ISSN: 0967-8018

KewOctober 2007 Issue 32 Scientist N EWS FROM T HE L IVING C OLLECTIONS, THE H ERBARIUM AND T HE L ABORATORIES AT K EW & WAKEHURST P LACE VEGETATION MAPPING

n 11 October 2007, an ‘Atlas of the Publication of the Atlas coincides with the Vegetation of ’ was implementation of the Durban Vision, an O launched in Antananarivo, unprecedented effort in Madagascar’s history Madagascar, in a ceremony attended by to expand the country’s protected area Tovondriaka Rakotobe (Secrétaire Général; network. The authors of the Atlas warn that Ministère de l’Environment, des Eaux et Forêts, only 18% of Madagascar’s primary native Madagascar) and Prof. Stephen Hopper vegetation remains intact and that a third (Director, RBG Kew). The Atlas, in both French of Madagascar’s primary vegetation and English, provides the most up to date and has disappeared since the 1970s. highest quality vegetation mapping available Western humid forest is rarest for Madagascar and represents a conservation and least protected whereas tool that will help Madagascar’s government tapia forest is currently and people plan a more sustainable future. disappearing the most rapidly. Such information is Madagascar is one of the world's most necessary if the flora of important biodiversity hotspots. About 90% Madagascar is to be of its 10,000 are endemic, and protected and managed natural vegetation ranges from rainforest to sustainably, and the Atlas has unique spiny forest. In common with many already been used to help other tropical countries, the flora is extremely prioritise areas for protection threatened not only by but through the Durban Vision also, for some species, by over-collection for Process. In the future it will be the horticultural trade. the baseline against which The Atlas is a product of a three-year the effectiveness of the Madagascar Vegetation Mapping project protected areas network (www.vegmad.org), funded by the Critical will be measured.

Ecosystem Partnership Fund and managed by Contact: Justin Moat Kew, Missouri Botanical Garden and ([email protected]) Conservation International’s Centre for Applied Biodiversity Science. The project used remote-sensing technology together with data provided by specialists from a wide range of collaborating botanical and conservation institutions to produce the most thoroughly ground-truthed vegetation map ever compiled for Madagascar. Through a series of workshops with the conservation community, Atlas of the Vegetation of the project also ensured that the Atlas was of Madagascar (Eds J. Moat & maximum relevance and utility to conservation P. Smith); Kew Publishing, 2007. ISBN 978 1 84246 198 3; £80 planners and managers. available from www.kewbooks.com

Montserrat Vegetation Map Finalised vegetation map of Madagascar. Enlarged sections show The Caribbean island of Montserrat was devastated by a huge volcanic eruption in the detail and progress of the map from satellite images (top) to classified 1997. A new vegetation map has been completed as part of the Darwin Initiative image (centre) to final map (bottom). project ‘Enabling the People of Montserrat to Conserve the Centre Hills’. As a result of extensive fieldwork undertaken during this project, planners and conservationists now have an accurate vegetation map and tool to help guide the island’s recovery. Species and habitat monitoring continues to identify the most important areas for plant diversity.

Contacts: Martin Hamilton ([email protected]), Dr Colin Clubbe ([email protected])

