Synopsis of the south american species of Vismia (Guttiferae)

To compare hypothesized species boundaries in Gambelia to patterns of differentiation inferred from morphology and isozymes, we examined nine populations for divergence at 22 isozyme loci and 29 OTU's/populations for morphological divergence using 20 characters. Thirteen quantitative and seven qualitative characters were analyzed using clustering (UPGMA) and ordination (PCA, CVA) methods. Placement of North American shrub snapdragons in Gambelia separate from southern hemisphere species (Galvezia s. str.) was supported by numerous qualitative morphological and genetic differences. Within Gambelia, the pattern of morphological and isozyme variation is most concordant with recognition of two species, G. speciosa and G. juncea, based on the phylogenetic species concept. Each species can be defined by several invariant and unique morphological and isozyme characters. Delimitation of infraspecific taxa in G. speciosa is unwarranted, because no consistent interpopulation differentiation was observed. Recognition of segregate species within the G. juncea complex of Baja California and Sonora also was not supported. No constant morphological differences were observed for either G. glabrata or G. rupicola. Biogeographic and systematic data support hypotheses that the California Island endemic G. speciosa is relictual, that disjunct Sonoran populations of G. juncea were established recently, and that populations of G. juncea from the Cape Region of Baja California have been isolated since the Holocene. Generic and specific delimitation among New World shrub snapdragons are problematic. At the generic level, Munz (1926), Munz and Keck (1959), and Pennell (unpubl. data) treat all New World species in Galvezia Dombey; Rothmaler (1943, 1954) places North American species in two genera (Gambelia Nuttall and Saccularia Kellogg) and South American species in Galvezia; whereas Sutton (1988), in the most recent revision, includes all North American species in Gambelia and the South American and Galapagos species in Galvezia. Delimitation of species is equally unresolved. Two (Munz 1926; Wiggins 1980) to four (Rothmaler 1943; Sutton 1988) North American species commonly are recognized; recent treatments delimit one to three South American species and a Galapagos endemic. Differing treatments of North American taxa primarily reflect disparities in taxonomic rank accorded to the morphological variants of Gambelia juncea (Bentham) Sutton s.l. The present study examines genetic and morphological divergence among North American taxa. The initial taxonomic organization follows Sutton (1988), who delimits four species without infraspecific taxa in Gambelia. The species occur on the California Islands of the southwestern U.S.A. and Mexico, coastal Sonora, and the offshore islands and peninsula of Baja California in Mexico (Fig. 1): G. speciosa Nuttall (southern California Islands), G. juncea (Sonora, Baja California), and two species recognized by Sutton from the Cape Region of Baja California Sur, G. rupicola (Brandegee) Sutton and G. glabrata (Brandegee) Sutton. All species are longlived shrubs with showy red corollas and occur on cliffs and in washes and canyons from sea level to 1500 m. Gambelia speciosa is an island endemic occurring in only a few, small populations on Santa Catalina, San Clemente, and Guadalupe islands. Although G. speciosa is placed alternately in the genera Galvezia, Antirrhinum L., and Maurandya Ortega, Gambelia speciosa has not been submerged in another species and infraspecific variants have not been described. Besides its insular distribution, G. speciosa is differentiated readily from all other shrub snapdragon species by a personate corolla (throat closed by an expanded palate). The other three species recognized by Sutton in Gambelia constitute the G. juncea complex, which is segregated by Rothmaler (1943) into Saccularia. Because of polymorphism in inflorescence pubescence, leaf size and shape, stem and leaf pubescence, and calyx segment shape, taxa in the G. juncea complex are treated vari-

Detection of swainsonine-producing endophytes in Patagonian Astragalus species

Chromosome numbers are presented for the first time for 30 accessions of nine south-eastern South American Lupinus species. Chromosome numbers of 2n = 32 and 34 were found for L. bracteolaris (three out of five accessions with 2n = 32) and L. linearis (two out of three accessions with 2n = 32), and of 2n = 36 for L. gibertianus, L. lanatus, L. magnistipulatus, L. multiflorus, L. rubriflorus, L. reitzii and L. uleanus. All the South American species examined have relatively low chromosome numbers when compared with most of the Old World and North American species. Our results, where 2n = 36 is the rule, are in sharp contrast to the data for North American Lupinus species and reveal the following: (1) low chromosome numbers are the rule, at least in the southern part of eastern South America; (2) cytologically, the eastern South American species form a group distinct from the North American taxa; (3) high levels of polyploidy have not played as important a role in evolution and speciation in eastern South America as in North America; (4) the predominance of low chromosome numbers in eastern South American species and the existence of similar numbers in two of the six rough-seeded Old World species support the hypothesis that in the evolution of the genus the eastern South American species branched off first, followed by the rough-seeded group. © 2002 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Socety, 2002, 139, 395–400.

