[Resources and utilization of medicinal plants in countries and regions involved in "the Belt and Road" Initiative].

The protection, development, and utilization of medicinal plant resources are important cornerstones of maintaining human health. However, due to factors such as the reduction of high-quality land resources, deterioration of ecological environments, and excessive and disorderly resource development, medicinal plant resources are becoming scarce, and some of them are insufficiently supplied. With the proposal of "the Belt and Road" Initiative, the cooperation between China and "the Belt and Road" partners(the countries and regions involved in "the Belt and Road" Initiative)is increasingly close, which provides a new opportunity for carrying out trade of medicinal plant resources and alleviating the problem of imbalance and relative inadequacy of medicinal plant resources in countries. This study first determined the distribution and species information of plant resources in countries and regions involved in "the Belt and Road" Initiative by investigating the database of plant distribution and that of medicinal plant resources. Then, according to the published data from the International Union for Conservation of Nature(IUCN) and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora(CITES), this study identified the rare and endangered medicinal plants and the medicinal plants under trade control in countries and regions involved in "the Belt and Road" Initiative and finally sorted out the list of potential medicinal plant resources in countries and regions involved in "the Belt and Road" Initiative that can be used by China. This data resource can not only be used for the overall protection of important endangered species but also scientifically guide the development and utilization of medicinal resources, providing guidance and a theoretical basis for the sustainable development of medicinal plant resources in countries and regions involved in "the Belt and Road" Initiative.

DNA barcoding continues to identify endangered species of shark sold as food in a globally significant shark fin trade hub.

Shark fins are a delicacy consumed throughout Southeast Asia. The life history characteristics of sharks and the challenges associated with regulating fisheries and the fin trade make sharks particularly susceptible to overfishing. Here, we used DNA barcoding techniques to investigate the composition of the shark fin trade in Singapore, a globally significant trade hub. We collected 505 shark fin samples from 25 different local seafood and Traditional Chinese Medicine shops. From this, we identified 27 species of shark, three species are listed as Critically Endangered, four as Endangered and ten as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Six species are listed on CITES Appendix II, meaning that trade must be controlled in order to avoid utilization incompatible with their survival. All dried fins collected in this study were sold under the generic term "shark fin"; this vague labelling prevents accurate monitoring of the species involved in the trade, the effective implementation of policy and conservation strategy, and could unwittingly expose consumers to unsafe concentrations of toxic metals. The top five most frequently encountered species in this study are Rhizoprionodon acutus, Carcharhinus falciformis, Galeorhinus galeus, Sphyrna lewini and Sphyrna zygaena. Accurate labelling that indicates the species of shark that a fin came from, along with details of where it was caught, allows consumers to make an informed choice on the products they are consuming. Doing this could facilitate the avoidance of species that are endangered, and similarly the consumer can choose not to purchase species that are documented to contain elevated concentrations of toxic metals.

Morphology of pollen grains and orbicules of two threatened species of Cedrela P. Browne (Meliaceae A. Juss.).

Pollen grain morphology and the characterization of additional structures related to pollen dispersion can help to understand the strategies presented by species as well as their taxonomic circumscription. This work investigates the morphology of pollen grains and orbicules of Cedrela fissilis Vell. and Cedrela odorata L., two threatened species of the genus Cedrela P. Browne (Meliaceae A. Juss.) in Brazil. Observations of pollen grains and orbicules of the species were carried out pre- and post-chemical treatment of the samples, under light and scanning electron microscopy, aiming at recognizing structures, detailing morphological characterizations and taking measurements, the last of which were submitted to statistical treatment. The results demonstrate that the pollen grains of the two species are medium in size (measuring between 25 and 50µm), radially symmetrical, isopolar, prolate-spheroidal and 4,5-colporate with subcircular to subquadrangular amb and psilate ornamentation; the orbicules also have a smooth surface and measure about 7 to 10µm. Variation was observed in the size of pollen grains, which presented high coefficient of variation and in the orbicules, as well as in the number of apertures.