1 DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE Kew and Restoration Ecology Plant-based solutions to mitigate the impact of climate change hold considerable promise and need SCIENCE-BASED urgent attention. They go well beyond the present focus on the use of biofuels CONSERVATION and plantation forestry. Caring for remaining A. McRobb / RBG Kew wild vegetation is arguably critical in this context. Fully a fifth of present carbon emissions are due to ongoing deforestation Barcoding of Molecular Markers and altered land use. Consequently, an The use of a standardised, short region of Developing molecular markers for improved understanding of remaining wild DNA (a DNA barcode) to identify unknown conservation genetic studies of threatened vegetation to enhance its conservation is the samples of animals, plants and fungi has species is costly and time-consuming. first aim of a new global plant conservation received a great deal of attention in the past Therefore conservation geneticists often partnerships programme upon which the few years, and generated extensive attempt to use markers already available for Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, has embarked. controversy. In the last two years most of the related, better studied taxa. Three PhD controversies have been addressed, and students working at Kew have found that Recognising the importance of wild plant several barcoding projects are now well- cross-species transferability of highly variable diversity and setting aside protected areas are advanced and producing exciting results (e.g. ‘microsatellite’ DNA markers is clearly greater two of the first steps possible from outputs of in Canada; www.bolnet.ca). in animals than in flowering plants and the plant-science powerhouse that Kew transfer success was greater in than provides. The organisation recognises that it Most of the activity has focused on animals; monocots. Cross-species transferability must get much better at repairing and plant barcoding has lagged behind because appeared highest in species with long restoring wild vegetation if persistence the standard marker used in animals shows generation times and mixed or outcrossing through climate change is to happen and insufficient variation in plants and there has breeding systems; success was also higher if biodiversity is to be conserved. been a lack of clear vision about which genome size in the target species was small alternative is best. Several projects have All wild vegetation faces the prospect of compared to the source. The results provide focused on this topic, including one led by continuing decline due to human pressures on conservation geneticists with clues about RBG Kew involving 11 institutes. This group the landscape, directly or through climate whether cross-species transfer of genetic proposes the use of three regions of plastid change. It has become clear that we need a markers should be attempted for new species DNA in land plants because no single region much-improved understanding of how plant under study or whether novel markers will is variable enough to be successful across all communities may be repaired and restored need to be developed. Molecular Ecology 16, taxa. Taxon 56, 295 (2007). when damaged if they are to remain the 3759 (2007). fundamentally important carbon sinks that Contact: Prof. Mark Chase ([email protected]) Contact: Dr Christian Lexer ([email protected]) help to moderate the worst aspects of climate change. This is a major new focus for RBG Kew, pushing its scientific direction into urgently needed but relatively uncharted Taxonomic Exaggeration and Orchid Conservation research waters. Orchids are a key group in efforts to establish Europe, where new species are still being reserves in which many other species of less described every year and taxonomic treatments Successful repair and restoration relies charismatic plants and animals are also vary drastically. By comparing a checklist of fundamentally on a scientific understanding protected. However, orchid conservation is orchids from Europe and other areas and of the environments and requirements for beset by taxonomic problems, particularly in searching for geographical patterns, it was plants to complete their life cycles in complex found that numbers of invalid, infraspecific and communities, from seed through seedling to R. Bateman Dactylorhiza lapponica, hybrid names are much higher in Europe. adult plant and senescence. Botanic gardens the subject of a UK government action plan Recognition of numerous and poorly are places already established with staff that until it was found to be circumscribed orchid taxa is a serious obstacle have many of the requisite skills in hand. indistinguishable from the more widespread to their conservation because rare, poorly If a world-class research programme of this D. traunsteineri. defined species may be prioritized for kind is not pursued, ongoing attrition of wild conservation over taxonomically ‘good’ species. vegetation will occur, even where it has been More taxonomic effort should be made in set aside in protected areas. The loss of the other areas of the world (e.g. the tropics), and world’s largest and most economical carbon European botanists should hesitate to describe sinks through this process will exacerbate the new orchid taxa without conducting more worst effects of climate change. We cannot thorough genetic investigations. Conservation afford to let this happen. Biology 21, 263 (2007).

Prof. Stephen D. Hopper FLS, Director Contact: Prof. Mark Chase ([email protected])

