North American Plants Research Articles

Huntsman to acquire polyurethane foam firm

Huntsman has agreed to buy Icynene-Lapolla, a maker of spray polyurethane insulation foam, for $350 million. Icynene-Lapolla, itself the product of a 2018 merger, has two North American plants and annual sales of about $230 million. Huntsman is a leading producer of methylene diphenyl diisocyanate, the key raw material used to make such foams. Huntsman also paid $350 million to acquire Demilec, a similar spray foam business, last year.

Endemic North American Plants as Potentially Suitable Agents for Wound Cleaning Under Resource Scarce Conditions

Skin and subcutaneous infections are dangerous sequelae of soft tissue injuries, especially in austere situations where medical technology is not available. Numerous plant species endemic to North America have been described as having antibacterial properties. Of these, St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum), chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla), and white oak (Quercus alba) were selected for testing against Staphylococcus aureus. Our objective was to assess the suitability of all 3 plants as potential antiseptic agents using methods easily replicated in a resource-scarce environment. Water-soluble natural products were extracted from different concentrations of each plant part using either mechanical agitation at ambient temperature or boiling in unsterilized tap water. Antibacterial activity of each extract against S aureus was assessed using a conventional agar well diffusion bioassay. Zones of inhibition were measured using electronic calipers and were compared to tap water as the negative control. Aqueous extracts of St. John's wort and white oak bark displayed antibacterial effects against Saureus, with St. John's wort being more potent. Chamomile displayed no inhibitory properties at the concentrations examined. These data suggest that both St. John's wort and white oak are potential candidates for infection prophylaxis and therapy in austere wilderness scenarios, with St. John's wort being the more potent agent. White oak may be more logistically feasible because the larger surface area of a white oak tree allows for harvesting a larger quantity of bark compared to the smaller surface area of the St. John's wort plant.

ADM, LG Chem eye biobased acrylic acid

Archer Daniels Midland and South Korea’s LG Chem are joining forces to develop biobased acrylic acid made from corn processed by ADM. LG Chem, a major producer of petrochemical acrylic acid, says it will consider construction of a North American plant that converts biobased acrylic acid into superabsorbent polymers used in diapers. Other large firms, including BASF and ADM competitor Cargill, pursued biobased acrylic acid early this decade, but their plans didn’t come to fruition.

Plant invader alters soil food web via changes to fungal resources.

While aboveground impacts of invasive plants are well documented, their influence on soil food webs remains less understood. Previous research has revealed that bottom-up forces are widespread in soil food webs of woodlands. Thus, an invasive plant that negatively impacts the base of the food web will likely decrease primary consumers as well as their predators. We examined how a North American plant invader, garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata), affects arthropod primary (springtails and oribatid mites) and secondary (predaceous mites) consumers of the soil food web via changes to fungal resources. We measured the abundances of plants, soil fungi, fungivores, and predators in garlic mustard-invaded and uninvaded 1-m2 plots in five Midwestern USA woodlands. We then conducted a mesocosm (0.25-m2 plots) experiment to tease apart the direct and indirect effects of garlic mustard by manipulating plant identity (garlic mustard vs. native plant), soil history (invaded vs. uninvaded), and fungicide application (fungicide vs. no fungicide). Our first study revealed that plots without garlic mustard had 2.8 and 1.4 × more fungi and fungivores, respectively. Predator densities did not differ. Fungal composition and structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed the garlic mustard effects on fungivores were correlated with fungal declines. The mesocosm experiment confirmed that the impacts were indirect, as fungicide plots harbored similar fungivore densities, whereas fungivore densities differed according to plant identity and soil history in the fungicide-free plots. Our results reveal that by altering soil fungal abundance, an invasive plant can indirectly affect primary consumers in soil food webs, but this indirect effect does not influence predators.

