Spiroides shrubs on Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau: Multilocus phylogeography and palaeodistributional reconstruction of Spiraea alpina and S. Mongolica (Rosaceae).

A common hypothesis for the rich biodiversity found in mountains is uplift-driven diversification. Using a multilocus approach, here we assessed the influence of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) uplift and fluctuating regional climate on genetic diversity of two sister spiroides shrubs, Spiraea alpina and S. mongolica. Combined with palaeodistributional reconstruction modelling, we investigated the current and past-predicted distribution of these species under different climatic episodes. The study demonstrated that continuous pulses of retreat and expansion during last glacial-interglacial episodes, combined with the uplifting of QTP shaped the current distribution of these species. All the populations showed high level of genetic diversity based on both cpDNA and SSR markers. The average gene diversity within populations based on cpDNA markers was 0.383 ±â€¯0.052 for S. alpina and 0.477 ±â€¯0.048 for S. mongolica. The observed and expected heterozygosities based on SSR for both Spiraea alpina and S. mongolicawere HE(0.72-0.90)/HO(0.35-0.78) and HE(0.77-0.92)/HO(0.47-0.77) respectively. Palaeodistributional reconstruction indicated species' preferences at southeastern edge of the plateau during last glacial maximum, at higher altitude areas of QTP and range expansion to central plateau during the interglacial episodes. Assignment tests in STRUCTURE, discriminant analysis of principal coordinates and Immigrants analysis in GENECLASS based on nuclear SSR markers did not support the hypothesis of gene flow between both the species. However, maximum likelihood approach based on cpDNA showed sharing of haplotypes between both species.

Phytochemical and pharmacological investigation of Spiraea chamaedryfolia: a contribution to the chemotaxonomy of Spiraea genus.

OBJECTIVE: Diterpene alkaloids are secondary plant metabolites and chemotaxonomical markers with a strong biological activity. These compounds are characteristic for the Ranunculaceae family, while their occurrence in other taxa is rare. Several species of the Spiraea genus (Rosaceae) are examples of this rarity. Screening Spiraea species for alkaloid content is a chemotaxonomical approach to clarify the classification and phylogeny of the genus. Novel pharmacological findings make further investigations of Spiraea diterpene alkaloids promising. RESULTS: Seven Spiraea species were screened for diterpene alkaloids. Phytochemical and pharmacological investigations were performed on Spiraea chamaedryfolia, the species found to contain diterpene alkaloids. Its alkaloid-rich fractions were found to exert a remarkable xanthine-oxidase inhibitory activity and a moderate antibacterial activity. The alkaloid distribution within the root was clarified by microscopic techniques.

[Effects of drought stress on photosynthesis capability of Spiraea fritschiana and Spiraea bunmalba 'Goldmound'].

In this paper, Spiraea fritschiana and Spiraea bunmalba 'Goldmound' were treated with mild, moderate, and severe drought to study the dynamic changes of their photosynthesis capability, and two-dimensional electrophoresis and mass spectrometry were adopted to analyze and identify the differences in the protein expression of the two species before and after the treatments, and the physiological mechanisms inducing the changes of the photosynthesis capability. Drought treatments had significant effects on the photosynthesis capability of the two species. Under drought stress, the maximum photosynthetic rate, light compensation point, and light saturation point decreased gradually, suggesting that the responses of the two species to drought stress were progressive. The two species presented stronger recovery capability after the mild and moderate stresses, but weaker recovery capability after severe stress. After the inducement of drought stress, the weaker drought-resistant S. bunmalba 'Goldmound' had six protein spots lost, eleven new protein spots appeared, thirteen protein spots up-regulation expression, and four protein spots down-regulation expression. All of the proteins were low molecular weight acidic proteins, of which, there were three kinds of different proteins that had been induced expression by drought and were the oxygen-enhanced protein factor 1 and 2 and the degradation fragments of large subunit 1,5-ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase. The drought- resistant difference of the two Spiraea species was related to the changes of their photosynthesis capability during drought stress.