Historical reconstructions within Podocarpaceae have provided valuable information to disentangle biogeographic scenarios that begun 65 Mya. However, early molecular phylogenies of Podocarpaceae failed to agree on the intergeneric relationships within the family. The aims of this study were to test whether plastome organization is stable within the genus Podocarpus, to estimate the selective regimes affecting plastome protein-coding genes, and to strengthen our understanding of the phylogenetic relationships and biogeographic history. We sequenced the plastomes of four South American species from Patagonia, southern Yungas, and Brazilian subtropical forests. We compared their plastomes to those published from Brazil, Africa, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia, along with representatives from other genera within Podocarpaceae as outgroups. The four newly sequenced plastomes ranged in size between 133,791bp and 133,991bp. Gene content and order among chloroplasts from South American, African and Asian Podocarpus were conserved and different from the plastome of P. totara, from New Zealand. Most genes showed substitution patterns consistent with a conservative selective regime. Phylogenies inferred from either complete sequences or protein coding regions were mostly congruent with previous studies, but showed earlier branching of P. salignus, P. totara and P. sellowii. Highly similar and conserved plastomes of African, South American and Asian species suggest that P. totara plastome should be revised and compared to other species from Oceanic distribution. Furthermore, given such structural conservation, we suggest plastome sequencing is not useful to test whether genomic order can be climatically or geologically structured.

Conservation assessments using herbarium data reveal a genus at risk: The case of Cordia L. (Cordiaceae) in South America

The pantropical genus Dalbergia includes more than 250 species. Phylogenetic studies of the group are scarce and have only included two or three species distributed in Mexico. We obtained herbarium samples of Mexican, Central American, and South American species (sourced from MEXU). In addition, sequences of GenBank accessions were used to complement the study. Using internal transcribed spacer (ITS), the matK and rbcL sequences from 384 accessions comprising species from America, Asia, and Africa were sampled to evaluate phylogenetic relationships of Mexican species and infrageneric classifications based on morphological data. Phylogenetic analyses suggest that the genus Dalbergia is monophyletic and originated in South America. The species distributed in Mexico are not a monophyletic clade but are divided into four clades with affinities to South American and Asian species clades. There is no correlation between geography and large-scale phylogeny. The estimated ages of the Mexican and Central American clades ranged from 11.32 Ma (Dalbergia granadillo clade) to 1.88 Ma (Dalbergia ecastaphyllum clade). Multiple long-distance dispersal events should be used to explain the current genus distribution.

In vitro organogenesis and plant regeneration of Passiflora xishuangbannaensis, a species with extremely small populations

Notolathyrus is a section of South American endemic species of the genus Lathyrus. The origin, phylogenetic relationship and delimitation of some species are still controversial. The present study provides an exhaustive analysis of the karyotypes of approximately half (10) of the species recognized for section Notolathyrus and four outgroups (sections Lathyrus and Orobus) by cytogenetic mapping of heterochromatic bands and 45S and 5S rDNA loci. The bulk of the parameters analyzed here generated markers to identify most of the chromosomes in the complements of the analyzed species. Chromosome banding showed interspecific variation in the amount and distribution of heterochromatin, and together with the distribution of rDNA loci, allowed the characterization of all the species studied here. Additionally, some of the chromosome parameters described (st chromosomes and the 45S rDNA loci) constitute the first diagnostic characters for the Notolathyrus section. Evolutionary, chromosome data revealed that the South American species are a homogeneous group supporting the monophyly of the section. Variation in the amount of heterochromatin was not directly related to the variation in DNA content of the Notolathyrus species. However, the correlation observed between the amount of heterochromatin and some geographical and bioclimatic variables suggest that the variation in the heterochromatic fraction should have an adaptive value.