Genetic Diversity Within and Among Populations of the Endangered Southeastern North American Plant Species, Tiedemannia canbyi (Apiaceae) and its More Common Congener, T. filiformis

Genetic analyses can provide important insights for the successful reestablishment or augmentation of populations of endangered plant species. Tiedemannia canbyi (Apiaceae) is an endangered southeastern US coastal plain species whose natural range extends from southwestern Georgia to southeastern North Carolina with a disjunct (approximately 600 km) population in Maryland. T. canbyi currently has only approximately 40 known populations. Thirty nuclear allozyme loci were employed to determine the levels and distribution of neutral genetic diversity within and among 14 populations of T. canbyi and eight populations of its more common and widespread congener, T. filiformis. Both species exhibited relatively high levels of genetic diversity (He = 0.185 and 0.284 for T. canbyi and T. filiformis, respectively). The Maryland population of T. canbyi had the lowest overall level of genetic diversity (He = 0.089). Genetic differentiation among populations of both species was similar (GST = 0.250 and 0.254). Populations of T. canbyi formed two genetically distinct groups, southwest and south-central Georgia vs. eastern Georgia, South Carolina, and Maryland. Six T. filiformis populations from southern and coastal Georgia and coastal South Carolina formed one genetically similar group while an inland population from Georgia and an inland South Carolina population were genetically distinct from each other and from the six coastal populations. Patterns of genetic variation observed for these two Tiedemannia species are most consistent with the different groups of populations having originated from genetically discrete glacial refugia. The value of these results for the restoration and/ or augmentation of T. canbyi populations is discussed.

How Amaranthus Palmeri Evolved from an Obscure North American Plant to Become the Biggest Weed Problem in the US Corn and Soybean Belt

How <i>Amaranthus Palmeri</i> Evolved from an Obscure North American Plant to Become the Biggest Weed Problem in the US Corn and Soybean Belt

Fate of cellulose in primary and secondary treatment at municipal water resource recovery facilities.

Cellulose from toilet paper is a significant fraction of particulate organics, which is recoverable. For the first time, comprehensive mapping and tracking the fate of cellulose across various unit processes at full-scale in two water resource recovery facilities located in North America and Europe was undertaken. The influent cellulose content accounted for approximately one-third of the total suspended solids (TSS). Although about 80% of the raw wastewater cellulose was removed in primary treatment, the type of primary treatment process (rotating belt filter [RBF] vs. primary clarification [PC]) had a significant impact on cellulose capture and diversion. The high cellulose content of the RBF sludge accounting for 35% of the TSS facilitates cellulose recovery. For the North American plant, with a conventional activated sludge process (SRT of 6-7days, preceded by PC), cellulose biodegradation efficiencies of 70%-90% of the PC effluent were observed in summer and winter. For the European plant, with a modified University of Cape Town process (SRT of 14days, without primary treatment in train 2, or preceded by RBF in train 1), comparable cellulose biodegradation efficiencies were also observed. Results from laboratory SBRs indicated that cellulose biodegradation efficiency at room temperature was 86% of the influent cellulose. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Cellulose fate was tracked across two different WWTPs in two different geographies. Cellulose in the influent wastewater accounted for 1/3 of the total suspended solids. Primary treatments were able to capture more than 80% of the influent cellulose. Cellulose was biodegraded in secondary treatment, resulting an effluent of 2-3mg/L.

Critical comments on the types of two 19th-century North American plant names

We identify specimens belonging to the original material of the names Onosmodium molle Michaux (Boraginaceae) and Verbena riparia Raf. ex Small & Heller (Verbenaceae). We designate the lectotype for O. molle. On the other hand, we present evidence that original material of V. riparia is indeed the holotype, which supersedes a previous lectotype designation.

Phylogeography of a widespread eastern North American shrub, Viburnum lantanoides.