2 Kew’s new mission statement, ‘to inspire and deliver science-based conservation worldwide, enhancing the quality of life,’ emphasises the role that Kew’s scientific research has to play in supporting conservation efforts. Restoration Ecology I. Parkinson GSPC Under Review Southdown sheep grazing outside the Welcome Trust Millennium Building. The twelfth meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Conservation Grazing Seed Size Matters Advice (SBSTTA) of the Convention on After only two years of grazing the meadows Seed mass affects the production of soil seed- Biological Diversity (CBD) was held in Paris in at Wakehurst Place, the flock of Southdown banks, germination and seedling survival. July. During the meeting, members of Kew sheep managed by Iain Parkinson are already Consequently, seed mass differences may staff made presentations at a training day on having a positive effect on biodiversity. The contribute to species coexistence, with large- the CBD. The meeting adopted eight floral richness of grassland at Wakehurst Place seeded species exhibiting higher seedling recommendations covering a wide range of had been reduced by employing heavy survival but fewer seeds than small-seeded issues, including an in-depth review of the mowing machinery, which removed shed seed species. Recent publications have examined Global Strategy for Plant Conservation and often could not be used at the best time two aspects of seed mass variation that affect (GSPC). This review should consider the of year. Continuous monitoring of Hanging regeneration and use of seeds in restoration: development of the GSPC beyond 2010, Meadow in the Loder Valley Nature Reserve why are seedlings from small seeds more including the integration of targets relating to for almost 30 years shows a decline in species likely to die, and how does seed size affect climate change and nutrient loading. since the introduction of this equipment. The the suitability of micro-sites for germination grassland is now cut by pedestrian machinery and establishment? Across 19 tropical tree Plant Diversity Challenge: 3 Years – 16 Targets and the hay is left for several days before species, radicle growth of newly germinated – 1 Challenge, an update on the UK response removal. The sheep then complete aftermath seeds, and hence access to soil water in dry to the GSPC (co-produced by Plantlife grazing, opening up bare areas of soil where spells, was allometrically related to seed mass. International, the Joint Nature Conservation wildflower seeds germinate in late autumn. As a result seedlings from large seeds Committee and Kew), was launched at the Chris Clennett has been encouraged by the establish better in dry environments SBSTTA meeting. For the first time it builds initial results, with the return of Vicia (Oecologia doi: 10.1007/s00442-007-0848-2). consideration of climate change into the UK tetrasperma (smooth tare) and Ophioglossum For temperate forest herbs, seed mass has an response to the GSPC. The document makes vulgatum (adder’s tongue) for the first time impact on micro-site suitability for seedling ten recommendations, including focusing since 2000. This bodes well for the establishment, which is also reflected in the research on improving understanding of the establishment of species rich grassland around threshold light quality (red:far red light ratio), importance of UK plants and fungi in a the Welcome Trust Millennium Building, and hence forest ‘gap’ size required for European context and supporting landscape- which is now under the same regime as germination (Functional Ecology doi: scale conservation initiatives that allow for the Hanging Meadow. 10.1111/j.1365-2435.2007.01328.x). conservation of plants, fungi and their habitats in the face of climate change. Contact: Iain Parkinson ([email protected]) Contact: Dr Matthew Daws ([email protected])

GSPC issues were also a focus of several papers presented by Kew scientists at the 3rd Hugh Pritchard (left) Restoration Symposium meeting Guillermo Global Botanic Gardens Congress (16-20 April In April 2007, Tiziana Ulian and Hugh Pritchard Garcia Frias (right). 2007, Wuhan, China). Paul Smith moderated gave invited presentations on seed conservation a session on Seed Science for Conservation, and ecology at the 2nd International Symposium covering Target 8 issues, Alan Paton on Ecological Restoration held in Santa Clara, considered progress towards Target 1 and Cuba. The symposium was organised by the Colin Clubbe moderated a session on National Organisation for the Protection of Flora conservation training (Targets 15 and 16). and Fauna and was presided over by its director Contact: Natasha Ali ([email protected]) Comandante Guillermo Garcia Frias.

Contact: Prof. Hugh Pritchard ([email protected]) Steve Alton collecting

T. Rich seeds of Sorbus leyana. Sorbus Research The parentage of polyploid Sorbus species in from S. aria s.l. and S. torminalis) having S. aria Britain and Ireland has been investigated using s.l. as the pollen (paternal) parent. Multiple length-variable regions of plastid DNA. In maternal lineages were identified for the research supported by the Thriplow Charitable polyploids S. eminens, S. porrigentiformis and Trust, more than 450 samples from 30 taxa S. latifolia and the primary diploid hybrids were screened, and 28 haplotypes were S. x thuringiaca and S. x latifolia. For each of identified. Hybridization events leading to the other polyploids screened, only one formation of polyploids appear to be more or haplotype was recovered, indicating that each less unidirectional, with all samples of the of these may be derived from a single maternal S. anglica group (derived from S. aria s.l. and lineage. Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 154, 291 (2007). S. aucuparia) and the S. latifolia group (derived Contact: Dr Mike Fay ([email protected])

