gas supply (controlled CO 2 , O 2 and water vapour concentration; ethylene removal), and -for MCS only- connectors to water reservoirs. Besides the two concepts of environmental control in both facilities, there is a difference in container size (BIOLAB 0.36 1, height with respect to the g-vector 60 mm; MCS 0.58 1, height 160 mm) and in the degree of automation. The design of BIOLAB and MCS will be complimentary to NASA's Plant Research Unit (volume 20 1, height 380 mm) and should allow continuation of Space research on protoplasts, callus cultures, algae, fungi and seedlings, as earlier flown on Biorack, and new experiments with larger specimens of fungi, mosses and vascular plants.

A computer program is presented to aid in the recognition of OTUs using a method based on information theory. Es wird ein Komputerprogramm mit Hilfe der Informationstheorie beschrieben, welches zur Bestimmung von OTUs dient.

An apparatus based on the phase-locked loop technique has been developed in order to record automatically the resonance frequency of a mechanically vibrating plant specimen. Hereby changes in the elasticity of the plant material can be continuously recorded. In order to demonstrate the use of the apparatus, elasticity changes of Avena coleoptiles due to exchange of the root medium were continuously recorded.

Existing methods for defining cool-down rates of plant specimens quenched in cryogenic liquids are considered unsatisfactory. An analytical method is proposed for specifying the temperature history and cool-down rates at particular cell locations within a plant specimen. This method should provide realistic peak cool-down rates when examining cell structures and the survival rate of cell systems.