Genomic, transcriptomic, and metabolomic analyses reveal convergent evolution of oxime biosynthesis in Darwin's orchid.

Angraecum sesquipedale, also known as Darwin's orchid, possesses an exceptionally long nectar spur. Charles Darwin predicted the orchid to be pollinated by a hawkmoth with a correspondingly long proboscis, later identified as Xanthopan praedicta. In this plant-pollinator interaction, the A.

Phylotranscriptomics reveals the phylogeny of Asparagales and the evolution of allium flavor biosynthesis.

Asparagales, the largest monocot order, is renowned for its ecological, economic, and medicinal significance. Here, we leverage transcriptome data from 455 Asparagales species to explore the phylogeny of Asparagales. Moreover, we investigate the evolutionary patterns of the genes involved in allium flavor formation.

Climatic niche evolution and niche conservatism of Nymphaea species in Africa, South America, and Australia.

Background: Interest in the evolution of climatic niches, particularly in understanding the potential adaptive responses of species under climate change, has increased both theoretically and within macroecological studies. These studies have provided valuable insights into how climatic traits of species influence their niche evolution. In this study, we aim to investigate whether niche conservatism plays a role in the species diversification of Nymphaea, a group of aquatic plants with a cosmopolitan distribution that is facing severe habitat loss.

Floral resource partitioning of coexisting bumble bees: Distinguishing species-, colony-, and individual-level effects.

Resource partitioning is considered a key factor in alleviating competitive interactions, enabling coexistence among consumer species. However, most studies have focused on resource partitioning between species, ignoring the potentially critical role of intraspecific variation in resource use. We investigated floral resource partitioning across species, colonies, and individuals in a species-rich bumblebee community in the diversification center of bumblebees.

The chromosome-level genome of the submerged plant Cryptocoryne crispatula provides insights into the terrestrial-freshwater transition in Araceae.

Plant terrestrialization (i.e. the transition to a terrestrial environment) is a significant evolutionary event that has been intensively studied.

Age-induced Changes in Ginsenoside Accumulation and Primary Metabolic Characteristics of Panax Ginseng in Transplantation Mode.

Background: Ginseng ( Mayer) is an important natural medicine. However, a long culture period and challenging quality control requirements limit its further use. Although artificial cultivation can yield a sustainable medicinal supply, research on the association between the transplantation and chaining of metabolic networks, especially the regulation of ginsenoside biosynthetic pathways, is limited.

The Role of Iron Overload in Diabetic Cognitive Impairment: A Review.

It is well documented that diabetes mellitus (DM) is strongly associated with cognitive decline and structural damage to the brain. Cognitive deficits appear early in DM and continue to worsen as the disease progresses, possibly due to different underlying mechanisms. Normal iron metabolism is necessary to maintain normal physiological functions of the brain, but iron deposition is one of the causes of some neurodegenerative diseases.

A complete chloroplast genome of a traditional Chinese medicine herb, , and phylogenomics of Rubiaceae.

Unlabelled: Diels is endemic to southwestern China and belongs to the family Rubiaceae. It is used in traditional Chinese medicines. To enrich the genetic data and resolve Rubiaceae's phylogeny, we assembled a complete chloroplast (cp) genome of using Illumina HiSeq reads.

Phylogenetic and comparative analyses of Hydnora abyssinica plastomes provide evidence for hidden diversity within Hydnoraceae.

Background: To date, plastid genomes have been published for all but two holoparasitic angiosperm families. However, only a single or a few plastomes represent most of these families. Of the approximately 40 genera of holoparasitic angiosperms, a complete plastid genome sequence is available for only about half.

Comparative chloroplast genome analysis of L. (Viburnaceae): inference for phylogenetic relationships among the closely related Wall. ex DC Blume.

L. is found in the family Viburnaceae (syn. Adoxaceae) and encompasses approximately 29 accepted species.

Effects of liraglutide on astrocyte polarization and neuroinflammation in db/db mice: focus on iron overload and oxidative stress.

