Annals of botany最新文献

{"title":"Quantifying niche overlap and transgression in allopolyploid hybrids: Case study of Sorbus subgenus Aria.","authors":"Christie Philipp, Martin Feulner, Kevin Karbstein, Norbert Meyer, Alfons Weig, Manuel J Steinbauer","doi":"10.1093/aob/mcag280","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcag280","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and aims: </strong>Apomixis, the formation of seeds without recombination, facilitates adaptation and persistence under environmental change. By preserving hybrid genotypes over long time periods, apomixis may conserve adaptive trait combinations from parental niche margins. We tested whether apomictic entities occupy intermediate, marginal, or transgressive niche space relative to their parents and whether differentiation is associated with ploidy.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We studied polyploid Sorbus subgenus Aria in the Franconian Jura (Germany), comprising two progenitors Sorbus aria and S. collina, seven triploid entities, and a pool of genetically heterogenous individuals (single genotypes). Genetic structure was assessed using MIG-seq. Overall niche differentiation between parental taxa and hybrids was evaluated using Sørensen similarity of two-dimensional hypervolumes derived from principal component analysis (PCA) axes. Niche shifts were further analyzed using hypervolumes based on the three strongest PCA variables. Across 762 occurrences, observations ranged from 11 to 453 individuals per entity.</p><p><strong>Key results: </strong>Environmental niche space was transgressive in three, significantly allocated towards the margins of parental niche space in one, while remaining intermediate in the other entities. Niche transgression occurred towards milder temperatures and drier conditions. Genetic analyses confirmed morphologically defined entities, although one morphotype was polyphyletic. Tetraploid S. collina significantly occupied warmer and wetter environments compared to other cytotypes. Triploids differed from S. aria along microtopographic gradients represented by the second PCA axis.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Apomictic Sorbus entities show diverse strategies in niche occupation and can occupy environmental niche space at and beyond the limits of their parental taxa. Apomicts may conserve evolutionary adaptations at the edges of parental niche space that may otherwise be lost from, or fail to emerge in, the parental gene pool. Over long timescales these trait combinations may re-enter the parental gene pool through introgression, thereby reintroducing adaptations critical for survival under changing conditions.</p>","PeriodicalId":8023,"journal":{"name":"Annals of botany","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148878962","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Male function matters: extending the preconditions for pollinator-prey conflict. A commentary on \"Fatal attraction: flowers lure pollinators as prey in the carnivorous Drosera hookeri (Droseraceae)\".","authors":"Ruth J Cozien, Timotheüs van der Niet, Steve Johnson, Andreas Jürgens","doi":"10.1093/aob/mcag279","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcag279","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":8023,"journal":{"name":"Annals of botany","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148863218","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Novel Arctic colonization origin of the Arctic lineage in Phyllodoce (Ericaceae).","authors":"Ryutaro Koda, Hajime Ikeda","doi":"10.1093/aob/mcag277","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcag277","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and aims: </strong>The Arctic flora is widely considered evolutionarily young, reflecting the emergence of unprecedentedly cold environments during the late Pliocene-early Pleistocene transition. Although many Arctic plants are thought to be derived from temperate alpine ancestors, the historical relationship between high-latitude occupancy and lineage divergence remains unclear. Specifically, it remains unclear whether Arctic lineages originated from ancestors that already occupied high-latitude regions before the Arctic environment formed or originated through colonization after the Arctic environment was established. To address this question, we test demographic models associated with the divergence of the Arctic subgenus Eu-Phyllodoce and its sister alpine subgenus (Parabryanthus) within Phyllodoce (Ericaceae).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Whole-genome data from Phyllodoce were used to infer phylogenetic relationships and demographic history. Demographic parameters were estimated in an isolation-with-migration model and evaluated using log-likelihood ratio tests. Historical demographic trajectories were additionally reconstructed using the pairwise sequentially Markovian coalescent (PSMC).</p><p><strong>Key results: </strong>Demographic inference recovered a smaller ancestral effective population size for Eu-Phyllodoce than for Parabryanthus, indicating disproportional retention of ancestral polymorphism. PSMC further showed pronounced demographic expansion in Eu-Phyllodoce following divergence of ancestral lineages, consistent with a strong founder effect in the Arctic lineage. These results are consistent with the scenario that Eu-Phyllodoce originated through novel Arctic colonization.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Our findings support the view that many Arctic plant lineages are evolutionarily young and highlight the roles of climatic cooling during the late Pliocene-early Pleistocene and of novel Arctic colonization in shaping the assembly of the extant Arctic flora.</p>","PeriodicalId":8023,"journal":{"name":"Annals of botany","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148863253","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Anatomical characteristics of vascular bundles in wheat spike in relation to positional differences of grain development.","authors":"Xinyu Chen, Jiaqing Yang, Jiagu Wei, Tianyu Hu, Fei Xiong, Xurun Yu","doi":"10.1093/aob/mcag276","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcag276","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and aims: </strong>The development of grains at different spikelet positions and floret positions in wheat is determined by the flow efficiency of the vascular bundle system in the spike. However, the developmental characteristic of vascular bundles in the wheat spike lacks systematic research, and the distribution and branching pattern remain unclear.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The developmental patterns of vascular bundles in the wheat rachis and rachilla were systematically studied using resin slicing and microscopic observation techniques.