• Inflorescence architecture is important to angiosperm reproduction, but our knowledge of the developmental basis underlying the evolution of inflorescence architectures is limited. Using a phylogeny-based comparative analysis of developmental pathways, we tested the long-standing hypothesis that umbel evolved from elongated inflorescences by suppression of inflorescence branches, while head e...

Data from four DNA regions (rbcL, matK, 26S rDNA, and ITS) as well as extant and fossil morphology were used to reconstruct the phylogeny and biogeographic history of an intercontinentally disjunct plant group, the cornelian cherries of Cornus (dogwoods). The study tests previous hypotheses on the relative roles of two Tertiary land bridges, the North Atlantic land bridge (NALB) and the Bering ...

Wherever humans have lived, they have made berries a part of their diet. Most of these have never been developed beyond local markets but some have become economically important crops. In this paper, the berry crops have been divided into four groups based on their current international popularity and potential future value. An overview of the status of development, current production, and futu...

Anthocyanin is a major pigment in vegetative and floral organs of most plants and plays an important role in plant evolution. The anthocyanin regulatory genes are responsible for regulating transcription of genes in the anthocyanin synthetic pathway. To assess evolutionary significance of sequence variation and evaluate the phylogenetic utility of an anthocyanin regulatory gene, we compared nuc...

UNLABELLED PREMISE OF THE STUDY To facilitate genetic and conservation research of Cornus sanguinea, microsatellite loci were isolated and 29 individuals from 11 German populations were genotyped. • METHODS AND RESULTS Sixteen microsatellite loci were characterized from an enriched small insert genomic library. The number of alleles detected ranged from five to 11 per locus, observed heter...

Foliar frost resistance of three endemic New Zealand land trees, Nothofagus menziesii (Hook. f.) Oerst. (Fagaceae), Pittosporum eugenioides A. Cunn. (Pittosporaceae) and Griselinia littoralis Forst. f. (Cornaceae), was examined as the trees hardened from late summer to midwinter in a lowland forest site. The lowest temperatures causing 50% damage (LT(50)) occurred in late winter and were simila...