Teasing out elevational trends in infraspecific Prunus taxa: A vein analysis approach.

Using 33 specimens collected from across their range in Turkey, we demonstrate that the subspecies of Prunus microcarpa C.A.Mey react very differently to altitude.

Genome skimming approach reveals the gene arrangements in the chloroplast genomes of the highly endangered Crocus L. species: Crocus istanbulensis (B.Mathew) Rukšāns.

Crocus istanbulensis (B.Mathew) Rukšāns is one of the most endangered Crocus species in the world and has an extremely limited distribution range in Istanbul. Our recent field work indicates that no more than one hundred individuals remain in the wild.

Phylogeny of the saffron-crocus species group, Crocus series Crocus (Iridaceae).

Phylogenetic relationships among the taxa of Crocus series Crocus are still unclear, preventing the understanding of species diversity and the evolution of the important spice saffron (Crocus sativus). Therefore, we analyzed sequences of two chloroplast (trnL-trnF, matK-trnK) and three nuclear (TOPO6, ribosomal DNA ETS and ITS) marker regions to infer phylogenetic relationships among all species belonging to series Crocus. Our phylogenetic analyses resolved the relationships among all taxa of the series.

Contrast- and illumination-invariant object recognition from active sensation.

It has been suggested that the deleterious effect of contrast reversal on visual recognition is unique to faces, not objects. Here we show from priming, supervised category learning, and generalization that there is no such thing as general invariance of recognition of non-face objects against contrast reversal and, likewise, changes in direction of illumination. However, when recognition varies with rendering conditions, invariance may be restored and effects of continuous learning may be reduced by providing prior object knowledge from active sensation.

Development of configural 3D object recognition.

There is evidence for the late development in humans of configural face and animal recognition. We show that the recognition of artificial three-dimensional (3D) objects from part configurations develops similarly late. We also demonstrate that the cross-modal integration of object information reinforces the development of configural recognition more than the intra-modal integration does.