Abstract
The seed morphology and seed proteins of 11 Vicia taxa from Egypt were studied. Macro- and micro-morphological characters, including seed shape, color, size, hilum shape and seed sculpture were described and analyzed. The secondary sculpture of the cell wall varies from papillose in nearly all Vicia species to lophate in V. hirsuta. Further, the seed proteins of studied taxa were investigated by SDS-PAGE and 39 different bands were scored. The similarity analysis based on the SDS-PAGE profile and seed morphology was found to be a useful characteristic for the discrimination of Vicia species both on the subgeneric and the sectional levels. The present study did not acknowledge V. tetrasperma and V. hirsuta as subgenus Ervum. As a result, division of Vicia into two subgenera i.e. Vicia and Cracca, is supported.
Highlights
The genus Vicia L. belongs to tribe Vicieae of the Fabaceae family
Our results indicated that V. sativa and V. angustifolia formed a group with about 67% similarity
Data agreed with the traditional results based on morphology (DIKLIC, 1972; SOÓ, 1996) and with recent results on phylogenetic analyses (POTOKINA et al, 1999; LEHT, 2009) which revealed that section Vicia is a well-separated section
Summary
The genus Vicia L. belongs to tribe Vicieae of the Fabaceae family. The number of species in the genus varies significantly, ranging from about 150 accepted species by Kupicha (1976) up to about 210 species by Hanelt and Mettin (1989). The genus is mainly distributed throughout the temperate zone of the northern hemisphere and extends into non-tropical South America. Vicia is represented by 14 species in Egypt (BOULOS, 1999). The infrageneric classification of the genus Vicia is debatable. Kupicha (1976) divided the genus into two subgenera (subgenus Vicia and subgenus Vicilla) and 22 sections, instead of three or four sections as described by earlier authors (BALL, 1968; DAVIS; PLITMANN, 1970; FEDTSCHENKO, 1948; RADZHI, 1970) The infrageneric classification of the genus Vicia is debatable. Kupicha (1976) divided the genus into two subgenera (subgenus Vicia and subgenus Vicilla) and 22 sections, instead of three or four sections as described by earlier authors (BALL, 1968; DAVIS; PLITMANN, 1970; FEDTSCHENKO, 1948; RADZHI, 1970)
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