Anthyllis Hermanniae Research Articles

In Vitro Seed and Clonal Propagation of the Mediterranean Bee Friendly Plant Anthyllis hermanniae L.

Anthyllis hermanniae L. (Fabaceae) is a perennial Mediterranean shrub with the potential to be used as a bee-friendly ornamental plant in arid and semi-arid regions, valued for its tolerance of barren soils, winds, and strong temperature changes. With the aim of facilitating the introduction of the species into the horticulture industry, its in vitro seed and clonal propagation was investigated for the first time, to our knowledge. Seeds stored in the dark at room temperature for 4, 7, 9, 12, and 18 months germinated at percentages higher than 80% after scarification, when incubated in vitro in solid half-strength Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium at temperatures from 10 to 25 °C, while photoperiod (continuous darkness or 16 h light period/8 h dark) during incubation did not affect germination. Explants excised from in vitro grown seedlings established at higher percentages compared to explants from adult native plants, more efficiently in MS medium with 1.0 mg L−1 6 N benzyladenine (BA). During subcultures in the same medium, juvenile explants formed more and longer shoots than adult ones. Almost all adult explants formed shoots when subcultured in MS medium with 0.0 to 4.0 mg L−1 BA, zeatin, kinetin or 6-(γ,γ-dimethylallylamino)purine (2iP). ΒA at 0.5 to 2.0 mg L−1 induced many more shoots (17–21) per explant and much higher multiplication indices compared to all other cytokinins, while longer shoots were produced in a medium without hormones or with 0.5–1.0 mg L−1 2iP. Microshoots cultured in half-strength MS medium with 0.0–4.0 mg L−1 indole-3-butyric acid rooted at highest percentage (around 70%) in the medium containing 4.0 mg L−1 IBA, while microshoots of juvenile origin developed more and longer roots compared to adult ones. Micropropagated plantlets were successfully acclimatized ex vitro (>97%), regardless of their origin. The efficient micropropagation of A. hermaniae will facilitate its sustainable exploitation as a bee-friendly landscape plant, a forage plant for honeybees in Mediterranean areas, and a medicinal plant.

<i>Anthyllis hermanniae</i> L. subsp. <i>brutia</i> Brullo & Giusso (Fabaceae): population survey and conservation tasks

Anthyllis hermanniae subsp. brutia, is an Italian endemic shrub occurring just in one locality by the Calabrian Ionian coast in southern Italy. Objective of this study is to provide data on population numbers, demography and ecology, as well as to identify the main threats on the long term conservation of the target taxon. The survey has been carried out through field census work, sampling biometric and dendrometric data, and applying simple statistics. The population, counting totally 962 individuals, is divided in two stands concentrated in the central part of the distribution area. It is restricted to a narrow belt on the inland part of the dune slope encompassed between an artificial pine forest at the dune top, and the dune-specialized vegetation on the slope. Some biometric insights, such as stem diameter, plant height and number of annual rings, suggest the role of micro-ecology in individual shaping. The most relevant threating factor for the long term conservation of this rare taxon is the rapidly spreading Pinus halepensis subsp. halepensis. Local population of this invasive alien species, deriving from planted individuals, is now invading the A. hermanniae subsp. brutia habitat. Chorological and ecological data here provided should hopefully steer further population dynamics investigation as well as any urgent environment management actions.

Pollen diversity and volatile variability of honey from Corsican Anthyllis hermanniae L. habitat.

Melissopalynological, physicochemical, and volatile analyses of 29 samples of Corsican 'summer maquis' honey were performed. The pollen spectrum was characterized by a wide diversity of nectariferous and/or polleniferous taxa. The most important were Anthyllis hermanniae and Rubus sp., associated with some endemic taxa. Castanea sativa was also determined in these honeys with a great variation. The volatile fraction was characterized by 37 compounds and dominated by phenolic aldehydes and linear acids. The major compounds were phenylacetaldehyde, benzaldehyde, and nonanoic acid. Statistical analysis of pollen and volatile data showed that 18 samples were characterized by a high abundance of phenylacetaldehyde, which might relate to the high amount of A. hermanniae and Rubus sp. Eleven other samples displayed a higher proportion of phenolic ketones and linear acids, which characterized the nectar contribution of C. sativa and Thymus herba-barona, respectively.