The South American species of Belidae are revised. These weevils are considered primitive Curculionoidea, due to some morphological aspects, the phytophagous habits of many species, the correlation with pteridophytes (ferns) and gymnosperms (mainly conifers) and their remarkably discontinuous distribution. Living species are know only from Australia, Tasmania, New Guinea, New Zealand and southern South America. The bulk of species is found in Australia. No fossils are as yet known. Unfortunately these weevils are very rare, at least in collections, and this scarcity may be related to the almost unknown biology of the group. New data on the internal anatomy of Homalocerus lyciformis Boh., as well as other data gathered in this revision, support the idea of the group's primitiveness and its family status, the latter still discussed by some authors. Fourteen South American species are recognized in this study, three of which described as new, all from Brazil: Dicordylus serranus, n. sp. (type-locality, Brazil, State of Minas Gerais, Serra do Caraça); Homalocerus flavicornis, n. sp. (type-locality, Brazil, State of Rio de Janeiro); Homalocerus longirostris, n. sp. (typ,e-locality, Brazil, State of Santa Catarina, Rio Vermelho). Two names are placed in synonymy: Homalocerus punctum Pascoe, syn. n. of Homalocerus nigripennis Boh., and Homalocerus zikani Bondar, syn. n. of Homalocerus xixim Bondar. The new genus Atractuchus is erected for a Chilean species formerly placed in Dicordylus. The splitting of Dicordylus binotatus and Atractuchus annulifer in subspecies, as suggested by Kuschel (1959), is briefly dismissed and maintained, even though this subject should need further analyses, based on more representative material. The distribution of each species is mapped and discussed. The genus Dicordylus, previously thought to be endemic to the Chilean Subregion is for the first time recorded from Brazil. An attempt is made to give the phylogenetic trends for the South American genera and species.

The South American species of the New World genus Bidessonotus Régimbart, 1895 are reviewed with descriptions of seven new species. This brings the total number of valid Bidessonotus species to 37, making it the largest Bidessini genus in the New World. The new species are Bidessonotusannaesp. n. (Venezuela), Bidessonotusjosiahisp. n. (Venezuela), Bidessonotuspalecephalussp. n. (Venezuela), Bidessonotusreductussp. n. (Venezuela), Bidessonotusseptimussp. n. (Venezuela), Bidessonotusspinosussp. n. (Venezuela), and Bidessonotusvaldezisp. n. (Guyana, Suriname). New distribution records are provided for many other South American Bidessonotus species. The main diagnostic features of Bidessonotus species are in the male genitalia, and these are illustrated for all South American species. Diagnostic features, distributions (including distribution maps), and additional comments are provided for all South American species.

With ca. 300 species of herbs, shrubs and subshrubs adapted to saline or alkaline soils, the evolution of the genus Atriplex is key to understand the development of semi‐arid environments worldwide. Previous phylogenetic analyses of Atriplex, including only a few species from South America, especially in comparison with North American species represented, proposed a North American origin for the South American Atriplex, through more than one dispersal event. Since South America is one of the four centres of Atriplex diversity, with a high number of endemic species, a wider and more representative sampling of this region is essential to understand the origin and evolution of the genus Atriplex in the Americas. We performed a phylogenetic analysis with estimated clade ages and an ancestral range estimation focused on the American species of Atriplex, to identify South American lineages, their relationships with other lineages of the genus (and particularly with North American ones), and to unravel their biogeographical history in the Americas. Phylogenetic analyses were conducted with sequence data from ITS, ETS and atpB‐rbcL spacer markers, using maximum parsimony, Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood approaches. The DEC+J model implemented in BioGeoBEARS was applied in order to infer ancestral ranges. The Americas were colonized by Atriplex in two independent dispersal events: (1) the C4 Atriplex from Eurasia or Australia, and (2) the C3 Atriplex (represented only by the extant A. chilensis) from Eurasia. The C4 American lineage of Atriplex originated roughly 10.4 Ma (95% HPD = 13.31–7.62 Myr) in South America, where two lineages underwent in situ diversification and evolved sympatrically. North America was colonized by Atriplex from South America; later, one lineage moved from North America to South America. Most of the extant species have arisen in the last 3–4 Myr, in Pliocene–Pleistocene. We detected some South American taxa differing in position between both nuclear and atpB‐rbcL spacer partitions, which could be explained by chloroplast capture.

