Phylogenomic framework of the IRLC legumes (Leguminosae subfamily Papilionoideae) and intercontinental biogeography of tribe Wisterieae.

The inverted repeat-lacking clade (IRLC) is one of the most derived clades within the subfamily Papilionoideae of the legume family, and includes various economically important plants, e.g., chickpeas, peas, liquorice, and the largest genus of angiosperms, Astragalus. Tribe Wisterieae is one of the earliest diverged groups of the IRLC, and its generic delimitation and spatiotemporal diversification needs further clarifications. Based on genome skimming data, we herein reconstruct the phylogenomic framework of the IRLC, and infer the inter-generic relationships and historical biogeography of Wisterieae. We redefine tribe Caraganeae to contain Caragana only, and tribe Astragaleae is reduced to the Erophaca-Astragalean clade. The chloroplast capture scenario was hypothesized as the most plausible explanation of the topological incongruences between the chloroplast CDSs and nuclear ribosomal DNA trees in both the Glycyrrhizinae-Adinobotrys-Wisterieae clade and the Chesneyeae-Caraganeae-Hedysareae clade. A new name, Caragana lidou L. Duan & Z.Y. Chang, is proposed within Caraganeae. Thirteen genera are herein supported within Wisterieae, including a new genus, Villosocallerya L. Duan, J. Compton & Schrire, segregated from Callerya. Our biogeographic analyses suggest that Wisterieae originated in the late Eocene and its most recent common ancestor (MRCA) was distributed in continental southeastern Asia. Lineages of Wisterieae remained in the ancestral area from the early Oligocene to the early Miocene. By the middle Miocene, Whitfordiodendron and the MRCA of Callerya-Kanburia-Villosocallerya Clade became disjunct between the Sunda area and continental southeastern Asia, respectively; the MRCA of Wisteria migrated to North America via the Bering land bridge. The ancestor of Austrocallerya and Padbruggea migrated to the Wallacea-Oceania area, which split in the early Pliocene. In the Pleistocene, Wisteria brachybotrys, W. floribunda and Wisteriopsis japonica reached Japan, and Callerya cinerea dispersed to South Asia. This study provides a solid phylogenomic for further evolutionary/biogeographic/systematic investigations on the ecologically diverse and economically important IRLC legumes.

Chloroplast Phylogenomics Reveals the Intercontinental Biogeographic History of the Liquorice Genus (Leguminosae: Glycyrrhiza).

The liquorice genus, Glycyrrhiza L. (Leguminosae), is a medicinal herb with great economic importance and an intriguing intercontinental disjunct distribution in Eurasia, North Africa, the Americas, and Australia. Glycyrrhiza, along with Glycyrrhizopsis Boiss. and Meristotropis Fisch. & C.A.Mey., comprise Glycyrrhiza s.l. Here we reconstructed the phylogenetic relationships and biogeographic history in Glycyrrhiza s.l. using sequence data of whole chloroplast genomes. We found that Glycyrrhiza s.l. is sister to the tribe Wisterieae and is divided into four main clades. Clade I, corresponds to Glycyrrhizopsis and is sister to Glycyrrhiza sensu Meng. Meristotropis is embedded within Glycyrrhiza sensu Meng, and these two genera together form Clades II-IV. Based on biogeographic analyses and divergence time dating, Glycyrrhiza s.l. originated during the late Eocene and its most recent common ancestor (MRCA) was distributed in the interior of Eurasia and the circum-Mediterranean region. A vicariance event, which was possibly a response to the uplifting of the Turkish-Iranian Plateau, may have driven the divergence between Glycyrrhiza sensu Meng and Glycyrrhizopsis in the Middle Miocene. The third and fourth main uplift events of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau may have led to rapid evolutionary diversification within Glycyrrhiza sensu Meng. Subsequently, the MRCA of Clade II might have migrated to North America (G. lepidota) via the Bering land bridge during the early Pliocene, and reached temperate South America (G. astragalina) by long-distance dispersal (LDD). Within Clade III, the ancestor of G. acanthocarpa arrived at southern Australia through LDD after the late Pliocene, whereas all other species (the SPEY clade) migrated to the interior of Eurasia and the Mediterranean region in the early Pleistocene. The MRCA of Clade IV was restricted in the interior of Eurasia, but its descendants have become widespread in temperate regions of the Old World Northern Hemisphere during the last million years.

Chemical constituents of essential oils from three Vietnamese species of Pinus / Constituyentes químicos de los aceites esenciales de tres especies Vietnamitas de Pinus

This paper reports the chemical composition of essential oils obtained from Pinus dalatensis Ferré, Pinus kwangtungensis Chun ex. Tsiang and Pinus armandii subsp. xuannhaensis L.K. Phan. The oils were studied by gas chromatograpgy (GC) and gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The main constituents of P. dalatensis were the terpene hydrocarbons namely α-pinene (38.2%), ß- pinene (25.3%), ß-myrcene (11.0%) and ß-caryophyllene (10.5%), while α-cedrol (19.2%) was the only significant compound of P. armandi subsp. xuannhaensis. P. kwangtungensis showed ß-pinene (26.3%), α-pinene (18.0%), limonene (16.1%) and ß-myrcene (10.4%) as the dominant compounds. The volatile constituents of P. dalatensis and P. armandi subsp. xuannhaensis are being reported for the first time.

En este artículo se reportan los constituyentes químicos de los aceites esenciales de Pinus dalatensis Ferré, Pinus kwangtungensis Chun ex. Tsiang y Pinus armandii subsp. Xuannhaensis L.K. Phan que se analizaron mediante cromatografía de Gases (GC) y por Cromatografía de Gases acoplada a la Espectrometría de Masas (GC-EM). Los principales constituyentes de P. dalatensis fueron los hidrocarburos terpénicos, a saber, α-pineno (38.2%), ß-pineno (25.3%), ß-mirceno (11.0%) y ß-cariofileno (10.5%). Por otro lado, α- cedrol (19.2%) fue el único compuesto significativo de P. armandi subsp. Xuannhaensis mientras que el aceite de P. kwangtungensis estuvo dominado por ß-pineno (26.3%), α-pineno (18.0%), limoneno (16.1%) y ß-mirceno (10.4%). Los constituyentes volátiles de P. dalatensis y P. armandi subsp. xuannhaensis se informa por primera vez.

"Studies on biodiversity of Vietnam and Laos" 1998-2005: examining the impact.

The impact of the University of Illinois at Chicago-based Vietnam-Laos International Cooperative Biodiversity Group (ICBG) Program "Studies on Biodiversity of Vietnam and Laos", which has been in operation for the period of 1998-2005, touches on five major areas of endeavor: (a) biodiversity inventory and conservation; (b) studies on medicinal plants; (c) drug discovery and development; (d) economic development; and (e) issues on intellectual property rights and benefit sharing in natural products drug discovery and development. Highlights are presented and the significance is discussed.