Phylogenetic relationships in Cornales were assessed using sequences rbcL and matK. Various combinations of outgroups were assessed for their suitability and the effects of long branches and outgroups on tree topology were examined using RASA 2.4 prior to conducting phylogenetic analyses. RASA identified several potentially problematic taxa having long branches in individual data sets that may ...

Many species of Schisandraceae are used in traditional Chinese medicine and are faced with contamination and substitution risks due to inaccurate identification. Here, we investigated the discriminatory power of four commonly used DNA barcoding loci (ITS, trnH-psbA, matK, and rbcL) and corresponding multi-locus combinations for 135 individuals from 33 species of Schisandraceae, using distance-,...

In Pinaceae, the chloroplast, mitochondrial, and nuclear genomes are paternally, maternally, and biparentally inherited, respectively. Examining congruence and incongruence of gene phylogenies among the three genomes should provide insights into phylogenetic relationships within the family. Here we studied intergeneric relationships of Pinaceae using sequences of the chloroplast matK gene, the ...

A universal barcode system for land plants would be a valuable resource, with potential utility in fields as diverse as ecology, floristics, law enforcement and industry. However, the application of plant barcoding has been constrained by a lack of consensus regarding the most variable and technically practical DNA region(s). We compared eight candidate plant barcoding regions from the plastome...

Pond populations in Cape Cod described as Persicaria puritanorum (≡ Polygonum puritanorum) have been treated by recent authors as a synonym of P. maculosa (≡ Polygonum persicaria) based on gross morphology. However, consistent differences in leaf and inflorescence features raise the question as to whether this is an extreme phenotype of P. maculosa, an ecotype of that species, or a distinct tax...

Curculigo orchioides is most commonly used as an imperative medicinal plant in Vietnam. The roots are mainly to treat sexual dysfunction, back pain, arthritis, nephritis, jaundice, and infertility. Given the high market demand herbal market, C. traders adulterate with other similar plants for illegitimate benefits. Maturase K (matK) ribulose 1,5-biphosphate carboxylase (rbcL) DNA barcode loci p...

Macrosolen bidoupensis Tagane & V.S.Dang, sp. nov. (Loranthaceae) is newly described from Bidoup Nui Ba National Park in Lam Dong Province, southern Vietnam. The new species is characterized by small broadly elliptic to circular leaves, sessile to short petioles, slightly cordate to rounded leaf bases, 4-5 pairs of lateral veins and a basally green corolla tube. An illustration, a summary of DN...

Checkpoints are the sentinels of cell-cycle progression. In this issue of Molecular Cell, Yaffe and colleagues (Reinhardt et al., 2010) show that spatial and temporal resolution of Chk1 and MK2, checkpoint kinases with identical substrate specificity, are necessary to signal different aspects of DNA damage signaling.