A new species of Benth. (Solanaceae) from the eastern Andes of Colombia.

A.Orejuela & S.D.

Telomerase RNA gene paralogs in plants - the usual pathway to unusual telomeres.

Telomerase, telomeric DNA and associated proteins together represent a complex, finely tuned and functionally conserved mechanism that ensures genome integrity by protecting and maintaining chromosome ends. Changes in its components can threaten an organism's viability. Nevertheless, molecular innovation in telomere maintenance has occurred multiple times during eukaryote evolution, giving rise to species/taxa with unusual telomeric DNA sequences, telomerase components or telomerase-independent telomere maintenance.

Fossil berries reveal global radiation of the nightshade family by the early Cenozoic.

Fossil discoveries can transform our understanding of plant diversification over time and space. Recently described fossils in many plant families have pushed their known records farther back in time, pointing to alternative scenarios for their origin and spread. Here, we describe two new Eocene fossil berries of the nightshade family (Solanaceae) from the Esmeraldas Formation in Colombia and the Green River Formation in Colorado (USA).

Monograph of (Solanaceae), a new hemiepiphytic genus endemic to the northern Andes.

A new genus, A.Orejuela & Särkinen, , is described in the tribe Solandreae (Solanaceae) consisting of four species of hemiepiphytic lianas endemic to the premontane forests of the Colombian and Ecuadorian Andes. The genus is distinguished based on the membranous leaves, usually sparsely pubescent with eglandular simple trichomes, pseudo-verticillate leaf arrangement, and elongated, pendulous, and few-flowered inflorescences with showy flowers and conical fruits.

Phylogenomic discordance suggests polytomies along the backbone of the large genus Solanum.

Premise: Evolutionary studies require solid phylogenetic frameworks, but increased volumes of phylogenomic data have revealed incongruent topologies among gene trees in many organisms both between and within genomes. Some of these incongruences indicate polytomies that may remain impossible to resolve. Here we investigate the degree of gene-tree discordance in Solanum, one of the largest flowering plant genera that includes the cultivated potato, tomato, and eggplant, as well as 24 minor crop plants.