Ulva prolifera, a typical green-tide-forming alga, can accumulate a large biomass in a relatively short time period, suggesting that photosynthesis in this organism, particularly its carbon fixation pathway, must be very efficient. Green algae are known to generally perform C₃ photosynthesis, but recent metabolic labeling and genome sequencing data suggest that they may also perform C₄ photosyn...

Plastid DNA sequences evolve slowly in palms but show that the family is monophyletic and highly divergent relative to other major monocot clades. It is therefore difficult to place the root within the palms because faster evolving, length-variable sequences cannot be aligned with outgroup monocots, and length-conserved regions have been thought to give too few characters to resolve basal nodes...

We developed PCR primers against highly conserved regions of the rRNA operon located within the inverted repeat of the chloroplast genome and used these to amplify the region spanning from the 3' terminus of the 23S rRNA gene to the 5' terminus of the 5S rRNA gene. The sequence of this roughly 500-bp region, which includes the 4.5S rRNA gene and two chloroplast intergenic transcribed spacer reg...

Klebsormidium is a cosmopolitan genus of green algae, widespread in terrestrial and freshwater habitats. The classification of Klebsormidium is entirely based on morphological characters, and very little is understood about its phylogeny at the species level. We investigated the diversity and phylogenetic relationships of Klebsormidium in urban habitats in Europe by a combination of approaches ...

Previous tribal classifications of Rhamnaceae have been based on fruit characters, resulting in the delimitation of large and otherwise heterogeneous groups. We evaluated the most recent classification with DNA sequences of two regions of the plastid genome, rbcL and trnL-F, from 42 genera of Rhamnaceae and representatives of the related families Elaeagnaceae, Barbeyaceae, Dirachmaceae, Urticac...

Microalgae identification is extremely difficult. The efficiency of DNA barcoding in microalgae identification involves ideal gene markers and approaches employed, which however, is still under the way. Although Scenedesmus has obtained much research in producing lipids its identification is difficult. Here we present a comprehensive coalescent, distance and character-based DNA barcoding for 11...

In maize (Zea mays), Rubisco accumulates in bundle sheath but not mesophyll chloroplasts, but the mechanisms that underlie cell type-specific expression are poorly understood. To explore the coordinated expression of the chloroplast rbcL gene, which encodes the Rubisco large subunit (LS), and the two nuclear RBCS genes, which encode the small subunit (SS), RNA interference was used to reduce RB...

The orchid genus Oberonia Lindl., is a taxonomically complex genus characterized by recent species radiations and many closely related species. All Oberonia species are under conservation as listed in the CITES and the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria. Given its difficulties in taxonomy and conservation status, Oberonia is an excellent model for developing DNA barcodes. Three analytical me...

DNA barcoding is a fast-developing technique to identify species by using short and standard DNA sequences. Universal selection of DNA barcodes in ferns remains unresolved. In this study, five plastid regions (rbcL, matK, trnH-psbA, trnL-F and rps4-trnS) and eight nuclear regions (ITS, pgiC, gapC, LEAFY, ITS2, IBR3_2, DET1, and SQD1_1) were screened and evaluated in the fern genus Adiantum from...

Ascorbic acid (Asc) is a major antioxidant in plants that detoxifies reactive oxygen species (ROS) and maintains photosynthetic function. Expression of dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR), responsible for regenerating Asc from an oxidized state, regulates the cellular Asc redox state, which in turn affects cell responsiveness and tolerance to environmental ROS. Because of its role in Asc recyclin...