Browse by author
Lookup NU author(s): Dr Adrian Richards, Dr Marie Hale, Dr Kirsten Wolff
Full text for this publication is not currently held within this repository. Alternative links are provided below where available.
© 2015 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. The Oxytropis campestris complex has a circumpolar distribution and its speciation is still not completely elucidated. There are three members of this group which occur in the Pirin Mts. Two of them, Oxytropis urumovii Jav. and O. kozhuharovii Pavlova, Dimitrov & Nikolova are alpine endemics to the North Bulgarian Pirin marble. The third one is the widespread O. campestris (L.) DC. They are more or less closely related to other members of the O. campestris complex on the Balkans. Using morphological characters and molecular techniques, including RAPDs, ITS and trnL sequences, we compared the two endemics to the North Bulgarian Pirin marble (O. urumovii and O. kozhuharovii), with neighbouring populations of the widespread O. campestris (L.) DC, as well as with other widespread relatives (O. halleri Bunge ex Koch) or Balkan endemics (O. dinarica (Murb.) Wettst). Oxytropis urumovii is a very distinct diploid species which might be ancestral to this group and could be regarded as a palaeoendemic. The tetraploid O. kozhuharovii is most closely related to O. prenja from the Dinaric Alps, Bosnia-Herzegovina, but is a larger plant with a different facies and indumentum. It is possible that it has evolved as an allotetraploid derivative of O. urumovii and O. halleri. It is also possible that the circumpolar hexaploid O. campestris has evolved as an allohexaploid derivative of the diploid O. urumovii and a tetraploid from the Balkans, such as O. kozhuharovii. Additionally, O. kozhuharovii was found to contain Quercetin-3-O-ß-D-(3IImethoxy) -glucopyranoside. It is interesting that we have detected a compound in O. kozhuharovii not found in the other two species, which suggests that it might have come from an unknown parent that resulted in the purple pigment, e.g. O. halleri, O. dinarica (Murb.) Wettst. or O. prenja (Beck) Beck. We observed a number of microhabitat specifics of the three Oxytropis species in the Pirin Mts. Here we present details about the environment - slope, exposure, bed rock, soils, vegetation and phenology. The breeding systems of the three species were studied both with direct (insect excluders in the field) and indirect (P/O ratio methods). Results are discussed. Pollinators were active only in the flowers of O. campestris which formed a big patch while the two endemic species were seldom visited by pollinators. Details are discussed. We also tested the seed germination process, development of the seedlings and ex-situ seedling behaviour of Oxytropis urumovii and O. kozhuharovii. Both plant species reproduce by seed and have poor vegetative propagation. Most mature test seeds would germinate within a couple of days if the seed coat was scarified. The seedlings were rather sensitive and many did not survive. The seedlings of the tetraploid O. kozhuharovii developed slightly betterthan those of the diploid O. urumovii and during the second year after germination several seedlings bloomed.
Author(s): Kozuharova E, Richards AJ, Hale M, Benbassat N, Wolff K
Publication type: Book Chapter
Publication status: Published
Book Title: Fabaceae: Classification, Nutrient Composition and Health Benefits
Year: 2015
Pages: 61-109
Print publication date: 01/07/2015
Acceptance date: 01/01/1900
Publisher: Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
URL: https://www.novapublishers.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=54653
Library holdings: Search Newcastle University Library for this item
ISBN: 9781634822008