There have been relatively few phylogeographic studies of eastern North American plants, especially of animal-dispersed shrubby species, and this leaves a significant gap in our understanding of how such species were affected by glacial events. Here, we analyzed the phylogeography of the widespread understory shrub Viburnum lantanoides. We generated RADseq data and paleoclimatic species distribution models (SDMs) to identify the locations of refugia where V. lantanoides may have survived the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and how its range expanded as glaciers receded. Genetic diversity falls off with increasing latitude and longitude, indicating that range expansion likely occurred via serial founder events from southern source populations. Samples from the southern Appalachians form a grade, while those from the north form a clade, suggesting that a single genetic lineage recolonized the north. SDMs indicate that V. lantanoides probably survived the LGM in refugia on the mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain and/or the interior Gulf Coastal Plain. Our analyses indicate that V. lantanoides survived the LGM in refugia south of the glacier but north of the extensive refugium along the Gulf Coast. Following the LGM, a single population expanded northward along the Appalachian Mountains and eventually into eastern Canada. The patterns observed here suggest that range expansion occurred in a stepwise manner, similar to postglacial dynamics observed in a number of European plant species.

Differences Between Aronia Medik. Taxa on the Morphological and Biochemical Characters

Useful wild plants usually decrease the content of biologically active substances in the culture. However, no one studied the reverse process and didn’t know whether the level of biologically active compounds increases in plants escaping from culture and becoming invaded in natural communities (invasive species). We studied Aronia melanocarpa, A. arbutifolia and A. × prunifolia in the arboretum of the Main Botanical Garden (Moscow, Russia), which were brought from the USA in the 1980s. Two samples of cultivated A. mitschurinii and one sample of invasive A. mitschurinii from the Moscow region were also included in the analysis. The task of the study is to determine the degree of heritability of macro- and micromorphological characters of North American plants introduced to Europe and their comparison with the analogous parameters of mane-made A. mitschurinii, especially with naturalized plants. The identification of the samples most promising for further broad cultivation by their antioxidant activity and the content of microelements in leaves was also our research purpose. The digital microscope KeyenceVHX-1000 and scanning electron microscope LEO 1430 VP were used for examining leaves by the trichome density and stoma’s parameters. The antioxidant activity of the fruits was determined by the 2,2-difenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging test. The content of microelements in the plant material was determined by using ICP-MS (Agilent 7700ce, USA). The diagnostic features of the introduced North American Aronia were found to be inherited under culture conditions. The mass of fruits increases in this order: A. arbutifolia → naturalized A. mitschurinii →A. × prunifolia → A. melanocarpa → cultivated A. mitschurinii. An original table has been compiled to compare the studied taxa on 21 biomorphological features. The total antioxidant activity in dry fruits for methanol, ethanol and for water extracts was determined. Naturalizing plants have a higher antioxidant activity of alcohol extracts than cultivated plants, and, on the contrary, lower antioxidant activity of water extracts. There are 17 microelements (ppm) in the leaves of Aronia taxa. A. mitschurinii have the highest content of 10 from them: Fe, Mn, Sr, Zn, Se, Cu, Mo, Cr, As and Sb; A. × prunifolia have the highest content of 6 ones: Ni, Co, V, Cd, Pb, Sn; and A. arbutifolia have the highest content of B. Our observations suggest that naturalizing plants of Aronia have a potential source of useful bioactive compounds. Apparently, plants in a comfortable culture environment accumulate fewer biologically active substances than during forced adaptation to unfavorable ecological conditions. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.erem.74.4.20893

A rangewide herbarium-derived dataset indicates high levels of gene flow in black cherry (Prunus serotina).

Isolation by Distance (IBD) is a genetic pattern in which populations geographically closer to one another are more genetically similar to each other than populations which are farther apart. Black cherry (Prunus serotina Ehrh.) (Rosaceae) is a forest tree species widespread in eastern North America, and found sporadically in the southwestern United States, Mexico, and Guatemala. IBD has been studied in relatively few North American plant taxa, and no study has rigorously sampled across the range of such a widespread species. In this study, IBD and overall genetic structure were assessed in eastern black cherry (P. serotina Ehrh. var. serotina), the widespread variety of eastern North America. Eastern North America. Prunus serotina Ehrh. var. serotina (Rosaceae). Dense sampling across the entire range of eastern black cherry was made possible by genotyping 15 microsatellite loci in 439 herbarium samples from all portions of the range. Mantel tests and STRUCTURE analyses were performed to evaluate the hypothesis of IBD and genetic structure. Mantel tests demonstrated significant but weak IBD, while STRUCTURE analyses revealed no clear geographic pattern of genetic groups. The modest geographic/genetic structure across the eastern black cherry range suggests widespread gene flow in this taxon. This is consistent with P. serotina's status as a disturbance‐associated species. Further studies should similarly evaluate IBD in species characteristic of low‐disturbance forests.