3 Madagascar has been a research focus at Kew since 1986, initially working AFRICAN WORKSHOPS on key families but more recently concentrating on conservation and sustainable utilisation of Madagascar’s diversity. A new Accord de Siège with the Government of Madagascar, which continues Kew’s status as a conservation NGO, was signed in January 2007 . Threatened Plants Difficult seeds workshop Appeal: Palm Update R. Oubida There seems no end to the diversity of palms in Madagascar. Since the publication of Palms of Difficult Seeds Pesticidal Plants Madagascar in 1995, six new species have been Funded by DEFRA, a joint Kew-FAO initiative Partners from the EU-SADC funded SAPP formally described. However, during fieldwork is underway to disseminate improved seed project (Southern African Pesticidal Plants) for his PhD, Kew student Mijoro (Joro) handling and storage technologies to gene met in Lilongwe, Malawi, from 9-12 July 2007 Rakotoarinivo, funded by the Kew’s Friends and banks in Africa. Focusing on species identified to discuss progress and plan fieldwork. The Foundation Threatened Plants Appeal project, as ‘difficult’ (due to seed-storage behaviour, collaboration, between the Universities of has collected material representing at least 20 fruit or seed structure, seed-dormancy and/or Greenwich, Zimbabwe and Mzuzu, the more undescribed taxa. These are currently inappropriate seed handling) the project has Malawi Department of Agriculture, the World being prepared for publication. recently held training workshops in Kenya and Agroforestry Centre, the Southern Alliance for One of the palms included in the Threatened Burkina Faso. The project is also facilitating Indigenous Resources (Zimbabwe) and Kew, Plants Appeal, gene banks to engage with farmers, aims to increase the wealth of small-scale madagascariensis, has been the subject of a community seed banks and small scale seed farmers in the region through sustainable conservation genetics study, led by Alison producers, with the aim of improving seed pesticidal-plant use. This will be achieved by Shapcott (University of the Sunshine Coast, storage and seed security. A key feature of enhancing knowledge about distribution and Australia). This found that within the known, each training workshop was a ‘workshop habitats of the plants and optimising critically small populations there was within a workshop’ for farmers. Language application techniques, harvesting, cultivation considerable genetic variability and was no barrier as gene bank staff and farmers and health and safety. The meeting was populations were genetically distinct, shared experiences and answered each followed by field trips to conduct farmer although gene flow was identified between other’s queries. Further workshops are surveys and collect plant samples for analysis populations within 3 km of each other. The planned in Botswana and Morocco. and biological activity testing in the UK. study also confirmed the distinctness of the Contact: Dr Kate Gold ([email protected]) Contact: Dr Phil Stevenson ([email protected]) recently described B. alfredii. Botanical Journal S. Cable O. Grace P. Stevenson of the Linnean Society 154, 589 (2007). The level of variability found in B. madagascariensis gives hope that this species may have the potential for recovery. Recently, hopes were further boosted when Mijoro discovered a new population in the eastern rain forests. He visited the site in September 2007 with John Dransfield and they estimated the Local farmer pointing out an population to be over 1,000 individuals, making Selling fresh produce near introduced plant, Tithonia Makhado, South Africa. diversifolia, used to control pests. this the most significant population of the palm. Contacts: Dr John Dransfield ([email protected]) PROTA Workshops Dr Mike Fay ([email protected]) PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa; From 16-25 May 2007 Peter Gasson was one www.prota.org) aims to ensure that botanical of six instructors at a PROTA wood anatomy Beccariophoenix alfredii. information is accessible in tropical Africa, and workshop at CIRAD-Forêt in Montpellier so encourage the sustainable use of plants for teaching eight budding wood anatomists livelihoods in the region. At the second from Africa how to describe the wood of 203 International Workshop for PROTA (24-26 African species for the PROTA timber September, Nairobi) representatives of handbook that will be published next year. stakeholders and project partners, including Information on the first 100 species will be Kew, assessed achievements during the first available much earlier at www.prota.org. The project phase and planned future activities. workshop took place in one of the world’s Olwen Grace presented progress on collating best xylaria for African timbers, and the the wealth of relevant information available at Montpellier collection was augmented with Kew. Over two thousand references about the microscope slides from Kew and the Royal uses and valuable properties of plants in Africa Museum of Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium. have been collected at Kew and other UK Contacts: Olwen Grace ([email protected]) M. Rakotoarinivo institutions since PROTA’s inception in 2000. Dr Peter Gasson ([email protected])

4 Madagascar Students Gain PhDs MADAGASCAR The first two PhDs in plant systematics at the University of Antananarivo, Madagascar, both co-supervised by Kew staff, were awarded the highest distinction this summer. Hélène Ralimanana from the Kew office in Madagascar defended her thesis ‘Systématique et Biogéographie du genre Phyllanthus L (Phyllanthaceae) de Madagascar’ in which 55 species and five new subgenera of this giant are described. Franck Rakotonasolo of the Parc Botanique et Zoologique de Tsimbazaza defended his thesis entitled ‘Revision taxonomique des espèces Malgaches de Hyperacanthus E.Mey. ex Bridson (-).’ This is a revision of 50 species of which 40 are new to science.