Survival tactics of an endangered species Withania coagulans (Stocks) Dunal to arid environments.

Withania coagulans is a valuable medicinal plant with high demand, but its wild growth and local usage pose a threat to its natural habitat. This study aims to understand the plant's growth, anatomy, and physiology in different environmental conditions to aid in conservation and re-vegetation efforts. Fifteen differently adapted populations of Withania coagulans were collected from diverse ecological regions, viz., (i) along the roadside, (ii) hilly areas, (iii) barren land, and (iv) wasteland to unravel the adaptive mechanisms that are responsible for their ecological success across heterogenic environments of Punjab, Pakistan. The roadside populations had high values of photosynthetic pigments, total soluble proteins, root endodermis thickness, stem and leaf cortical thickness, and its cell area. The populations growing in hilly areas showed better growth performance such as vigorous growth and biomass production. Additionally, there was enhanced accumulation of organic osmolytes (glycine betaine and proline), chlorophyll content (chl a/b), and enlarged epidermal cells, cortical cells, vascular bundles, metaxylem vessels, and phloem region in roots. In case of stem area, epidermal thickness, cortical thickness, vascular bundle, and pith area showed improved growth. However, the barren land population showed significant increase in carotenoid contents, vascular bundle area, and metaxylem area in roots, and xylem vessels and phloem area in stems and leaves. The wasteland population surpassed the rest of the populations in having greater root dry weight, higher shoot ionic contents, increased root area, thick cortical, and vascular bundle area in roots. Likewise, cortical thickness and its cell area, and pith area in stems, whereas large vascular bundles, phloem region, and high stomatal density were recorded in leaves. Subsequently, natural populations showed the utmost behavior related to tissue organization and physiology in response to varied environmental conditions that would increase the distribution and survival of species.

The United States dried seahorse trade: A comparison of traditional Chinese medicine and ecommerce-curio markets using molecular identification.

Tens of millions of dried seahorses (genus Hippocampus) are traded annually, and the pressure from this trade along with their life history traits (involved parental care and small migration distances and home ranges) has led to near global population declines. This and other forms of overexploitation have led to all seahorse species being listed in Appendix II under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The signatory nations of CITES recommended a 10-cm size limit of seahorses to ensure harvested individuals have reached reproductive maturity, and have thus had the chance to produce offspring, to maintain a more sustainable global seahorse fishery. We assessed adherence to CITES recommendations using DNA barcoding and size measurements to compare two prominent U.S. dried seahorse markets: (1) traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), and (2) non-medicinal ecommerce and coastal curio (ECC). We also estimated U.S. import abundance from CITES records. Of the nine species identified among all samples (n = 532), eight were found in the TCM trade (n = 168); composed mostly (75%) of the Indo-Pacific species Hippocampus trimaculatus, and Hippocampus spinosissimus, and the Latin American Hippocampus ingens. In contrast, ECC samples (n = 344) included 5 species, primarily juvenile Indo-Pacific Hippocampus kuda (51.5%) and the western Atlantic Hippocampus zosterae (40.7). The majority of TCM samples (85.7%) met the CITES size recommendation, in contrast to 4.8% of ECC samples. These results suggest non-size discriminatory bycatch is the most likely source of imported ECC specimens. In addition, CITES records indicate that approximately 602,275 dried specimens were imported into the U.S. from 2004-2020, but the exact species composition remains unknown as many U.S. imports records list one species or Hippocampus spp. from confiscated shipments due to difficulties in morphological identification and large numbers of individuals per shipment. Molecular identification was used to identify the species composition of confiscated shipment imports containing undesignated species, and similar to TCM, found H. trimaculatus and H. spinosissimus the most abundant. By combining DNA barcoding, size comparisons, and CITES database records, these results provide an important glimpse into the two primary dried U.S. seahorse end-markets, and may further inform the conservation status of several Hippocampus species.

Conservation genetics of endangered Trillium govanianum Wall. ex D. Don - A pharmaceutically prized medicinal plant from the Himalaya and implications for species recovery.

