Karyotype evolution in the genus Jacaranda Juss. (Jacarandeae, Bignoniaceae): chromosome numbers and heterochromatin.

Most taxa in the Bignoniaceae have 2n = 40, but the basal clade Jacarandeae has 2n = 36, suggesting that x = 18 is the ancestral basic number for the family. Variations in heterochromatin band patterns in genera that are numerically stable, such as Jacaranda, could facilitate our understanding of the chromosomal and karyotypic evolution of the family. We characterized heterochromatin distributions in six Jacaranda species using chromomycin A3 (CMA) and 4'6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI). All of them had 2n = 36, including first counts for Jacaranda bracteata Bureau & K. Schum., Jacaranda irwinii A.H. Gentry, Jacaranda jasminoides (Thunb.) Sandwith, and Jacaranda rugosa A.H. Gentry. Their karyotypes had four to eight terminal CMA+/DAPI- bands per monoploid set. In the section Monolobos, Jacaranda brasiliana (Lam.) Pers. had eight terminal bands and Jacaranda mimosifolia D. Don had four; in the section Dilobos, J. bracteata had six bands per monoploid set, with the other species having five. While three species in the section Dilobos had the same number of terminal bands, J. irwinii had two additional pericentromeric bands and a proximal heterozygotic band, and J. bracteata had two distended CMA bands. The consistent records of 2n = 36 in Jacaranda may represent a plesiomorphic condition for the Bignoniaceae; therefore, the family originated from an ancestor with x = 18. However, 2n = 36 may represent a derived condition, and the family could have had an ancestral basic number of x = 20 that is still conserved in most representatives of the family.

Bond order effects on the optoelectronic properties of oxygen/sulfur functionalized adamantanes.

The objective of this work, is to study adamantanes and to tune their bandgap, since pure adamantane is considered as an insulator due to its high bandgap energy. For this, we doped adamantane with oxygen and sulfur atoms, thus obtaining 730 different structures with double bonds and 730 different structures with single bonds, for a total of 1460 structures, and compared their properties. Among all, 31 molecules were selected that best represented the reduced bandgap behavior. The calculations with greater precision in its results were made using the Local Density Approximation (LDA), in the Density-Functional Theory (DFT) formalism, with PWC functional and TNP basis set. The electronic and optical properties were analyzed, by calculating the energy gap and absorption spectrum. Importantly, we observed that molecules doped with sulfur atoms (double bonds) had their energy gap reduced significantly compared to molecules doped with sulfur and/or oxygen atom with single bonds and pristine adamantane. It was found that in the absorption spectrum, the sulfur-doped structures had their spectrum shifted to the visible region, a fact that becomes relevant for potential dyes and optoelectronic applications. From the seven selected functionalized adamantanes (ADD-04, ADD-05, ADD-07, ADD-19, ADD-20, ADD-41, and ADD-48), any of these could be used as a dye. However, the ADD-20 molecule in particular, which presented optical absorption near (RGB) primary colors, could indicate a potential quantum dot material for application in developing screens of various electronic devices.