Contact: Dr Petra Hoffmann ([email protected])

Hélène Ralimanana (left) at her PhD viva. S. Cable

More PhDs Other research students, co-supervised by Kew staff, who have successfully defended their Collecting the seeds of a PhD theses recently include: baobab, Adansonia sp. Desterio Nyamongo, ‘Seed development and germination of Vernonia galamensis New Genus Seed Banking (Asteraceae): a potential oil crop’ (January 2007). A distinctive new genus of has The Millennium Seed Bank Project (MSBP) is Laura Butler, ‘Seed development, rehydration, been discovered in the remote western working with Silo National des Graines and variation in seed survival’ (April 2007). limestone karsts (tsingy) of Madagascar. Forestières (SNGF) to bank the seeds of 1,000 Kim Hamilton, ‘Ex situ conservation of Australian It was first collected in 1992 and has been species over the 10 years of the project, which Citrus species: investigations on seed biology, re-found twice since. The plant has large ends in 2009. This target represents 8-10% of cryopreservation and in vitro culture’ (April 2007). heart-shaped leaves and much-branched the total flora of Madagascar and around 20% inflorescences of pink flowers. Molecular of the bankable dryland flora. The focus is on Gunter Fischer, ‘Evolution of the orchid genus phylogenetic and pollen morphological endemic, endangered and economic species. Bulbophyllum in Madagascar’ (June 2007). studies showed that it belongs to subfamily So far the project has collected over 5 million Sutee Duangjai, ‘Molecular Phylogenetics of Crotonoideae but has no close relatives within seeds representing around 850 species, Ebenaceae’ (August 2007). this group. The plant was described in a including several that are new to science. collaboration between Kew Yanis Bouchenak-Khelladi, ‘Grass evolution and Radcliffea smithii, The MSBP is also enabling SNGF to improve drawn by Lucy and the Smithsonian diversification: a phylogenetic approach’ Smith their seed banking facilities with the Institution and published (August 2007). establishment of a national seed collection that in Kew Bulletin. It is will include the full range of bankable species. Eve Lucas, 'Systematic studies in Neotropical named Radcliffea smithii in This capacity building has included technical Myrtaceae with an emphasis on Myrcia s.l. The honour of Alan Radcliffe- training, academic studies (support for two evolution and biogeography of a large South Smith (the former Head of Masters degrees and two PhDs) and the American clade' (August 2007). Kew’s Euphorbiaceae provision of seed processing equipment and a section and world expert RBG Kew has become an Affiliated Research Landrover. In 2004, Guy Rakotondranony, on the family, especially Centre (ARC) of the Open University (UK). This Director of SNGF, gained a PhD on the in Africa), who died on 8 status has been granted to Kew as a result of endemic palm Ravenea rivularis, before being August 2007. Kew Bull. 61, an accreditation visit and enables Kew to promoted to Director General of the Direction 193 (2006). continue offering a research degree Eau et Forêt. programme validated by the Open University. Contact: Dr Petra Hoffmann Contact: Stuart Cable ([email protected]) ([email protected]) Contact: Dr Colin Clubbe ([email protected]) 5 Angiosperm Origins Hydatellaceae NEW BOOKS Michael Frohlich (Natural History Museum The recent dramatic transfer of Hydatellaceae London) and Mark Chase (Kew) have from the highly-derived monocot order Poales The Genus Roscoea (J. Cowley; Kew reviewed current knowledge on the to one of the most ancient extant angiosperm Publishing; 2007) describes all 20 phylogenetic relationships within the lineages, the waterlily clade Nymphaeales, has species of these striking orchid-like angiosperms and the evolution of flowers. prompted Paula Rudall (Kew) and a worldwide members of the ginger family. These distinct topics are related, and an team of researchers from Australia, Canada, Species of Roscoea are native to improved understanding of one provides India, Russia, UK and USA to re-examine the the Himalayas, Burma and China, insights into the other. Seed plant morphology and of this and are of high horticultural phylogenetics has allowed a better inconspicuous aquatic family. Comparison of merit. The book covers their understanding of angiosperm character Hydatellaceae with other early-divergent structure, nomenclature, history, evolution and provides an increasingly angiosperms and other seed plants has added synonyms, colour forms and cultivation, and