Understanding the genetic diversity and population structure of pharmaceutically important endangered plant species is crucial for their conservation and sustainable use. Despite the continuous population decline in Trillium govanianum Wall. ex D. Don, a highly prized medicinal plant endemic to the Himalaya, information regarding its conservation genetics has been lacking. Here, we employed a conservation genetics approach to investigate how drastically declining populations in natural habitats impact population genetic diversity and structure of this endangered species across the Kashmir Himalaya. We used Start codon targeted (SCoT) and Simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers to assess the intra- and inter-population genetic variation in seven sites across the study region. Based on these markers, we found a very low genetic diversity in T. govanianum populations. Very low levels of observed heterozygosity (Ho = 0.000) and that expected (He = 0.064) in the populations indicate high heterozygote deficiency and high levels of inbreeding depression (FIS = 1.000). A high genetic differentiation was observed among the populations for both SCoT (Gst = 0.719) and SSR (Fst = 0.707) markers. Both the markers showed low gene flow, SCoT (Nm = 0.195) and SSR (Nm = 0.119), depicting high among-population variation than within-population variation. Analysis of molecular variance also indicated a higher genetic variation between the populations than within populations. We also observed a significant positive correlation between genetic divergence and geographical distance, indicating that genetic differentiation in T. govanianum follows a pattern of isolation by distance. Bayesian structure and cluster analysis grouped the populations according to their geographical proximity. Further, redundancy analysis (RDA) revealed the presence of one polymorphic locus for each marker with high discriminatory power. Overall, our findings reveal a very low genetic diversity, high levels of inbreeding, and high genetic differentiation among the populations; likely resulting from habitat fragmentation, population isolation, bottleneck effect, low gene flow, and predominantly asexual reproduction currently operative in the species. Finally, based on the insights gained, we discuss the potential implications of our findings in guiding species recovery and habitat rehabilitation of T. govanianum in the Himalaya with conservation lessons for elsewhere in the world.

Braiding Indigenous rights and endangered species law.

Recovery targets fall short of culturally meaningful abundance.

Comparison of plastid genomes and ITS of two sister species in Gentiana and a discussion on potential threats for the endangered species from hybridization.

BACKGROUND: Gentiana rigescens Franchet is an endangered medicinal herb from the family Gentianaceae with medicinal values. Gentiana cephalantha Franchet is a sister species to G. rigescens possessing similar morphology and wider distribution. To explore the phylogeny of the two species and reveal potential hybridization, we adopted next-generation sequencing technology to acquire their complete chloroplast genomes from sympatric and allopatric distributions, as along with Sanger sequencing to produce the nrDNA ITS sequences. RESULTS: The plastid genomes were highly similar between G. rigescens and G. cephalantha. The lengths of the genomes ranged from 146,795 to 147,001 bp in G. rigescens and from 146,856 to 147,016 bp in G. cephalantha. All genomes consisted of 116 genes, including 78 protein-coding genes, 30 tRNA genes, four rRNA genes and four pseudogenes. The total length of the ITS sequence was 626 bp, including six informative sites. Heterozygotes occurred intensively in individuals from sympatric distribution. Phylogenetic analysis was performed based on chloroplast genomes, coding sequences (CDS), hypervariable sequences (HVR), and nrDNA ITS. Analysis based on all the datasets showed that G. rigescens and G. cephalantha formed a monophyly. The two species were well separated in phylogenetic trees using ITS, except for potential hybrids, but were mixed based on plastid genomes. This study supports that G. rigescens and G. cephalantha are closely related, but independent species. However, hybridization was confirmed to occur frequently between G. rigescens and G. cephalantha in sympatric distribution owing to the lack of stable reproductive barriers. Asymmetric introgression, along with hybridization and backcrossing, may probably lead to genetic swamping and even extinction of G. rigescens. CONCLUSION: G. rigescens and G. cephalantha are recently diverged species which might not have undergone stable post-zygotic isolation. Though plastid genome shows obvious advantage in exploring phylogenetic relationships of some complicated genera, the intrinsic phylogeny was not revealed because of matrilineal inheritance here; nuclear genomes or regions are hence crucial for uncovering the truth. As an endangered species, G. rigescens faces serious threats from both natural hybridization and human activities; therefore, a balance between conservation and utilization of the species is extremely critical in formulating conservation strategies.