The name Myosurus aristatus Bentham is illegitimate, and the North American material often treated as M. aristatus is conspecific with M. apetalus Gay of Chile. The name Myosurus apetalus var. borealis Whittemore is described for the North American taxon previously treated as M. aristatus subsp. aristatus, and the new combination M. apetalus var. montanus (G. R. Campbell) Whittemore is made for the taxon previously treated as M. aristatus subsp. montanus (G. R. Campbell) D. E. Stone. The genus Myosurus L. (Ranunculaceae) consists of ca. 15 species found in temperate regions of both hemispheres (Mabberley, 1993). The genus is often considered taxonomically difficult, since the plants are predominantly self-fertilizing and interspecific hybridization is not uncommon (Stone, 1959). However, the North American species are relatively well understood, due largely to the work of Stone (1957, 1959, 1960). One of the North American species has commonly been known under the name Myosurus aristatus Bentham (Campbell, 1952; Davis, 1952; Dorn, 1984, 1992; Hitchcock & Cronquist, 1964; Kearney & Peebles, 1964; Munz & Keck, 1959). However, this name is illegitimate, having been published originally as an avowed substitute for the legitimate name M. apetalus Gay (type from Chile). The North and South American plants have been considered conspecific by Lourteig (1951), Raven (1963), Weber & Wittmann (1992), and Wilken (1993). Stone (1957, 1960) recognized two subspecies, M. aristatus subsp. aristatus and M. aristatus subsp. montanus (G. R. Campbell) D. E. Stone, differing in characters of the sepals and fruiting heads. However, names for these taxa in M. apetalus have never been published. Campbell (1952) considered M. apetalus to be a purely South American species and listed five supposed differences between it and M. aristatus of North America: achenes more than 50 per head in M. apetalus, fewer than 50 in M. aristatus; achene beaks 0.5 mm long in M. apetalus, 1-1.5 mm in M. aristatus; scapes only slightly exceed leaves in M. apetalus, 2-3 times longer in M. aristatus; sepals 3-5-nerved in M. apetalus, 1-nerved in M. aristatus; sepals retained on fruiting spikes in M. apetalus, shed after anthesis in M. aristatus. However, Campbell had little material from South America, and apparently the revision of the South American species by Lourteig (1951) was not available at the time of Campbell's study. The plants are more variable than Campbell indicated. The number of achenes per head varies from 15 to 100 in South American material; sepals in the South American plant may be either retained on the fruiting spikes or shed after anthesis; the achene beaks vary from 0.2 to 0.9 mm long, 0.3-0.9 times as long as the achene body, in the South American plant, while they are usually longer (0.6-1.4 mm long, 0.5-1.0 tim s as long as the achene body) in North American material; the scapes at most slightly exceed the l aves in South American specimens, while they are often, but not always, longer in North America; the sepals are 3-5-nerved in the South American plant, similar to sepals of the North American M. aristatus subsp. montanus but unlike the strongly 1-nerved sepals of M. aristatus subsp. aristatus sensu Stone. Since none of the differences between North and S uth American material are absolute, but all overlap, I agree with Lourteig (1951), Raven (1963), Weber & Wittmann (1992), and Wilken (1993) that they are best considered conspecific. However, since several characters show different (though overlapping) ranges of variation on the two continents, separation of the species into varieties seems appropriate. These taxa have been fully described and illustrated by Lourteig (1951), Campbell (1952), and Stone (1957), and a full treatment of the genus in North America north of Mexico will be published (Whittemore, in press). However, the necessary nomenclature must first be validated. Myosurus apetalus Gay, Fl. Chil. 1: 31. 1845. Myosurus aristatus Bentham ex Hooker f. London J. Bot. 6: 458. 1847, illegitimate, earlier name included. TYPE: Chile. Prov. de Coquimbo, damp places in the Cordilleras de las Patos, elev. 11,200 ft., C. Gay (no longer extant?). NOVON 4: 77-79. 1994. This content downloaded from 157.55.39.105 on Fri, 13 Jan 2017 18:14:20 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms

Species that are geographically widespread may exist across environmentally heterogeneous landscapes that could influence patterns of occupation and phylogeographic structure. Previous studies have suggested that geographic range size should be positively correlated with niche breadth, allowing widespread species to sustain viable populations over diverse environmental gradients. We examined the congruence of phenotypic and phylogenetic divergence with the environmental factors that help maintain species level diversity in the geographically widespread hoary bats (Lasiurus cinereus sensu lato) across their distribution. Genetic sequences were analyzed using multiple phylogenetic and species delimitation methods, and phenotypic data were analyzed using supervised and unsupervised machine learning approaches. Spatial data from environmental, geographic, and topographic features were analyzed in a multiple regression analysis to determine their relative effect on phenotypic diversity. Ecological niches of each hoary bat species were examined in environmental space to quantify niche overlap, equivalency, and the magnitude of niche differentiation. Phylogenetic and species delimitation analyses support existence of three geographically structured species of hoary bat, each of which is phenotypically distinct. However, the Hawaiian hoary bat is morphologically more similar to the South American species than to the North American species despite a closer phylogenetic relationship to the latter. Multiple regression and niche analyses revealed higher environmental similarities between the South American and Hawaiian species. Hoary bats thus exhibit a pattern of phenotypic variation that disagrees with well-supported genetic divergences, instead indicating phenotypic convergence driven by similar environmental features and relatively conserved niches occupied in tropical latitudes.

The proportion of foragers in ant colonies is a fairly constant species-specific characteristic that could be determined by intrinsic or extrinsic factors. If intrinsic factors are relevant, species with similar life history characteristics (e.g., colony size and foraging strategies) would be expected to have a similar proportion of foragers in their colonies. Within the genus Pogonomyrmex, North American species can vary largely in their colony size, whereas only species with small colonies are known in South America. We studied the characteristics of the foraging subcaste in three sympatric South American species of Pogonomyrmex harvester ants, and compared it with the available information on other species of the same genus. We used two mark-recapture methods and colony excavations to estimate the number and proportion of foragers in the colonies of P. mendozanus, P. inermis, and P. rastratus, and to test the relationship between forager external activity levels and abundance per colony. Forager abundance in the three studied species was lower than in most North American species. The percentage of foragers in their colonies ranged 7–15 %, more similar to North American species with large colonies than to those with small colony size. Foraging activity was positively correlated with forager abundance in all three species, implying that colony allocation to number of foragers allows for higher food acquisition. Further comparative studies involving a wider range of traits in South and North American species would allow to unveil the role of environmental factors in shaping each species’ particular traits.

The association of cytogenetic and molecular techniques has contributed to the analysis of chromosome organization and phylogeny in plants. The fluorochrome GC-specific CMA 3 , fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) and RAPD (Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA) markers were used to investigate chromosome structure and genetic relationships in Hypochaeris (Asteraceae). Seven species native to South America, and two species introduced from Europe (H. glabra and Hypochaeris sp) were studied. FISH with rDNA probes identified one or two loci of 18S-5.8S-25S rDNA in the South American Hypochaeris species and one locus in the European species. Only one 5S rDNA locus was seen in all species studied. Blocks of GC-rich heterochromatin (CMA-positive bands) associated to 18S-5.8S-25SrDNA loci were detected in all species investigated. Co-location of 5S rDNA and CMA bands was also observed, except for three South American species and Hypochaeris sp. In two South American species, additional CMA bands not related to rDNA were observed on the long arm of chromosome 2, near to the centromere. Hypochaeris glabra exhibited additional CMA-positive signals distributed at pericentromeric regions, on the short arms of all chromosomes. A total of 122 RAPD markers were used to determine the genetic relationships among species. The level of polymorphism was very high, revealing two genetic groups comprising the South American and the European species, thus supporting a previous hypothesis of monophyly of the South American Hypochaeris species. The coefficients of genetic similarity between European and South American species were 0.35, on average. Polymorphism was also high within the two groups. The genetic associations observed with RAPD markers were consistent with chromosome characteristics. Species carrying similar distribution of 45S rDNA loci and CMA-positive signals were included in the same group revealed by RAPDs. Cytogenetic and molecular data support the view that not only chromosome rearrangements, but also changes in DNA sequence took place during the diversification of the South American Hypochaeris species.