NAPPN: Who We Are, Where We Are Going, and Why You Should Join Us!

Core Ideas NAPPN is the North American Plant Phenotyping Network. We are a scientific community focused on high‐throughput plant phenomics. We promote cross‐disciplinary communication among the many fields that contribute to phenomics research. The area of high‐throughput plant phenomics focuses on developing and deploying hardware and software, including sensors, analysis techniques, and computational methods, with the requisite expertise to rapidly discover and measure a wide array of plant traits. From there, scientists in many disciplines are employed to generate the knowledge to develop plants and plant products that support humanity with reduced environmental impacts. To advance in an area that requires expertise from fields such as biology, computer science, engineering, mathematics, physics, and statistics, reaching out across disciplines is a must and training in new areas can help. Here we report on how the North American Phenotyping Network (NAPPN) was founded, describe its mission to bridge disciplinary and national boundaries, and outline future plans for its expansion. To get involved with NAPPN and join as a member at no cost, visit the organization's website at http://nappn.plant‐phenotyping.org/.

ІСТОРИЧНІ ЗБОРИ ПРОФЕСОРА ВЛАДИСЛАВА ТИНЕЦЬКОГО У ГЕРБАРІЇ НАЦІОНАЛЬНОГО ЛІСОТЕХНІЧНОГО УНІВЕРСИТЕТУ УКРАЇНИ (LWFU)

The results of the inventory of historical collections in the herbarium of the National Forestry University of Ukraine (LWFU), where the collections of educational institutions that were precursors of NLTU – National Forestry School, Higher Regional Forestry School, and Forestry Faculty of the Lviv Polytechnic. The herbarium funds keep historical collections of Austro-Hungarian and Polish botanists and exsicates from the delectus of many scientific institutions in the world, among them – samples from the collection “Herbarium de Cuba. Estacion Central Agronomica”, “Herbarium of Charles K.Dodge. Port Huron. Michigan”, “Herbarium Gustav Muller. Basel», «Herbier du Musee de Lausanne (Suisse)», «Flora Bohemica. Dresden», «Flore de France. Herbier J. Ivolas”, “North American Plants. Collected in the District of Columbia” etc. A special part of the Herbarium LWFU are separately kept authentic collection, which is one of the distinguishing features of our Herbarium. Among them, the most valu­able are the collections of W. Szafer, S. Sokołowski, B. Błocki, W. Tyniecki, S. Tołpa, S.Wierdak, V. Sukachev. Among the recent acquisitions it is worth to mention collections of V. Kolischuk (the Carpathians), S. Shevchenko (the Crimea, the Carpathians), O. Buteyko (Roztocze), H. Lukaschuk (the Carpathians), A. Wozniak (Roztocze, Madeira) M. Soroka (Roztocze, Podole, Polesie, the Carpathians, Central and Southern Europe) T. Prykladivska (the Crimea, the Carpathians), I. Danylkiv (Roztocze) and others. Very valuable is the collection from Roztocze, as NLTU, and especially the Department of botany, conducts a significant part of research in Roztocze, has training bases for students and for foreign scientific institutions in this region. One of those collections is a small but well-maintained collection from the University arboretum of Professor Władysław Tyniecki (1833–1912), which was run by the High Polish School of Forestry – the predecessor of the National Forestry University of Ukraine (LWFU). Professor studied samples of 33 species of woody plants collected in botanical gardens and in the city of Krakow in the period from 1875 to 1898. Today, 37 objects in this collection with the signature of Professor Władysław Tyniecki on the labels were examined and digitized. The collection is of very high scientific, botanical and historical values and is one of the Herbarium treasures of.