Bird conservation status and cultural values in Indigenous Mexican communities: towards a bioculturally informed conservation policy.

BACKGROUND: We summarize comparative ethnoornithological data for ten Mexican Indigenous communities, an initial step towards a comprehensive archive of the avian diversity conserved within Mexico's Indigenous territories. We do so by counting highlighted species listed for bird conservation status on widely recognized "red lists" and their cultural value to build biocultural policies in Mexico for their conservation. METHODS: Indigenous bird names for each study site were determined to allow calculation of the "Scientific Species Recognition Ratio" (SSRR) for high cultural value birds obtained across communities. This demonstrated patterns of cultural prominence. A matrix of 1275 bird versus seven biocultural values was analysed using a correspondence analysis (InfoStat/L-v2020) to illustrate patterns of concordance between bird conservation status and cultural values. RESULTS: This paper contributes to quantitative and qualitative data on the role of ethnoornithology and ethnobiology in biocultural conservation. The areas studied provide refugia for almost 70% of the Mexican avifauna within a fraction of 1% of the national territory, that is 769 bird species recorded for all communities. The global correspondence of regions of biological and linguistic megadiversity is well established, while linguistic diversity is widely accepted as a good proxy for general cultural diversity. Our correspondence analysis explained 81.55% of the variation, indicating a strong relation between cultural importance and bird conservation status. We propose three main categories to establish a bioculturally informed public policy in Mexico for the conservation of what we described as high, medium, and bioculturally prominent bird species all include cultural value in any material or symbolic aspect. High are those species appearing on any threatened list, but also considered in any endemic status, while medium include threatened listed species. The last category included species not necessarily listed on any threat list, but with a wide range of social and cultural uses. We suggest that the concept might be extended to other species of biocultural importance. CONCLUSIONS: We argue that bird conservation policies should be biocultural, that is they should recognize birds of cultural value on a par with bird species "of special interest" because they are most critical for biodiversity conservation. The desire of local people to protect their traditional community lands and livelihoods can be an effective biodiversity conservation strategy, which should be recognized in national biocultural policies.

Minimal climate change impacts on the geographic distribution of Nepeta glomerulosa, medicinal species endemic to southwestern and central Asia.

Medicinal plants are valuable species, but their geographic distributions may be limited or exposed to extinction by climate change. Therefore, research on medicinal plants in the face of climate change is fundamental for developing conservation strategies. Distributional patterns for a semi-endemic medicinal plant species, Nepeta glomerulosa, distributed in southwestern and central Asia was determined based on a maximum-entropy algorithm. We evaluated potential geographic shifts in suitability patterns for this species under two Shared Socioeconomic Pathways scenarios (SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5) of climate change for 2060. Our models based on climatic features indicate that the species occupies montane areas under current conditions; transfer of the model to future climate scenarios indicated that suitable areas for the species will increase in general, and the species will likely track its favored set of climate conditions. But the types and degrees of these changes differ among areas. Our findings can be used to inform conservation management programs for medicinal, endemic, and endangered species that probably respond similarly to climate change in southwestern and central Asia.

Whose Knowledge? Examining the Relationship between the Traditional Medicine Sector and Environmental Conservation Using a Stakeholder Analysis: Perceptions on Warwick Herb Market Durban South Africa.

