International Journal of Plant Biology

The evidence for native coconuts growing in Australia

André Leu — Tue, 23 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000

The coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) is not considered to be a native species in Australia due to the belief that the early European sea captains and botanists did not find coconut trees. A search of their reports shows that they regularly found evidence of coconuts including green and fresh nuts. Mature coconut trees were found from 1848 onwards. The indigenous knowledge, linguistics and oral history about coconuts is evidence that they grew in Australia prior to European colonization in 1788. A fossil coconut and fossils of Cocos pollen are evidence that they may have been in Australia for millions of years.

Identifying the diversity of self-sown native coconuts (Cocos nucifera L.) and the introduced phenotype in Queensland, Australia

André Leu — Fri, 22 Oct 2021 00:00:00 +0000

The claims that all coconuts (Coco Nucifera L.) were introduced into Australia by Europeans were researched by studying the journals of the maritime expeditions, the records of the Queensland Acclimatisation Society, historical data and published papers. The 1869 minutes of the Queensland Acclimatisation Society stated that no introduced coconuts were fruiting, and the Queensland Governor stated that there were self-sown coconut palms on the coast. A large spherical niu vai phenotype was introduced from the 1870s to 1900. Field research was conducted in the vicinity of an historical coconut plantation at Wonga Beach. Nuts and palms were examined to understand if all coconuts in that region were descended from the introduced phenotype. Most self-sown coconuts are intermediate types with native Australian origins, not the introduced phenotype.

Traditional medicinal plant species belonging to Fabaceae family in Ethiopia: A systematic review

Melese Mengistu Asfaw, Firew Bekele Abebe — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

There are approximately 213 families of flowering plants in Ethiopia and among them 92 families contain species with medicinal properties. However, there is no compiled information that comprehensively expresses which plant species belong to each family. In the present review, a total of 127 medicinal plant species belonging to Fabaceae family and used to treat various human and livestock diseases were reported from 62 articles (53 published and 9 unpublished journals). Calpurnia aurea (26.7%) and Millettia ferruginea (11.8%) were among the most frequently cited species of Fabaceae followed by Trigonella foenumgraecum (11.02%). The highest numbers of species of Fabaceae (62 species) were reported from Southern Nation Nationalities Peoples (SNNP) region, and 58 species were from Oromia region. Regarding growth habit, the majority were shrubs (43 species) followed by tree (39 species) and herbs (38 species). The frequently used plant parts were leaves (19.7%) roots (17.3%) and the whole plant (16.5%). 40.5 % of the prepared medicinal plant remedies of Fabaceae were administered through the oral methods in different regions of the country. The most commonly treated health problems by species of Fabaceae were: snake bites (25 species), evil eye (19 species) and wounds (18 species) in various regions of the country. From the finding, it was concluded that Fabaceae family is providing a diverse medicinal plant species for the treatment of different human and livestock health care systems in Ethiopia. Thus, further research activities on phytochemical characterization and conservation would be suggested for better utilization from this family.

Variation in micronutrient and macronutrient concentrations in grain of four wheat genotypes grown in Albaha region, Saudi Arabia

Fatima Omari Alzahrani — Mon, 22 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Major dependence on wheat-based foods with low bioavailability of nutrients led to high malnutrition rates, especially in developing counties. Four wheat genotypes (Albelad (BE), Aldwasair (AD), Australia (AU) and Najran (NJ)) grown in Albaha region were analyzed for the first time for the variation in micronutrient (Se, Mo, Cu, Zn, Mn, Fe, B and Na) and macronutrient concentrations (P, Ca, Mg and K) in the whole wheat grain using Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) in order to select genotype of high nutritional value of the wheat for human consumption for further breeding by farmers. Substantial micronutrient variation existed among the four genotypes according to their mean Se, Mo, Zn, and Na concentrations, while macronutrient variation existed in their P and Ca concentrations. The NJ genotype appeared to contain higher concentrations of Se, Na, and Ca than the other genotypes while AU contained higher concentrations of Zn and P than AD, BE, or NJ. The results of this study can provide information about micro- and macro-nutrient enriched wheat genotypes for agricultural strategies aimed at improving the nutritional value of wheat plants.

Lead and cadmium tolerance and accumulation of proanthocyanidin- deficient mutants of the fern Athyrium yokoscense

Wed, 05 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

The fern Athyrium yokoscense often flourishes around mine sites in Japan and can tolerate and accumulate heavy metals such as lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd). In this work, we examined whether proanthocyanidins, also called condensed tannins, were involved in the mechanisms of Pb and Cd tolerance and accumulation of A. yokoscense because proanthocyanidins are known to alleviate metal stress in several plant species and are present at high levels in A. yokoscense. For this purpose, we used mutant gametophytes deficient in proanthocyanidins, in which the relative proanthocyanidin contents were 20% of those of the wild-type gametophytes. Although the proanthocyanidin contents of the mutant were quite low, the growth of the mutant was very similar to that of the wild-type gametophytes even in the presence of 80 mg/kg Pb or 48 mg/kg Cd. Under the same conditions, the mutant gametophytes also accumulated Pb and Cd as much as the wild-type gametophytes did. These results indicate that the proanthocyanidins in A. yokoscense are not important for the Pb and Cd tolerance and accumulation properties.

Ecophysiological response and morphological adjustment of Argania spinosa L. Skeels under contrasting climates: case study of marginal populations

Wed, 05 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

In this paper, we investigated the seasonal physiological performance and morphological adjustment of Argania spinosa growing under contrasting climatic and biogeographic conditions.Two marginal populations were selected in the main distribution area of the species, one at the Northwest and the other one at the South-west. Trees from the North showed a Mediterranean pattern in Photosynthetic performances, exhibiting maximal carbon assimilation during spring and minimum in summer. In contrast, trees from the South showed a different pattern with maximum values recorded in winter and minimum in spring. Photochemical efficiency of PSII results evidenced the absence of damage to PSII in both sites, probably due to an efficient energy dissipation processed by carotenoid pigments. We recorded increased LMA values in the South, which improves drought resistance. Increasing stomatal length and decreasing stomatal density were registered during the drought season in both populations. A. Spinosa is sensitive to changes in the length of drought stress at its Southern limit. The scarcity of rainfall leading to persistent drought has limited the distribution of the species to the banks of dry Wadis and depressions, where it finds some water compensations during summer. In the North, the summer drought severely impacted the species carbon assimilation.