detailed picture of early angiosperm diversity new impetus to long-running debates on the is illustrated by 20 full-page paintings and 94 when coupled with discoveries of fossil evolutionary origin of angiosperms. As newly colour photographs. ISBN 9781842461341. flowers. The dominant concept of the 1980s circumscribed (Taxon, in press), Hydatellaceae £33.00 from www.kewbooks.com and 90s, postulating Gnetales as the closest consist of a single genus, Trithuria, containing living relatives of the angiosperms, has been 12 species of minute ephemeral herbs, mostly The Genus Psychotria (Rubiaceae) overturned; Gnetales have been confined to Australia. Reproductive units of in the Philippine Archipelago (S.H. demonstrated to be more closely related to Hydatellaceae, normally interpreted as Sohmer & A.P. Davis; Botanical conifers. Furthermore, monophyly of extant inflorescences, share some developmental Research Institute of Texas; 2007) gymnosperms has been demonstrated, and features in common with flowers of some of recognises 112 species of this too challenges long-held ideas about their their closest extant relatives, Cabombaceae, Psychotria in the Philippines (29 evolution. Finally, new theories of flower but are much smaller and lack a showy new to science). Psychotria origins have been proposed based on gene perianth. Species of Trithuria with bisexual (Rubiaceae) is probably the world's function, duplication and loss, as well as on reproductive units show unusual organ largest predominately woody morphology. In spite of this progress, a great arrangement; a single unit resembles an genus, with perhaps around 2,000 deal is still unclear, and identifying fossils with ‘inside-out’ flower, in which central early- species, and is often an obvious component morphologies that convincingly place them formed are surrounded by of humid tropical forests. This book presents a close to angiosperms could revolutionize both later-developing carpels. American Journal of classical taxonomic revision with identification the understanding of angiosperm origins and Botany 94, 1073 (2007). keys. ISBN 9781889878157; £34.50 the evolution of flowers. Nature (in press). Contact: Dr Paula Rudall ([email protected]) Preliminary List of the Cyperaceae in Contact: Prof. Mark Chase ([email protected]) Northeastern Brazil (A.C. Araujo, E. A. Cesar Pollen tetrad of Drimys winteri & D. Simpson; Kew Publishing; 2007) includes (Winteraceae), an early- divergent angiosperm. data from 1,392 Cyperaceae specimens and Pollen Clues 191 species in 24 genera. £25 from Rare examples of www.kewbooks.com P. Rudall profound morphological A Checklist and Synopsis of American Species transitions in the fossil of Acacia (Leguminosae: Mimosoideae) (M. record that can be linked Rico-Arce; CONABIO; 2007) treats the 159 convincingly to underlying species of Acacia found in the Americas, plus developmental processes are C4 Plants 29 introduced taxa. Each species is described especially valuable in evaluating Photosynthesis in the vast majority of land plants with notes on taxonomic relationships, seed-plant evolution. Pollen is performed using the C3 pathway, in which the geographical distribution, current grains of angiosperms and derived enzyme RuBisCO fixes atmospheric carbon conservation status, and complete synonymy. gymnosperms differ from spores and pre- dioxide into a 3-carbon molecule. However, The introduction serves as a basic reference pollen of more primitive seed plants in that some flowering plants can use an alternative for anybody interested in the genus. the apertures are located distally relative to physiological pathway, C4 photosynthesis, which the contact faces of the tetrad. In contrast, outperforms C3 photosynthesis in warm and dry Lulu Rico at the Kew launch proximal apertures characterise extinct early- environments. Many C species are found in the of her book on American 4 Acacia on 14 June 2007. divergent gymnosperms and most grass family, but the genetic basis for the pteridophytes. Paula Rudall and Richard repeated evolution of this pathway has Bateman have explored whether this and remained speculative. Researchers at the A. McRobb / RBG Kew other deep transitions associated with the University of Lausanne, the Northern Illinois microgametophyte are developmentally University and Kew have now reconstructed the related, including co-option of the pollen tube evolutionary history of genes encoding to a role in siphonogamy. They conclude that phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC), a key