</p><p><strong>Key results: </strong>The differentiation of vascular bundles in the rachis was earlier than that in the spikelet, and the vascular bundle network in the spike were completely formed before flowering. At the approach of the spikelet, the area of rachis vascular bundles on the spikelet side increased and new multiple vascular bundles were generated to flow into the spikelet. The vascular bundles entering the spikelet continued to branch, with a small portion flowing into the glume and the majority flowing into the first and second florets, respectively. Additionally, the rest vascular bundles flowed into the third floret, and the vascular bundles in the fourth and distal florets were derived from the branch of vascular bundles in the lower rachilla. The weight of grains in the middle and lower spikelet were significantly higher than those in the upper spikelet. The accumulation of main storage substances in the endosperm, including starch and protein, and grain weight at proximal G1 position in the middle spikelet was optimal compared to distal G3 position.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our observations suggest that the developmental pattern and spatial distribution of vascular bundles may contribute to positional differences in grain development within the wheat spike. The results provide the anatomical basis for understanding the vascular bundles development and grain synchronous development in the spike.</p>","PeriodicalId":8023,"journal":{"name":"Annals of botany","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148863255","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Transposon-linked plasticity may contribute to drought tolerance in a pantropical invader, Mikania micrantha.","authors":"Yihan Du, Tianjiao Shi, Kaichi Huang, An Zou, Yuchen Yang, Huixuan Liao","doi":"10.1093/aob/mcag278","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcag278","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and aims: </strong>Plant invasion poses severe threats to biodiversity, ecosystem stability, and human society. The prevailing \"small-genome advantage\" hypothesis-which attributes invasiveness to compact genomes that allow fast growth, high seed output, and short generation times-cannot explain why some aggressive invaders carry relatively large genomes. Here, we seek to explore why some large-genome plants are highly invasive.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Using the pantropical, large-genome invader Mikania micrantha as a model, we integrate controlled experiments, whole-genome resequencing, and transcriptomics to show that long-terminal-repeat retrotransposons (LTR-RTs)-the dominant repeats comprising 54.22% of its genome-may confer an advantage during rapid range expansion.</p><p><strong>Key results: </strong>Populations with larger genomes tended to exhibit stronger drought responsive activation of specific Ty1-copia and Ty3-gypsy retrotransposons. These elements may contribute to phenylpropanoid pathway activation, which indicates a potentially adaptive role of phenylpropanoids in drought response.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Genomic abundance is associated with environmental responsiveness, and LTR-RTs may function as eco-evolutionary catalysts that could allow large-genome plants to expand their ranges and become formidable invaders. Our findings uncover a previously overlooked benefit of large genomes and highlight transposon-driven plasticity as a candidate driver of invasion success worthy of further investigation.</p>","PeriodicalId":8023,"journal":{"name":"Annals of botany","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148863239","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Breaking the habit. A commentary on \"Fossil flowers of Ayenia (Malvaceae) preserved in amber: evidence for lianas in Miocene rainforest of Southeast China\".","authors":"Caroline Siegert","doi":"10.1093/aob/mcag275","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcag275","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":8023,"journal":{"name":"Annals of botany","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148849737","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Correction to: Temperature-mediated changes in the force balance of the micropylar region adjust overcoming of dormancy to seasonality in diaspores of the Neotropical palm Butia capitata.","authors":"","doi":"10.1093/aob/mcag268","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcag268","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":8023,"journal":{"name":"Annals of botany","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148856868","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Total-evidence dating analysis of Osmundaceae reveals long-term extinction amid global climatic and palaeogeographic changes.","authors":"María José Urrea, Agustina Yañez, Jorge R Flores","doi":"10.1093/aob/mcag269","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcag269","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and aims: </strong>Research efforts have focused on assessing how diversification, morphological evolution, and biogeographic history drive diversity across a wide array of taxonomic groups; however, their interplay remains poorly understood in ferns. Here, we conduct total-evidence dating analyses of Osmundaceae-an iconic species-poor lineage that once dominated Mesozoic forest understories. Based on dense fossil sampling and a skyline fossilised birth-death model, we assess changes in diversification rates and morphological disparity through time. Further, by using a novel diffusion-based approach, we reconstruct the biogeographic history of Osmundaceae under a dynamic palaeogeographic context.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>To perform dating analyses, we combined a novel morphological dataset of 31 characters with seven plastid markers, covering 17 extant taxa and 27 fossils. Divergence times were inferred across alternative variations of skyline fossilised birth-death (sFBD) tree model. Disparity-through-time analyses were performed by reconstructing ancestral character states in the dated phylogeny inferred using the best-fit model. Biogeographic diffusion models were reconstructed by estimating presence probabilities for each pixel across a dynamic paleogeographic landscape, and considering Earth's sphericity.