Patterns of Beta Diversity of Vascular Plants and Their Correspondence With Biome Boundaries Across North America

Understanding why species composition and diversity varies spatially and with environmental variation is a long-standing theme in macroecological research. Numerous hypotheses have been generated to explain species and phylogenetic diversity gradients. Much less attention has been invested in explaining patterns of beta diversity. Biomes boundaries are thought to represent major shifts in abiotic variables accompanied by vegetation patterns and composition as a consequence of long-term interactions between the environment and the diversification and sorting of species. Using North American plant distribution data, phylogenetic information and three functional traits (SLA, seed mass and plant height), we explicitly tested whether beta diversity is associated with biome boundaries and the extent to which two components of beta diversity – turnover and nestedness – for three dimensions of biodiversity (taxonomic, phylogenetic and functional) – are associated with contrasting environments and linked to different patterns of historical climatic stability. We found that dimensions of vascular plant beta diversity are strongly coupled and vary considerably across North America, with turnover more influential in biomes with higher species richness and greater environmental stability and nestedness more influential in species-poor biomes characterized by high environmental variability. These results can be interpreted to indicate that in harsher climates with less stability explain beta diversity, while in warmer, wetter more stable climates, patterns of endemism associated with speciation processes, as well as local environmental sorting processes, contribute to beta diversity. Similar to prior studies, we conclude that patterns of similarity among communities and biomes reflects biogeographic legacies of how vascular plant diversity arose and was shaped by historical and ecological processes.

Phylogenetic trends and environmental correlates of nuclear genome size variation in Helianthus sunflowers.

Flowering plants serve as a powerful model for studying the evolution of nuclear genome size (GS) given the tremendous GS variation that exists both within and across angiosperm lineages. Helianthus sunflowers consist of c.50 species native to North America that occupy diverse habitats and vary in ploidy level. In the current study, we generated a comprehensive GS database for 49 Helianthus species using flow cytometric approaches. We examined variability across the genus and present a comparative phylogenetic analysis of GS evolution in diploid Helianthus species. Results demonstrated that different clades of diploid Helianthus species showed evolutionary patterns of GS contraction, expansion and relative stasis, with annual diploid species evolving smaller GS with the highest rate of evolution. Phylogenetic comparative analyses of diploids revealed significant negative associations of GS with temperature seasonality and cell production rate, indicating that the evolution of larger GS in Helianthus diploids may be more permissible in habitats with longer growing seasons where selection for more rapid growth may be relaxed. The Helianthus GS database presented here and corresponding analyses of environmental and phenotypic correlates will facilitate ongoing and future research on the ultimate drivers of GS evolution in this well-studied North American plant genus.

The Identification, Nomenclature, and Naturalized Distribution of Mazus miquelii (Mazaceae) in North America

Two species of Mazus (Mazaceae) are naturalized in North America, Mazus pumilus and Mazus miquelii. A new guide for distinguishing these species is provided. Comparisons of North American plants with the type specimen of the name M. miquelii and with specimens from the native range of that species support the inclusion of the naturalized plants sometimes called Mazus reptans in M. miquelii.

Comparative transcriptomics with self-organizing map reveals cryptic photosynthetic differences between two accessions of North American Lake cress

Because natural variation in wild species is likely the result of local adaptation, it provides a valuable resource for understanding plant-environmental interactions. Rorippa aquatica (Brassicaceae) is a semi-aquatic North American plant with morphological differences between several accessions, but little information available on any physiological differences. Here, we surveyed the transcriptomes of two R. aquatica accessions and identified cryptic physiological differences between them. We first reconstructed a Rorippa phylogeny to confirm relationships between the accessions. We performed large-scale RNA-seq and de novo assembly; the resulting 87,754 unigenes were then annotated via comparisons to different databases. Between-accession physiological variation was identified with transcriptomes from both accessions. Transcriptome data were analyzed with principal component analysis and self-organizing map. Results of analyses suggested that photosynthetic capability differs between the accessions. Indeed, physiological experiments revealed between-accession variation in electron transport rate and the redox state of the plastoquinone pool. These results indicated that one accession may have adapted to differences in temperature or length of the growing season.

