Exploring the Allelic Diversity of the Self-Incompatibility Gene Across Natural Populations in Petunia (Solanaceae).

Self-incompatibility (SI) is a genetic mechanism to prevent self-fertilization and thereby promote outcrossing in hermaphroditic plant species through discrimination of self and nonself-pollen by pistils. In many SI systems, recognition between pollen and pistils is controlled by a single multiallelic locus (called the S-locus), in which multiple alleles (called S-alleles) are segregating. Because of the extreme level of polymorphism of the S-locus, identification of S-alleles has been a major issue in many SI studies for decades.

Diversity of genome size and chromosome number in homothallic and heterothallic strains of the Closterium peracerosum-strigosum-littorale complex (Desmidiales, Zygnematophyceae, Streptophyta).

The evolutionary transitions of mating systems between outcrossing and self-fertilization are often suggested to associate with the cytological and genomic changes, but the empirical reports are limited in multicellular organisms. Here we used the unicellular zygnematophycean algae, the Closterium peracerosum-strigosum-littorale (C. psl.

The evolutionary history of rice azaleas (Rhododendron tschonoskii alliance) involved niche evolution to a montane environment.

Premise: The formation of isolated montane geography on islands promotes evolution, speciation, and then radiation if there are ecological changes. Thus, investigating evolutionary histories of montane species and associated ecological changes may help efforts to understand how endemism formed in islands' montane floras. To explore this process, we investigated the evolutionary history of the Rhododendron tschonoskii alliance, which grows in montane environments of the Japanese archipelago and the Korean Peninsula.

Evolutionary effects of geographic and climatic isolation between Rhododendron tsusiophyllum populations on the Izu Islands and mainland Honshu of Japan.

Geographic and environmental isolations of islands and the mainland offer excellent opportunity to investigate colonization and survival dynamics of island populations. We inferred and compared evolutionary processes and the demographic history of Rhododendron tsusiophyllum, in the Izu Islands and the much larger island Honshu, treated here as the mainland, using thousands of nuclear SNPs obtained by ddRAD-seq from eight populations of R. tsusiophyllum and three populations of R.

Phylogeographic analysis suggests two origins for the riparian azalea Rhododendron indicum (L.) Sweet.

Ecological speciation is an important factor in the diversification of plants. The distribution of the woody species Rhododendron indicum, which grows along rivers and is able to withstand water flow when rivers flood (i.e.

Development and characterization of 14 microsatellite markers for Indigofera pseudotinctoria (Fabaceae).

Premise Of The Study: Microsatellite markers can be used to evaluate population structure and genetic diversity in native populations of Indigofera pseudotinctoria (Fabaceae) and assess genetic disturbance caused by nonnative plants of the same species.

Methods And Results: We developed 14 markers for I. pseudotinctoria using next-generation sequencing and applied them to test two native populations, totaling 77 individuals, and a transplanted population, imported from a foreign country, of 17 individuals.

Characterization, occurrence, and molecular cloning of a lectin from Grifola frondosa: jacalin-related lectin of fungal origin.

A lectin named GFL was isolated from the fruiting body of the basidiomycete mushroom Grifola frondosa, which belongs to Aphyllophorales. The lectin had a molecular mass of 24 kDa on SDS-PAGE. The hemagglutinating activity of GFL was not inhibited by any monosaccharide, and inhibited only by porcine stomach mucin so far as tested.

Molecular properties of mycelial aggregate-specific lectin of Pleurotus cornucopiae.

By cloning and sequencing cDNA, the primary structure of a mycelial aggregate-specific lectin of Pleurotus cornucopiae was determined. The amino acid sequence was novel and elucidated unique properties of this lectin: It was composed of 373 amino acids, 33 of which constitute a signal sequence. The sequence of the mature lectin consisted of two homologous regions having five glycosylation recognition signals and six cysteine residues.

Correlation between pollen morphology and pollination mechanisms in the Hydrocharitaceae.

The pollen morphology of 11 genera and 11 species of the Hydrocharitaceae and one species of the Najadaceae was studied using scanning and transmission electron microscopies, and the exine structures and sculptures are discussed in relation to pollination mechanisms and the molecular phylogeny. The pollen grains of the Hydrocharitaceae are spherical, inaperturate, and form monads or tetrads, while those of the Najadaceae are elliptical, inaperturate, and form monads. The entomophilous genera Egeria, Blyxa, Ottelia, Stratiotes, and Hydrocharis share pollen grains that have projections like spines or bacula.

Phylogeny and divergence of basal angiosperms inferred from APETALA3- and PISTILLATA-like MADS-box genes.

The B-class MADS-box genes composed of APETALA3 ( AP3) and PISTILLATA ( PI) lineages play an important role in petal and stamen identity in previously studied flowering plants. We investigated the diversification of the AP3-like and PI-like MADS-box genes of eight species in five basal angiosperm families: Amborella trichopoda (Amborellaceae); Brasenia schreberi and Cabomba caroliniana (Cabombaceae); Euryale ferox, Nuphar japonicum, and Nymphaea tetragona (Nymphaeaceae); Illicium anisatum (Illiciaceae); and Kadsura japonica (Schisandraceae). Sequence analysis showed that a four amino acid deletion in the K domain, which was found in all previously reported angiosperm PI genes, exists in a PI homologue of Schisandraceae, but not in six PI homologues of the Amborellaceae, Cabombaceae, and Nymphaeaceae, suggesting that the Amborellaceae, Cabombaceae, and Nymphaeaceae are basalmost lineages in angiosperms.

Apoptosis-like cell death of Brassica napus leaf protoplasts.

•   The cleavage of nuclear DNA into oligonucleosomal fragments that is the hallmark of apoptosis in animal cells occurs during the culture of Brassica napus leaf protoplasts. •   The changes in nuclei of cultured Brassica napus leaf protoplasts were studied by propidium iodide (PI) and 4', 6-diamino-2-phenylindole, dihydrochloride (DAPI) staining, transmission electron microscopy, flow cytometry analysis, and DNA laddering staining with ethidium bromide and Southern hybridization. •   Free 3'-OH termini of nuclear DNA fragments were labelled with DIG-dUTP, catalyzed by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT), and used as probes for Southern hybridization.