the proximal-to-distal transition in microspore enzyme of the C4 pathway. A phylogenetic tree polarity represents a ‘fossil fingerprint’ for an of these genes showed that one isomorph of Kew Bulletin underlying series of radical developmental PEPC evolved at least eight times independently shifts involving microtubule organisation at from the same non-C PEPC gene. The team Springer Verlag will be a publishing partner for 4 meiosis and an asymmetric first mitotic also showed that many of the amino acids in the Kew Bulletin from January 2008 for a five-year division. This transition had important C isomorph evolved under positive selection term. This will ensure state of the art 4 downstream effects, not only on aperture and converged on the same set of amino acids publication online and in print within a location and site of germination, but also on in most of the C lineages. These results open portfolio of quality plant science publications, 4 microgametophyte polarity and perhaps new avenues for the engineering of the C improve the visibility of the journal (particularly 4 indirectly on sperm motility. Trends in Plant pathway in crops. Current Biology 17, 1241 in the digital media) and provide a basis for Science 12, 317 (2007). (2007). future editorial development. Contact: Prof. Richard Bateman ([email protected]) Contact: Dr Vincent Savolainen ([email protected]) www.kew.org/publications/kewbulletin.html

6 Elemental Composition Species-level variation in leaf nitrogen and phosphorus accumulation by living plants helps to drive the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems. In contrast, ancient evolutionary processes can influence the present-day composition of other elements in leaves. A collaboration between researchers from Japan and the UK has produced a comparative dataset of 42 elements from over 2,000 leaf samples, representing 670 species and 138 plant families. Analyses reveal that for 21 elements that are associated with structural (cell-wall) or osmotic (vacuolar) fractions of leaf tissues, over 25% of the total variation in leaf element concentration, including variation between sites, is at the family level and above. Knowledge of such phylogenetic variation of leaf elemental composition increases our understanding of terrestrial nutrient cycles and the transfer of toxic elements from soils to living organisms. Elucidating the mechanisms by which species of different plant families control their leaf elemental concentration remains the challenge ahead. New Phytologist 174, 516 (2007).

Contact: Dr Steven Jansen ([email protected]) Ant Dispersal Félix Forest (newly appointed Head of Molecular Systematics at Kew) and colleagues Trithuria australis (Hydatellaceae), longitudinal section from Kew, Reading University and Göteborg P. Rudall of female reproductive unit (x50). University have studied the evolution of elaiosomes (seed structures involved in dispersal by ants) in Polygalaceae and the biotic and abiotic factors that might be associated with their emergence. They showed that the appearance of these structures was EVOLUTION broadly concomitant with global temperature increases in the early Tertiary (Paleocene- Genome Evolution Eocene Thermal Maximum) rather than ant The genus Nicotiana includes approximately Most angiosperms possess small genomes, evolution. Although ants appeared long 40% of allopolyploids, and in a new study and those with enormous genomes (with 1C before Polygalaceae in the fossil record, their these allopolyploids were used to characterise >35 pg) are phylogenetically restricted, abundance in amber deposits increased the nature of sequence turnover across the occurring in a few families (mostly monocots), drastically only in the mid-Eocene, long after whole genome in allopolyploids of different including Liliaceae. This family exhibits a wide the appearance of elaiosomes in Polygalaceae. ages. Using molecular-clock analyses, the range in genome size, with species possessing These results suggest that the environmental likely age of Nicotiana allopolyploids was some of the largest genomes so far reported advantages conferred by elaiosomes may have estimated, and genomic in situ hybridization for any angiosperm and others possessing been an important innovation in elaiosome- (GISH) and tandem repeat characterisation much smaller genomes. To gain insights into bearing clades. Evolution 61, 1675 (2007). were used to determine how the parental when and where genome size Contact: Dr Félix Forest ([email protected]) genomic compartments have diverged over change/expansion took place during the time. Within 1 million years of allopolyploid evolution of Liliaceae and the mode and divergence there is considerable exchange of tempo of this change, data for 78 species Polygala myrtifolia, a species with ant-dispersed seeds. repeats between parental chromosome sets. were superimposed onto a phylogenetic tree F. Forest After c. 5 million years of divergence GISH and analysed. Results suggest genome size in fails, possibly representing near-complete Liliaceae followed a punctuated rather than genome turnover, involving the replacement gradual mode of evolution and that most of of nongenic sequences with new, or the diversification evolved recently rather than previously rare sequence types, all occurring early in the evolution of the family. Journal of within a conserved karyotype structure. This Evolutionary Biology 20, 2296 (2007). mode of evolution may influence or be Contact: Dr Ilia Leitch ([email protected]) influenced by long-term diploidization processes that characterise angiosperm These and other genome evolution studies were polyploidy–diploid evolutionary cycles. New presented at Plant Genome Horizons: Vistas and Visions, a conference held at Kew in April 2007 to mark the Phytologist 175, 756 (2007). retirement of Prof. Mike Bennett as Keeper of the Jodrell Laboratory. Papers from the conference will Contact: Prof. Mark Chase ([email protected]) form a special issue of Annals of Botany in early 2008.