Neuroinflammation plays a crucial role in the occurrence and development of cognitive impairment in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), but the specific injury mechanism is not fully understood. Astrocyte polarization has attracted new attention and has been shown to be directly and indirectly involved in neuroinflammation. Liraglutide has been shown to have beneficial effects on neurons and astrocytes.

An annotated plant checklist of the transboundary volcanic Mt Elgon, East Africa.

Mt Elgon is an ancient transboundary volcanic mountain found at the Kenya-Uganda boarder possessing high plant diversity. This study documents an updated checklist of the mountain's vascular plants obtained through random-walk field excursions and retrieval of herbarium specimen tracing back to 1900. We compiled 1709 species from 673 genera in 131 families.

Geographic patterns of taxonomic and phylogenetic β-diversity of aquatic angiosperms in China.

China covers a vast territory harbouring a large number of aquatic plants. Although there are many studies on the β-diversity of total, herbaceous or woody plants in China and elsewhere, few studies have focused on aquatic plants. Here, we analyse a comprehensive data set of 889 aquatic angiosperm species in China, and explore the geographic patterns and climatic correlates of total taxonomic and phylogenetic β-diversity as well as their turnover and nestedness components.

Comparative genomics analysis of endangered wild Egyptian (Forssk.) Fiori plastome, with implications for the evolution of Brassicales order.

is a mono-genus belonging to the Moringaceae family, which includes 13 species. Among them, is plant species native to the Arabian Peninsula, Southern Sinai in Egypt, and the Horn of Africa, and comprehensive studies on its nutritional, industrial, and medicinal values have been performed. Herein, we sequenced and analyzed the initial complete chloroplast genome of .

Important Medicinal and Food Taxa (Orders and Families) in Kenya, Based on Three Quantitative Approaches.

Globally, food and medicinal plants have been documented, but their use patterns are poorly understood. Useful plants are non-random subsets of flora, prioritizing certain taxa. This study evaluates orders and families prioritized for medicine and food in Kenya, using three statistical models: Regression, Binomial, and Bayesian approaches.

Veronicastrum wulingense (Plantaginaceae), a new species from Southwestern Hubei, China.

Background: The genus Veronicastrum Heist. ex Fabr. are mainly distributed in East Asia, and only Veronicastrum virginicum (L.

Evolution of 101 Apocynaceae plastomes and phylogenetic implications.

Apocynaceae are one of the ten species-richest angiosperm families. However, the backbone phylogeny of the family is yet less well supported, and the evolution of plastome structure has not been thoroughly studied for the whole family. Herein, a total of 101 complete plastomes including 35 newly sequenced, 24 reassembled from public raw data and the rest from the NCBI GenBank database, representing 26 of 27 tribes of Apocynaceae, were used for comparative plastome analysis.

Pollinator diversity benefits natural and agricultural ecosystems, environmental health, and human welfare.

Biodiversity loss during the Anthropocene is a serious ecological challenge. Pollinators are important vectors that provide multiple essential ecosystem services but are declining rapidly in this changing world. However, several studies have argued that a high abundance of managed bee pollinators, such as honeybees (), may be sufficient to provide pollination services for crop productivity, and sociological studies indicate that the majority of farmers worldwide do not recognize the contribution of wild pollinator diversity to agricultural yield.

Molecular Identification of African Species (Water Lily) Based on ITS, and .

The genus L. (water lily) is the most diverse genus in the family Nymphaeaceae, with more than 50 species worldwide, including 11 species distributed in Africa. The complex and variable morphology of makes it extremely difficult to accurately identify species based on morphological characteristics alone.

Taxonomy, comparative genomics of Mullein (Verbascum, Scrophulariaceae), with implications for the evolution of Verbascum and Lamiales.

Background: The genus Verbascum L. (Scrophulariaceae) is distributed in Africa, Europe, and parts of Asia, with the Mediterranean having the most species variety. Several researchers have already worked on the phylogenetic and taxonomic analysis of Verbascum by using ITS data and chloroplast genome fragments and have produced different conclusions.