</p><p><strong>Key results: </strong>Our analyses support an Early Permian radiation of fertile leptopteroids (289.32 Ma). We identified low diversification and elevated relative extinction rates, and a contraction of the morphospace, following the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic (TOA) event. High extinction rates persisted throughout the Mesozoic, delaying recovery until the Miocene. Character change rates decelerated after the Early Jurassic, coinciding with a long-term decline in lineage number and morphospace contraction. Antarctica is reconstructed as the primary centre of radiation for crown leptopteroids.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The evolutionary history of Osmundaceae is marked by prolonged high extinction, decelerated character change rates, and morphospace contraction following the TOA event. Our analyses reveal that Antarctica served as the primary centre of radiation for crown leptopteroids, which diversified from an Antarctic relict population rather than via dispersal through the continent.</p>","PeriodicalId":8023,"journal":{"name":"Annals of botany","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148838933","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ambient-condition performance provides trait-dependent prediction of wheat genotype responses under elevated CO2 and chamber-associated warming.","authors":"B S Ripley, E J Singini, P Mavindidza, C S Mutengwa","doi":"10.1093/aob/mcag274","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcag274","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Future wheat-growing environments are exepected to be warmer, drier, and characterised by elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration (eCO2). While drought and elevated temperature (eT) generally reduce yield, eCO2 can partially offset these effects, although responses vary among genotypes. Identifying genotypes suited to future climates is therefore critical, yet large-scale screening under eCO2 remains constrained by the high cost and availability of specialised facilities. An alternative approach is to determine whether genotype performance under ambient conditions can predict responses under combined future climate conditions. However, the robustness of such predictive relationships under interacting environmental drivers remains unclear.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Nineteen wheat genotypes were grown outdoors under ambient CO2 and temperature (aCO2 + aT) and in open-top chambers under eCO2, where chamber conditions also produced passive daytime warming and reduced relative humidity. Plants were either well-watered or droughted, and biomass, grain yield, and days to maturity (DTM) were measured. Because open-top chambers impose a combined microclimatic shift, the chamber treatment represents an integrated eCO2 and warming environment rather than an independent manipulation of these drivers. Scaling relationships were used to test whether responses under ambient conditions predicted performance under these combined conditions.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Genotypes differed significantly for all traits. Drought reduced biomass and yield, and increased DTM across environments. The combined chamber environment altered biomass, yield and development, with strong predictive relationships observed for biomass and DTM but weaker for yield. Predictive strength improved when comparisons were made under matched water treatments and was strongest when temperature conditions were aligned between environments.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>While genotype rankings were partially conserved across environments, these patterns were strongly trait-dependent, indicating that predictive relationships are context-specific. Low-cost experimental approaches that approximate combined future conditions may therefore provide an effective first step for genotype pre-screening prior to targeted validation under fully controlled climate manipulations.</p>","PeriodicalId":8023,"journal":{"name":"Annals of botany","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148824412","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Leaf anatomical traits support classification of Galphimioid clades in Malpighiaceae.","authors":"M M Sanches, C P Mouzella, A M S da Cruz, M R Pace, I R Guesdon, R M S A Meira","doi":"10.1093/aob/mcag270","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcag270","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and aims: </strong>Laticifers represent one of the most functionally striking secretory systems in angiosperms, characterizing entire families and being the latex considered a key element in defense against herbivores in plants. However, they are still understudied, especially in clades where the secretions are not so copious, which is the case of the Malpighiaceae. Here, we undertake a study combining anatomy, phylogeny, ancestral state reconstruction to unravel the structure, distribution, and evolution of laticifers and other leaf anatomical traits in Galphimioid clade (Malpighiaceae), sampling approximately 90% of the clade.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Laticifers and other leaf anatomical traits were surveyed comparatively across all genera of the Galphimioid clade using detailed anatomical and histochemical techniques. Leaf characters were mapped onto the most recent phylogenetic framework for Malpighiaceae to reconstruct ancestral states and identify possible synapomorphies to less inclusive clades within the Galphimioid. Structural and developmental aspects of laticifers, and chemical composition of latex were characterized.</p><p><strong>Key results: </strong>Non-anastomosing, articulated laticifers were found in all analyzed species, originated from both ground meristem and procambium, representing most remarkable putative anatomical synapomorphy of the clade. Twelve additional synapomorphies were inferred, including absence of trichomes on mature leaves and revolute leaf margins. Ancestral reconstructions indicate that the Galphimioid clade is also characterized by dorsiventral, hypostomatic leaves with concave-convex petioles and flat-convex midribs bearing an open vascular arc. Leaf margin conformation, leaf gland distribution, epidermal features, and latex chemistry were informative for distinguishing genera within the clade.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The presence of laticifers represents main putative synapomorphy of the Galphimioid clade within Malpighiaceae. However, other key anatomical features support the delimitation of less inclusive clades and genera, strengthening the systematics of Malpighiaceae. The study advances our understanding of the evolution of leaf traits and secretory structures, opening new avenues for studies on defense evolution, plant-animal interactions, and latex diversification.</p>","PeriodicalId":8023,"journal":{"name":"Annals of botany","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148824351","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}