The South African traditional medicine sector is estimated to accommodate millions of citizens, despite it being informal. The existence of such a healthcare system embodies the dual system of both primary and traditional healthcare, with some preferring one and others utilising both systems. The gathering, harvesting, and selling of medicinal plant and animal species have inevitable environmental effects. The paradox between biodiversity conservation and livelihood sustenance is eminent in South Africa's contemporary environmental legislation. The purpose of the study was to highlight and examine the dynamics between prominent stakeholders involved in biodiversity conservation and the traditional medicine sector. The stakeholder analysis and political ecology approach were adopted and applied respectively to guide the study. The study was conducted in 2020 and a questionnaire was used to capture the realities and experiences of prominent stakeholders in the biodiversity sector. Common legal mandates such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD); Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES); the National Environmental Management Biodiversity Act No. 10 of 2004; Threatened or Protected Species (TOPS) regulations; and the KwaZulu-Natal Nature Conservation Ordinance 15 of 1974 are used to control and enforce legislation by biodiversity stakeholders. The main findings of the study are as follows: (a) Traditional Health Practitioners (THPs) do not have adequate training and knowledge on the environmental and legal aspects of their system; (b) Biodiversity stakeholders are treated with violence and hostility when they attempt to enforce legal mandates at the Warwick Herb Market; (c) There is a significant gap in communication and co-operation between municipal officials and biodiversity stakeholders. There is evidently, a need for environmental educational initiatives and improved methods of enforcement and communication between biodiversity stakeholders, municipal officials and THPs.

Home and hub: pet trade and traditional medicine impact reptile populations in source locations and destinations.

The pet trade and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) consumption are major drivers of global biodiversity loss. Tokay geckos (Gekko gecko) are among the most traded reptile species worldwide. In Hong Kong, pet and TCM markets sell tokay geckos while wild populations also persist. To clarify connections between trade sources and destinations, we compared genetics and stable isotopes of wild tokays in local and non-local populations to dried individuals from TCM markets across Hong Kong. We found that TCM tokays are likely not of local origin. Most wild tokays were related to individuals in South China, indicating a probable natural origin. However, two populations contained individuals more similar to distant populations, indicating pet trade origins. Our results highlight the complexity of wildlife trade impacts within trade hubs. Such trade dynamics complicate local legal regulation when endangered species are protected, but the same species might also be non-native and possibly damaging to the environment.

Eight things you should never do in a monitoring program: an Australian perspective.

Monitoring is critical to gauge the effect of environmental management interventions as well as to measure the effects of human disturbances such as climate change. Recognition of the critical need for monitoring means that, at irregular intervals, recommendations are made for new government-instigated programs or to revamp existing ones. Using insights from past well-intentioned (but sadly also often failed) attempts to establish and maintain government-instigated monitoring programs in Australia, we outline eight things that should never be done in environmental monitoring programs (if they aim to be useful). These are the following: (1) Never commence a new environmental management initiative without also committing to a monitoring program. (2) Never start a monitoring program without clear questions. (3) Never implement a monitoring program without first doing a proper experimental design. (4) Never ignore the importance of matching the purpose and objectives of a monitoring program to the design of that program. (5) Never change the way you monitor something without ensuring new methods can be calibrated with the old ones. (6) Never try to monitor everything. (7) Never collect data without planning to curate and report on it. (8) If possible, avoid starting a monitoring program without the necessary resources secured. To balance our "nevers", we provide a checklist of actions that will increase the chances a monitoring program will actually measure the effectiveness of environmental management. Scientists and resource management practitioners need to be part of a stronger narrative for, and key participants in, well-designed, implemented, and maintained government-led monitoring programs. We argue that monitoring programs should be mandated in threatened species conservation programs and all new environmental management initiatives.

Reference Genome Assembly of the Big Berry Manzanita (Arctostaphylos glauca).

