Jaén-Molina R, Caujapé-Castells J, Reyes-Betancort JA, Akhani H, Fernández-Palacios O, Pérez de Paz J, Febles-Hernández R, Marrero-Rodríguez A
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 53: 972–981 (2009)
Matthiola (Brassicaceae) is a genus that is widespread in the Mediterranean and Irano-Turanian regions and includes two species that are endemic to the archipelagos of Madeira and the Canaries in Macaronesia, which is an insular oceanic hotspot of biodiversity harboring many radiating endemic plant lineages. Sequence analyses of the nuclear ITS-1 and ITS-2 regions in a comprehensive geographical sample of Matthiola, encompassing all the endemic Macaronesian populations known to date, suggest independentMediterranean and NW African origins of the taxa in Madeira and the Canaries, respectively. These molecular data reveal a complex evolutionary landscape that converges with morphological analyses in the recognition of two new Madeiran species. The data also suggest that the Canarian infra-specific endemic taxa described thus far have high (but non-diagnostic) levels of morphological and genetic diversity, and should be included in the single endemic Matthiola bolleana. In agreement with earlier investigations that revealed a high genetic differentiation between the populations of Matthiola in Fuerteventura and Lanzarote, our phylogeny supports independent founder events from the same mainland congener to either island. The consistently derived position of the Moroccan populations within a mostly Canarian clade suggests a further back-colonization of the continent. Notably, the ITS sequence resolution offered by Matthiola is higher than that found in many of the radiating Canarian endemic lineages for which molecular phylogenetic studies abound. Hence, our research discovers largely unexplored pathways to understand plant diversification in this oceanic insular hotspot through the investigation of non-speciose endemics
Suárez-García C, Pérez de Paz J, Febles R, Caujapé-Castells J
Plant Systematics and Evolution 280:105–117 (2009)
We combined reproductive and allozyme data to assess the levels and structuring of genetic variation and propose conservation guidelines in Limonium dendroides, a critically endangered Canarian endemic Plumbaginaceae featuring the floral and pollen pap/cob dimorphisms associated with the heteromorphic diallelic self-incompatibility system described for this family. Although seed germination has been reported in greenhouse conditions, the detection of individuals of only one morph in all wild subpopulations surveyed explains the extremely limited seed production and recruitment in nature. The geographical proximity and genetic closeness between some subpopulations, together with absence of inbreeding depression symptoms, and a higher allozyme variation in the cultured or reintroduced offspring than in their parental wild subpopulations indicate the viability of occasional compatible matings, thereby suggesting that even low levels of geneflow could mitigate the deleterious effects of fragmentation on subpopulation survival. However, our overall results indicate that L. dendroides is in a critical conservation situation where the utter scarcity of compatible mates within the subpopulations, radically low subpopulation sizes, poor inter-subpopulation gene flow, impoverished genetic variation, herbivore grazing, and the extreme habitat topography have overridden the reproductive capabilities of the species. According to our results, once morph types in all wild and cultured specimens can be determined, inducing fertile crosses through mixed reinforcements is advisable only in the most extremely isolated and small subpopulations (Argaga and Guarimiar) using individuals from the nearest ones (Azadoe and Palmarejo), whilst nonmixed reinforcements seem viable in the remaining subpopulations. Only when the subpopulations attain higher seed production and recruitment rates will it be adequate to collect seeds for their storage at a germplasm bank facility
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Mora-Vicente S, Caujapé-Castells J, Pérez de Paz J, Febles-Hernández R, Malo JE
Plant Systematics and Evolution 279:139–149 (2009)
