The complete chloroplast genome sequences of monotypic genus Pseudogalium, and comparative analyses with its relative genera.

Background: Pseudogalium is a new monotypic genus with two subspecies in China and one in Japan, which holds a distinctive phylogenetic position and ecological significance within the tribe Rubieae. Chloroplast genomes contain abundant information for resolving phylogenetic relationships. To investigate the phylogenetics of P.

The significance of recent diversification in the Northern Hemisphere in shaping the modern global flora revealed from the herbaceous tribe of Rubieae (Rubiaceae).

The global herbaceous flora is probably shaped by both ancient and/or recent diversification, companied with the impacts from geographic differences between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Therefore, its biogeographic pattern with respect to temporal and spatial divergence is far from full understanding. Tribe Rubieae, the largest herbaceous tribe in the woody-dominant Rubiaceae, provides an excellent opportunity for studying the macroevolution of worldwide colonization.

Seed Dormancy and Soil Seed Bank of the Two Alpine Species in the Hengduan Mountains of Southwest China.

The timing of germination has long been recognized as a key seedling survival strategy for plants in highly variable alpine environments. Seed dormancy and germination mechanisms are important factors that determining the timing of germination. To gain an understanding of how these mechanisms help to synchronize the germination event to the beginning of the growing season in two of the most popular species ( and ) in the Hengduan Mountains, Southwest China, we explored their seed dormancy and germination characteristics in the laboratory and their soil seed bank type in the field.

Cold stratification, temperature, light, GA, and KNO effects on seed germination of from Yunnan, China.

Forr. is an attractive wildflower endemically distributed in the wet habitats of subalpine/alpine regions of southwestern China. This study is an attempt to understand how this plant adapts to wet habitats and high altitudes.

Molecular phylogeny of Galium L. of the tribe Rubieae (Rubiaceae) - Emphasis on Chinese species and recognition of a new genus Pseudogalium.

Galium L. is the largest genus in the tribe Rubieae, with about 667 species distributed worldwide. Previous researches mainly focused on species from the Americas and Europe.

Host specificity of two pollinating seed-consuming fly species is not related to soil moisture of host plant in the high Himalayas.

Studying the drivers of host specificity can contribute to our understanding of the origin and evolution of obligate pollination mutualisms. The preference-performance hypothesis predicts that host plant choice of female insects is related mainly to the performance of their offspring. Soil moisture is thought to be particularly important for the survival of larvae and pupae that inhabit soil.

A new pollinating seed-consuming mutualism between Rheum nobile and a fly fungus gnat, Bradysia sp., involving pollinator attraction by a specific floral compound.

Pollinating seed-consuming mutualisms are regarded as exemplary models for studying coevolution, but they are extremely rare. In these systems, olfactory cues have been thought to play an important role in facilitating encounters between partners. We present a new pollinating seed-consuming mutualism from the high Himalayas between the endemic herb, Rheum nobile, and a fly fungus gnat, Bradysia sp.

Grey leaves in an alpine plant: a cryptic colouration to avoid attack?

Cryptic colouration is a common predation-avoidance strategy in animals that is postulated to occur in plants, but few experimental studies have rigorously tested this hypothesis. We investigated the colouration of Corydalis benecincta, an alpine plant with remarkably dimorphic leaf colours (grey and green), based on a cost-benefit analysis. First we tested the premise that herbivores (Parnassius butterflies) cannot distinguish grey leaves from a scree background by spectrographic measurements and by estimating discriminability between leaves and scree using a butterfly colour vision model.