Arctostaphylos (Ericaceae) species, commonly known as manzanitas, are an invaluable fire-adapted chaparral clade in the California Floristic Province (CFP), a world biodiversity hotspot on the west coast of North America. This diverse woody genus includes many rare and/or endangered taxa, and the genus plays essential ecological roles in native ecosystems. Despite their importance in conservation management, and the many ecological and evolutionary studies that have focused on manzanitas, virtually no research has been conducted on the genomics of any manzanita species. Here, we report the first genome assembly of a manzanita species, the widespread Arctostaphylos glauca. Consistent with the genomics strategy of the California Conservation Genomics project, we used Pacific Biosciences HiFi long reads and Hi-C chromatin-proximity sequencing technology to produce a de novo assembled genome. The assembly comprises a total of 271 scaffolds spanning 547Mb, close to the genome size estimated by flow cytometry. This assembly, with a scaffold N50 of 31Mb and BUSCO complete score of 98.2%, will be used as a reference genome for understanding the genetic diversity and the basis of adaptations of both common and rare and endangered manzanita species.

Chasing Chances in a Changing Sea.

Bioactive marine natural products (BMNPs) of interest for applications as drugs, antimicrobials, cosmetics, nutraceuticals, or antifoulants, are often present in traces in producer organisms and often occur in threatened or endangered species, or in organisms playing key ecological roles [...].

Modeling the effect of climate change on the distribution of threatened medicinal orchid Satyrium nepalense D. Don in India.

It is vital to understand the distribution area of a threatened plant species for its better conservation and management planning. Satyrium nepalense (family: Orchidaceae) is a threatened terrestrial orchid species with valuable medicinal and nutritional properties. The survival of S. nepalense in wild conditions has been challenged by increasing global surface temperature. Hence, understanding the impact of climate change on its potential distribution is crucial to conserve and restore this species. In present study, Maxent species distribution modeling algorithm was used to simulate the current distribution of S. nepalense in India and predict the possible range shift in projected future climate scenarios. A set of 19 bioclimatic variables from WorldClim database were used to predict the potential suitable habitats in current climatic condition and four Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP 2.6, 4.5, 6.0, and 8.5) scenarios by integrating five General Circulation Models (GCMs) for future distribution modeling of species for the years 2050 and 2070. Furthermore, change analysis was performed to identify the suitable habitat in current and future climate for delineating range expansion (gain), contraction (loss), and stable (no change) habitats of species. The Maxent model predicted that ~ 2.38% of the geographical area in India is presently climatically suitable for S. nepalense. The key bioclimatic variables affecting the distribution of studied species were the mean temperature of warmest quarter, mean temperature of wettest quarter, precipitation of warmest quarter, and temperature seasonality. Under future climate change scenarios, the total suitable habitat of S. nepalense will increase slightly in the Himalayan region and likely to migrate towards northward, but in the Western Ghats region, the suitable areas will be lost severely. The net habitat loss under four RCP scenarios was estimated from 26 to 39% for the year 2050, which could further increase from 47 to 60% by the year 2070. The finding of the predictive Maxent modeling approach indicates that warming climates could significantly affect the potential habitats of S. nepalense and hence suitable conservation measures need to be taken to protect this threatened orchid species in wild conditions.

Reproductive biology of an endangered lithophytic shrub and implications for its conservation.

BACKGROUND: Plants in cliff habitats may evolve specific reproductive strategies to cope with harsh environments, and unraveling these reproductive characteristics can improve our understanding of survival strategies and lithophyte evolution. This understanding is especially important for efforts to protect rare and endemic plants. Here, we investigated the reproductive biology of Lonicera oblata, an endangered lithophytic shrub that is scattered in highly fragmented and isolated cliff habitats of the Taihang and Yan mountains in North China. RESULTS: Flowers of L. oblata are herkogamous and protandrous, characteristics that can prevent autogamy at the single-flower level, and insects are necessary for pollination. The outcrossing index, pollen/ovule ratio, and the results of hand pollination were measured and all revealed a mixed mating system for L. oblata, that combines cross-fertilization and partial self-fertilization. The floral traits of L. oblata of zygomorphic and brightly yellowish corolla, heavy fragrance, and rich nectar, suggest an entomophilous pollination system. Sweat bees were observed as the most effective pollinators but their visiting frequencies were not high. Pollen limitation may limit the reproductive success of L. oblata. CONCLUSIONS: We determined the reproductive characteristics of L. oblata, a critically endangered species endemic to cliffs in North China, providing insight into its endangerment and suggesting conservation strategies. L. oblata has highly pollinator-dependent self-fertilization as part of a mixed mating system. Floral features such as low-flowering synchrony, asynchronous anthers dehiscence, and high duration of stigma receptivity, improve pollination efficiency in the case of low pollinator service. Our work provides reference information to understand the survival strategies and conservation of L. oblata and other lithophytes.