7 RBG Kew Dormancy Release Physiologically dormant seeds require exposure to dormancy releasing factors before germination can be completed. In imbibed seeds, exposure to environmental factors such as nitrate, low temperature and light can contribute to dormancy release. Imbibed dormant seeds require two of these factors, one of which needs to be light. Seeds exposed to only one factor remain at an intermediate level of dormancy without completing germination. A recent study investigated the expression patterns of two sets of genes associated with either germination or dormancy during dormancy release. Transcription of these gene sets responded in a quantitative way to these dormancy- releasing environmental signals, and resulted in intermediate gene-expression patterns. Nitrate, chilling and light treatments had a comparable quantitative effect. This study reveals how totally different environmental factors regulate the transcriptome in a similar Gordon Brown Receives way and initiate molecular changes that lead to seed dormancy release. The Plant Journal One Billionth Seed 51, 60 (2007). Contact: Dr Peter Toorop ([email protected])

On 26 April 2007, the Prime Minister Gordon Brown (then Chancellor) was presented with the billionth seed collected by the Millennium NEW GRANTS Seed Bank Project (MSBP). The seed was from Botanical Healthcare Orchid Seed Stores an African bamboo, Oxytenanthera abyssinica, Kew scientists have been awarded a three-year The threat of environmental change in regions and was collected in Mali by the Institut grant of nearly £1 million from the Engineering of the world rich in orchid biodiversity is d'Economie Rurale, an MSBP partner institution. and Physical Sciences Research Council to driving the need to develop appropriate This bamboo is valuable to local people but conduct research on the use of plant-derived conservation biotechnology strategies for this over-harvesting has led to the species becoming extracts in the development of new skin and important plant family. In a new three-year endangered in Mali. The seed was later banked health-care products in collaboration with Proctor Darwin Initiative project ‘Orchid Seed Stores on 22 May during a ceremony at the MSBP & Gamble. The study aims to characterise the for Sustainable Use’, Hugh Pritchard and Phil seed bank at Wakehurst Place. mode-of-action of plant-derived compounds that Seaton will coordinate studies on c. 300 can be obtained from sustainable sources. Kew is orchid species, working with organisations in AWARDS already investigating the quality of plant extracts 16 countries in the Americas and Asia. The entering the trade and a recent paper highlighted project will develop a database of in vitro At the Linnean Society of London Anniversary challenges in the analysis of saponins. Journal of germination requirements, deliver specialist Meeting on 24 May 2007, Dr Phillip Cribb was Chromatography A 1148, 177 (2007). research training at regional workshops in awarded the Linnean Medal for Botany for ‘his Contact: Prof. Monique Simmonds Chengdu (China) and Quito (Ecuador), and outstanding contribution to botany, in particular ([email protected]) bank seed. Pedro Léon-Lobos of Chile made for his research and publications on orchids.’ Populus Evolutionary Genomics the first seed collection of this project, the high-elevation species, Aa nervosa. Prof. Stephen Hopper and Dr Paula Rudall have A NERC standard grant has been awarded to been made Corresponding Members of the Christian Lexer to investigate within-species Contact: Prof. Hugh Pritchard ([email protected]) Botanical Society of America. Bernard Verdcourt variation for genomic isolation and has been made a Corresponding Member of the transcriptome differentiation between two American Society of Plant Taxonomists. ecologically divergent hybridising European forest trees, Populus alba and P. tremula. The The books Seeds (by Rob award is for £332K, approximately £280K of Kesseler and Wolfgang which go to Kew. The three-year grant includes Stuppy) and Pollen (by Rob funding for a postdoctoral researcher at Kew Kesseler and Madeline and a tied studentship in the laboratory of Prof. Harley) jointly won a gold Gail Taylor at University of Southampton. medal at the 2007 Collecting seed of Aa nervosa at Independent Publisher Contact: Dr Christian Lexer ([email protected]) over 4,400 m from the altiplano in Chile. Book Awards in June.

Kew Scientist Editorial advisory team Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Editor Dr M. Fay N. Ali, Dr W. Baker, G. Bromley, Prof. M. Chase, Dr C. Clennett, Richmond, Surrey TW9 3AB. Production Editor Dr G. Kite Dr C. Clubbe, Dr M. Daws, Dr R. de Kok, P. Griffiths, Dr P. Hoffmann, Tel: +44 (0)20 8332 5000 Design Media Resources, Kew M Jackson, Dr G. Lewis, M. Ramsay, N. Rothwell, Dr P. Rudall, Fax: +44 (0)20 8332 5310 Prof. M. Simmonds, Dr B. Spooner, Dr N. Taylor, R. Wilford Internet: www.kew.org Published in April and October. Printed on recycled paper: 75% recycled from de-inked post consumer waste, To be included on the mailing list, please contact Geoffrey Kite ([email protected]) 25% mill broke and manufactured in the UK at mills with ISO14001 accreditation.

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