Intercontinental dispersal and whole-genome duplication contribute to loss of self-incompatibility in a polyploid complex.

Angiosperm species often shift from self-incompatibility to self-compatibility following population bottlenecks. Across the range of a species, population bottlenecks may result from multiple factors, each of which may affect the geographic distribution and magnitude of mating-system shifts. We describe how intercontinental dispersal and genome duplication facilitate loss of self-incompatibility. Self and outcross pollinations were performed on plants from 24 populations of the Campanula rotundifolia polyploid complex. Populations spanned the geographic distribution and three dominant cytotypes of the species (diploid, tetraploid, hexaploid). Loss of self-incompatibility was associated with both intercontinental dispersal and genome duplication. European plants were largely self-incompatible, whereas North American plants were intermediately to fully self-compatible. Within both European and North American populations, loss of self-incompatibility increased as ploidy increased. Ploidy change and intercontinental dispersal both contributed to loss of self-incompatibility in North America, but range expansion did not affect self-incompatibility within Europe or North America. When species are subject to population bottlenecks arising through multiple factors, each factor can contribute to self-incompatibility loss. In a widespread polyploid complex, the loss of self-incompatibility can be predicted by the cumulative effects of whole-genome duplication and intercontinental dispersal.

Rapid identification of the Asian gypsy moth and its related species based on mitochondrial DNA.

The gypsy moth—Lymantria dispar (Linnaeus)—is a worldwide forest defoliator and is of two types: the European gypsy moth and the Asian gypsy moth. Because of multiple invasions of the Asian gypsy moth, the North American Plant Protection Organization officially approved Regional Standards for Phytosanitary Measures No. 33. Accordingly, special quarantine measures have been implemented for 30 special focused ports in the epidemic areas of the Asian gypsy moth, including China, which has imposed great inconvenience on export trade. The Asian gypsy moth and its related species (i.e., Lymantria monocha and Lymantria xylina) intercepted at ports are usually at different life stages, making their identification difficult. Furthermore, Port quarantine requires speedy clearance. As such, it is difficult to identify the Asian gypsy moth and its related species only by their morphological characteristics in a speedy measure. Therefore, this study aimed to use molecular biology technology to rapidly identify the Asian gypsy moth and its related species based on the consistency of mitochondrial DNA in different life stages. We designed 10 pairs of specific primers from different fragments of the Asian gypsy moth and its related species, and their detection sensitivity met the need for rapid identification. In addition, we determined the optimal polymerase chain reaction amplification temperature of the 10 pairs of specific primers, including three pairs of specific primers for the Asian gypsy moth (L. dispar asiatic), four pairs of specific primers for the nun moth (L. monocha), and three pairs of specific primers for the casuarina moth (L. xylina). In conclusion, using our designed primers, direct rapid identification of the Asian gypsy moth and its related species is possible, and this advancement can help improve export trade in China.

Accumulation of Mutational Load at the Edges of a Species Range.

Why species have geographically restricted distributions is an unresolved question in ecology and evolutionary biology. Here, we test a new explanation that mutation accumulation due to small population size or a history of range expansion can contribute to restricting distributions by reducing population growth rate at the edge. We examined genomic diversity and mutational load across the entire geographic range of the North American plant Arabidopsis lyrata, including old, isolated populations predominantly at the southern edge and regions of postglacial range expansion at the northern and southern edges. Genomic diversity in intergenic regions declined toward distribution edges and signatures of mutational load in exon regions increased. Genomic signatures of mutational load were highly linked to phenotypically expressed load, measured as reduced performance of individual plants and lower estimated rate of population growth. The geographic pattern of load and the connection between load and population growth demonstrate that mutation accumulation reduces fitness at the edge and helps restrict species' distributions.