Threatened Cretan species Chaerophyllum creticum Boiss. & Heldr.: phenolic profile by HPLC-PDA-MS and in vitro antioxidant capacity.

In this study, the chemical content of the threatened Cretan endemic Chaerophyllum creticum Boiss. & Heldr. was investigated by High Performance Liquid chromatography-Photodiode Array-Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-PDA-MS) analysis. Leaves, flowers and stems of C. creticum, were extracted via maceration and were assessed for their polyphenolic composition and antioxidant capacity. The highest extraction yields were achieved by methanol and methanol/water. A total of 17 compounds were characterised in C. creticum with luteolin-7-O-glucoside being the predominant glucoside found in all the extracts. Malonic esters were present in all the extracts. The main flavonoids and phenolics were quantified by HPLC-UV in parallel to standard spectrophotometric assays which were used for the determination of the Total Polyphenol content and the Total Flavonoid Content. The antioxidant activity was assessed by two different tests: 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH•) free radical assay and the ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay. This is the first report on the chemical content of the Cretan endemic C. creticum.

Development of highly polymorphic microsatellite markers for Campanula glomerata L. (Campanulaceae).

BACKGROUND: Campanula glomerata L. (Campanulaceae) is a self-incompatible, insect-pollinated herb occurring in calcareous grasslands, and is declining and (critically) endangered in many parts of its European distribution range. It often exists as small and isolated populations. A recovery plan of C. glomerata has been implemented in southern Belgium, involving plant translocations. METHODS AND RESULTS: We developed microsatellite markers using an enriched genomic library and characterized 16 loci in 111 individuals from eight populations. These 16 loci were highly polymorphic, with 11 to 31 alleles per locus for a total of 329 alleles, and expected heterozygosity (He) ranging from 0.470 to 0.938. CONCLUSIONS: These highly polymorphic loci constitute a promising tool for detailed genetic analyses: assigning individuals to distinct multilocus genotypes will allow quantifying pollen dispersal, clonal propagation and sexual recruitment and identifying admixed seed progeny and their pollen donors. Evaluating the genetic status of existing populations and a genetic monitoring of the translocated populations will contribute to optimize success in restoring viable and evolutionary resilient populations.

Using target capture to address conservation challenges: Population-level tracking of a globally-traded herbal medicine.

The promotion of responsible and sustainable trade in biological resources is widely proposed as one solution to mitigate current high levels of global biodiversity loss. Various molecular identification methods have been proposed as appropriate tools for monitoring global supply chains of commercialized animals and plants. Here, we demonstrate the efficacy of target capture genomic barcoding in identifying and establishing the geographic origin of samples traded as Anacyclus pyrethrum, a medicinal plant assessed as globally vulnerable in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Samples collected from national and international supply chains were identified through target capture sequencing of 443 low-copy nuclear makers and compared to results derived from genome skimming of plastome and DNA barcoding of standard plastid regions and ITS. Both target capture and genome skimming provided approximately 3.4 million reads per sample, but target capture largely outperformed standard plant barcodes and entire plastid genome sequences. We were able to discern the geographical origin of Anacyclus samples collected in Moroccan, Indian and Sri Lankan markets, differentiating between plant materials originally harvested from diverse populations in Algeria and Morocco. Dropping costs of analysing samples enables the potential of target capture to routinely identify commercialized plant species and determine their geographic origin. It promises to play an important role in monitoring and regulation of plant species in trade, supporting biodiversity conservation efforts, and in ensuring that plant products are unadulterated, contributing to consumer protection.