Oceanic archipelagos are considered hot-spots of biodiversity because they harbor unique biota with a high level of endemicity. However, the endemic biodiversity of oceanic islands is very vulnerable to extinction. In recent decades, intensive exploitation of these territories and human-mediated introduction of alien species have posed unprecedented threats to the long-term survival of the endemic contingent. The very limited population genetic information available until now for the 28 Canarian endemic Echium taxa has hindered the development of conservation strategies for the ca. 25% of them that are under threat. In this paper, we analyze the levels and distribution of genetic isozyme diversity in 23 natural populations of three endangered endemics of restricted distribution (E. acanthocarpum, CR; E. onosmifolium ssp. spectabile, EN; and E. callithyrsum, VU), and two endemics of wide distribution and in principle free of threat (E. decaisnei and E. onosmifolium). Our results reveal high levels of genetic variability in all these taxa that have plausibly been reached despite a predominance of selfing. They also point out a high incidence of inbreeding in the reproductive dynamics of populations and suggest the potential value of hybridisation processes in shaping the genetic makeup of these species. Among-population differentiation, as estimated by GST, and genetic distances within taxa are low overall, but they do support the current taxonomic separation between the two subspecies of E. onosmifolium and do not furnish evidence that the current status of the endangered species may be attributed to genetic factors. We use the genetic parameters to suggest some guidelines to help implement a conservation strategy of these taxa
Torras-Claveria L, Berkov S, Jáuregui O, Caujapé-Castells J, Viladomat F, Codina C, Bastida J
Phytochemical Analysis 21: 80-88 (2009)
Introduction – Pancratium canariense Ker Gawler is a plant species belonging to family Amaryllidaceae. Plants from this family are known to synthesise a particular type of bioactive compounds, named Amaryllidaceae alkaloids, which have shown AChE inhibitory activity.
Objective – To perform the metabolite profiling of methanolic extracts from P. canariense in order to identify bioactive compounds.
Methodology – Methanolic extracts from bulbs, leaves and fruits were separated into alkaloid-free apolar and polar fractions,as well as alkaloid fractions, and subjected to AChE assay. Metabolite profi ling of extracts and fractions of P. canariense was carried out by GC-EI-MS and LC-ESI-TOF-MS.
Results – AChE inhibitory activities of the alkaloid fractions at a concentration of 10 μg/mL were 29.80 ± 0.91, 40.93 ± 4.60and 58.06 ± 1.18% for the bulbs, leaves and fruits, respectively. Seventy-six metabolites—mono-, di- and trisaccharides, fatty acids, amino acids, sterols as well as several Amaryllidaceae alkaloids—were detected. Further purification of the alkaloids from the methanolic extracts resulted in the detection of 31 compounds including several potent AChE inhibitors such as habranthine and galanthamine, and the structural elucidation of 3-O-acetylhabranthine, a new natural compound with potential AChE inhibitory activity.
Conclusion – The described method resulted in eff ective integration of both GC-EI-MS and LC-ESI-TOF-MS strategies, which permitted the identification of many metabolites, as well as the structural elucidation of new compounds with potential AChE inhibitory activity
]]>Blanquer A, Uriz MJ, Caujapé-Castells J
Marine Ecology Progress Series 380: 95–102 (2009)
Insight from the spatial genetic structure (SGS) of a species is fundamental to understanding the patterns of effective dispersal and gene flow among its populations. Despite the ecological importance of sponges and the variety of reproduction and dispersal strategies they present, which can strongly influence SGS, there is only 1 study assessing small-scale SGS in sponges. That species had a continuous distribution and relatively wide-scale larval dispersal. Here we study the contribution of sexual and asexual reproduction, and the breeding and mating system to the SGS of a sponge species, Scopalina lophyropoda, with a patchy distribution and more limited larval dispersal. All individuals from 3 populations were mapped and genetically characterised for 7 microsatellite loci. The extent of clonality was minor (ca. 7%), possibly caused by a balance between fissions and fusions. The scarce clonality did not contribute to the SGS, which was analysed by autocorrelation statistics at both the ramet (including clones) and the genet (excluding clones) levels. The spatial autocorrelation analyses elicited a pattern of strong SGS at the small scale, confirming the predictions of philopatric larval dispersal, which fosters isolation by distance. All these patterns, however, contrast with the conspicuous lack of inbreeding detected in the populations, which is in agreement with recent data on other marine modular invertebrates and confirms that strong SGS does not necessarily imply inbreeding