Melissopalynological origin determination and volatile composition analysis of Corsican “chestnut grove” honeys

Fifty Corsican “chestnut grove” honeys were certified by melissopalynological analysis. Castanea sativa was strongly overrepresented and was accompanied mainly by Rubus sp., Quercus ilex, Anthyllis hermanniae, Myrtus communis, Genista sp., Erica arborea, Cistus creticus, and Fraxinus ornus. Headspace solid-phase microextraction was performed to investigate the volatile composition of Corsican chestnut catkins and chestnut grove honeys. The main compounds of the chestnut catkins were acetophenone (21.5%), methyl salicylate (13.4%), nonanal (10.9%), and linalool (7.5%), whereas the major constituents of the honeys were 2-aminoacetophenone (11.4%), benzaldehyde (10.8%), acetophenone (7.0%), nonanoic acid (5.9%), octanoic acid (5.0%), and 3-furaldehyde (4.9%). By entering the aromatic intensity, the relative frequency of C. sativa, Rubus sp., and A. hermanniae pollens, and the physicochemical parameters as discriminate variables, principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CA) showed that the distribution of Corsican “chestnut grove” honeys correlates with climatic events and/or honeybee foraging behaviours.

Total synthesis of Hermannioside A, a novel flavonoid triglycoside from Anthyllis hermanniae

Anthyllis hermanniae L. (Leguminosae) is a shrub typical of the Mediterranean region. Information concerning the phytochemical content of the genus Anthyllis is limited and even more so for the species A. hermanniae [1,2]. The methanol extract of the A. hermanniae yielded two novel flavonoid glycosides, Hermannioside A and B, characterized by an O-linked branched trisaccharide together with other flavonoid glycosides isoflavones, coumarins, sterols and phenolic acids. The structure of the novel glycosides were determined to be quercetin 3-O-[α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→2)-α-L-arabinopyranoside]-7-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside and kaempferol 3-O-[α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→2)-α-L-arabinopyranoside]-7-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside. These previously unreported natural products are very rare due to the presence of the arabinoside unit on position-3 of the aglycone and the (1→2) interglycosidic linkage within the disaccharide residue. Preparative HPLC was performed for the isolation of Hermannioside A & B and ESI-MS, UV-Vis and NMR spectroscopy (1 & 2D) were employed for the structural elucidation of the isolated constituents. Dispite of the major role in the growth of plants and at the interesting biological activities, the structural elucidation and chemical characterization of flavonoid glycosides with 2, 3 or even more sugar moieties is often incompetent due to the complexity of the NMR spectra [3] and at the same time only a few general and efficient methods have been described for their synthesis especially for flavonol 3-O-pentopyranosylpentopyranosides, 3-O-hexopyranosylpentopyranosides and 7-O-hexopyranosyl-3-O-hexopyranosylpentopyranosides. Hermannioside A was synthesized through a combination of stereospecific phase-transfer-catalysed conditions [4] and C-7 glycosylation reaction catalyzed by trimethylsilyl triflate [5].

Taxonomic Remarks on the Anthyllis hermanniae L. (Fabaceae, Faboideae) Species Complex of the Mediterranean Flora

Taxonomic revision of the populations belonging to the Anthyllis hermanniae L. species complex (Fabaceae, Faboideae) of the Mediterranean flora is given. Two distinct species are recognized: A. hystrix (Willkomm ex Barceló) Cardona, Contandriopoulos & Sierra, restricted to Minorca (Balearic Islands), and A. hermanniae, widespread in the central and eastern Mediterranean area. Within A. hermanniae, seven new subspecies are recognized: subspecies hermanniae (northeastern Mediterranean area), subspecies melitensis (Maltese Archipelago, Malta), subspecies sicula (Italy, Sicily), subspecies brutia (Italy, Calabria), subspecies japygica (Italy, Apulia), subspecies ichnusae (Italy, Sardinia), and subspecies corsica (France, Corsica). Each of these new taxa is described and illustrated. A key of the surveyed taxa is provided.

