DCDB: Chromosome Database of Tribe Delphinieae (Ranunculaceae): Structure, Exploitation, and Recent Development.

An updated (and now online) version of the former chromosome database of tribe Delphinieae (Ranunculaceae) is presented ( http://www.delphinieae.online ). This new version is the result of an accurate, exhaustive literature and Internet research, by adding chromosome counts and all related karyological information for the genera Aconitum L., Gymnaconitum (Stapf) Wei Wang & Z. D. Chen, Delphinium L. (including Staphisagria Spach), Consolida (DC.) S. F. Gray and Aconitella Spach, accumulated during the approximately last 25 years and that comprise worldwide published data from 1889 to 2021. The Delphinieae Chromosome Database (DCDB) (last updated 31.12.2021) contains a total number of 3435 reports belonging to 425 species (503 taxa), which represents 48.6% of the total species of the tribe (an increase of c. 213% and 32% compared with the 1097 and 2598 reports gathered in the 1999 and 2016 versions, respectively). This increase is due both to chromosome research progress and to improved information capture system. Moreover, recent taxonomic advances, synonymization, and new phylogenetic criteria have also been considered.The DCDB database provides the most complete currently available information on published chromosome numbers, ploidy-level estimates, and other karyological data of Delphinieae, and it is aimed to be useful for the building of cytotaxonomical databases and for specific research ongoing projects of systematics and evolution of Ranunculaceae. DCDB includes two levels of taxonomic resolution, published name (original and standardized form) and database accepted name (based on either Plants of the World - POWO or expert specialist criteria), as well as the geographic origin of each count (country, locality, geographic coordinates, elevation, or ecological information when reported in the original publication), associated karyological data if originally provided (studied material type, graphic information, chromosome measures and formulas, satellites, B chromosomes, other cytogenetic techniques used, etc.), voucher information and reference (with DOI and other links to access the original document). An effort to check the original sources and to search in grey literature allowed to indicate the counts that appear to be registered twice.

Floral Organogenesis in Three Members of the Tribe Delphinieae (Ranunculaceae).

Three species (Aconitum taipeicum, Delphinium giraldii, and Consolida ajacis) of the tribe Delphinieae (Ranunculaceae) were examined using scanning electron microscopy and histological methods. The results showed that members of Delphinieae differ from their polysymmetrical relatives by four unique features: (1) a spiral phyllotaxis of their perianth and stamens, and a series of carpels, which initiated superficially in a whorl-liked arrangement; (2) sepal 2 being the largest one among the five sepals and becoming helmet-shaped or having a spur; (3) petals 2 and 5 initiated adaxially of sepal 2 and also becoming spurred; and (4) the monosymmetry of the first flower becoming established when sepal 2 becomes the largest. Major differences among the species include the timing of development of the second series; the fusion of two petals into a single one in C. ajacis; and, during early developmental stages, the two young spurred petals giving rise to a stalk and two bulges in A. taipeicum, a single bulge in D. giraldii, or an arch blade in C. ajacis. The unequal growth of the perianth, together with the reduction and the rearrangement of the carpels, are critical in inducing the symmetrical transformation of the flowers.