Chromosome numbers of flowering plants from Calabria, S Italy

Peruzzi, L. & Cesca, G.: Chromosome numbers of flowering plants from Calabria, S Italy. — Willdenowia 32: 33–44. 2002. — ISSN 0511-9618.Chromosome numbers of 11 taxa from nine families of Calabrian angiosperms are reported: Anthyllis hermanniae 2n = 14, Carlina acaulis subsp. caulescens 2n = 20, Gentianella crispata 2n = 56, Lupinus graecus 2n = 50, Plantago albicans 2n = 30, P. amplexicaulis subsp. amplexicaulis 2n = 10, Ranunculus flammula subsp. flammula 2n = 32, Saxifraga aizoides 2n = 26, Staphylea pinnata 2n = 26, Tricholaena teneriffae 2n = 36, Veronica scutellata 2n = 18. Most of the reports are the first from Italian populations. Mitotic metaphase microphotographs and haploid idiograms or drawings are presented for all taxa studied. Brief comments are given on karyotype morphology, cytogeography and relationships of selected taxa.

Isoflavonoids and chalcones from Anthyllis hermanniae

From the aerial parts of Anthyllis hermanniae two new prenylated chalcones, 1-(2,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-3-[2,2-dimethyl-8-(3-methyl-2-butenyl)-2 H-1-benzopyran-6-yl]-2-propen-1-one (anthyllisone) and 1-(2,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-3-[4-hydroxy-3-(2-hydroxy-3-methyl-3-butenyl)-5-(3-methyl-2-butenyl)phenyl]-2-propen-1-one (anthyllin), have been isolated, along with the known chalcones isobavachalcone and abyssinone VI and the prenylated isoflavonoids wighteone, lupiwighteone and lupalbigenin. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods, including 2D NMR techniques. d-Pinitol was also isolated.

Efficacité de l'analyse mélitopalynologique quantitative pour la certification des origines géographique et botanique des miels: le modèle des miels corses

A new method to process pollen data derived from honey has been developed. During a three-year study 112 honey samples were collected and representatives of the different region of the island have thus been analysed. Presentation of the results in diagrams appeared to be more precise and more easily readible than the usual tables of frequency classes. This also facilitates comparisons between samples and enables a direct analysis of the relative frequency distributions of the taxa studied. However, apart from the graphic presentation, the main methodological advantage of the Melisoft software is the automatic comparison of the pollen content of the honeys. It permits without referring to any previous classification, to characterize honeys on the basis of their relative pollen-frequency spectra and taking into account the presence/absence parameter. The method is a variance analysis with a sorting function which enables one to compare and place each sample with respect to the 111 other samples while incorporating the totality of the taxa database. The classification obtained is valuable; it shows that pollen analysis in the determination of the botanical origin of honeys is not only of accessory but also of fundamental importance. The following honeys could thus be characterized: chestnut ( Castanea sativa) honeys, more complex and composite maquis honeys with dominant tree heath ( Erica arborea), honeys from plains or coastal Cistus areas, sour orange ( Citrus aurantium x deliciosa) honeys, strawberry tree ( Arbutus unedo) and asphodel ( Asphodelus microcarpus) honeys. The interest and limitations of the method are discussed, taking into account the “secondary and tertiary enrichments” in pollen of plants with no nectary as well as the over- or under-representation in honeys of pollen from the main nectariferous flowers. The presence of “indicators” such as Anthyllis hermanniae and Cytinus hypocistis as well as assemblages of biogeographically different taxa shows that it is possible to certify the Corsican origin of honeys. This method of treating pollen analytical data can also be applied to characterize botanical and geographical origins of honeys of other regions or countries.