Explore the vast range of titles available.

Background and Aims Non-structural carbohydrates (NSC) are stored in plants for osmoregulation or resprouting after seasonal rest or damage. In trees, NSC concentration increases with the relative area of parenchyma (storage tissue) in stems and roots. This study aims to test whether there is a correlation between NSC and the anatomical arrangement of belowground storage organs in herbs. Methods Belowground storage organs of nine herb species were sampled in temperate grasslands in Central Europe. Concentration of water-soluble carbohydrates (WSC), starch, and total storage of carbohydrates (TNC) per dry mass and per plant individual was calculated, and the proportion of parenchyma was assessed. Results No clear link between carbohydrate concentration and parenchyma area percentage was observed. We found a weak negative relationship between WSC concentrations and parenchyma area percentage in species with the main root as a primary storage organ; in rhizomatous species, this relationship was also weak, but positive. Some species with high relative areas of parenchyma stored higher concentrations of starch and TNC, but this pattern was inconsistent. Carbohydrate pools were independent of parenchyma area percentage. Conclusions We found no correlation between carbohydrate concentration and parenchyma area percentage in the storage organ of herbs. This finding suggests that the proportion of parenchyma does not reliably indicate carbohydrate concentration in herbs. The difference in parenchyma composition between herbs and trees, along with the distinct functions of the belowground storage organs, highlights the need for further research to disentangle this relationship between NSCs storage and anatomical traits in herbs.

Jasmonates (JAs), such as jasmonic acid and its methyl ester, are lipid-derived compounds with signal functions in plant growth and development, as well as in responses to stress. JAs are widely distributed in plants as natural plant growth regulators. JAs do not work independently but work as a part of a complex signaling network with other phytohormones. They are deployed to induce response during wounding and are often used for elicitation and stimulation of secondary metabolites production in different in vitro culture systems. Application of JAs seems to be promising during different steps of the micropropagation system for different species. JAs stimulate proliferation rate of shoots, roots, callus and induce microtubers and bulblets formation. However, negative effects of JAs on the condition of plant tissues are also reported, e.g. leaf senescence, reduced growth and inhibited somatic embryogenesis. This review summarizes the current knowledge of the application and properties of jasmonates under in vitro conditions in terms of cell division, explant growth, proliferation ability, storage organ formation and stress response.Key messageThe review summarized in detail the results achieved for plants cultivated in vitro in the presence of jasmonates and their possible mechanisms of action.

All primates show some dietary flexibility, particularly during food shortages. Foods consumed during times of scarcity (i.e., fallback foods) strongly influence the ecology and evolution of a species. Geladas (Theropithecus gelada) eat primarily graminoid leaves (i.e., grasses and sedges), but also consume other diet items (e.g., underground storage organs), especially in the dry season. We investigated the feeding ecology of wild geladas in the Sankaber region of the Simien Mountains National Park, Ethiopia across 12 mo. We asked how the gelada diet in this region, which is disturbed by livestock and agriculture, correlated with food availability and whether underground foods are fallback foods. We quantified the monthly diets of adults from eight reproductive units using instantaneous scan sampling, and seasonal aboveground and underground food availability using point-intercept transects and soil core sampling. Geladas primarily consumed graminoid leaves year-round (76.3% of the annual diet, 36.2–93.2% of the monthly diet) but spent considerable time consuming underground foods in the dry season (14.0% of the annual diet, 11.1–49.7% of the diet across dry season months). Graminoid consumption increased with graminoid availability, and underground food consumption decreased with graminoid availability. Underground food availability did not vary significantly between the dry and wet season sampling months, supporting the hypothesis that underground foods are fallback foods for geladas. We then compiled data from gelada feeding studies and found that underground foods are an important dry season diet item across study sites, but geladas rely more heavily on underground foods in habitats more heavily influenced by humans. Understanding the range and effects of primate dietary flexibility in human-modified habitats will contribute to a better understanding of how changing environments shape primate ecology and evolution.

Aims and background Underground storage organs (USOs) have long featured prominently in human diets. They are reliable year-round resources, especially valuable in seasonal climates. We review a significant but scattered literature and oral recounts of USOs utilised by  Noongar  people of the Southwest Australian Floristic Region (SWAFR). USOs are important to First Nations cultures in other geophyte-rich regions with Mediterranean climate, with specialist knowledge employed, and productive parts of the landscape targeted for harvest, with likely ecological interactions and consequences. Methods We have gathered  Noongar  knowledge of USOs in the SWAFR to better understand the ecological role of  Noongar -USO relationships that have existed for millennia. Results We estimate that 418 USO taxa across 25 families have  Noongar  names and/or uses. Additionally, three USO taxa in the SWAFR weed flora are consumed by  Noongar  people. We found parallels in employment of specific knowledge and targeted ecological disturbance with First Nations’ practice in other geophyte-rich floristic regions. We found that only in 20% of cases could we identify the original source of recorded USO knowledge to an acknowledged  Noongar  person. Conclusion This review identified that traditional  Noongar  access to USOs is taxonomically and geographically extensive, employing specific knowledge and technology to target and maintain resource rich locations. However, we also found a general practice of ‘extractive’ documentation of  Noongar  plant knowledge. We identify negative implications of such practice for Noongar  people and SWAFR conservation outcomes and assert ways to avoid this going forward, reviving  Noongar  agency to care for traditional Country.

Understanding the neolithisation process in northern Europe requires detailed knowledge of both the type of crop plants as well as gathered food plants from Neolithic Funnel Beaker sites (4000–2800 bce ). However, although many sites from this culture are known, significant gaps remain in our knowledge on which taxa were used as well as on how plant food was prepared. Here, we present the results of combined plant macro- and microremains from the Early Neolithic site of Frydenlund in present-day Denmark. The macroremains include carbonised seeds, fruits and underground storage organs from a variety of contexts. The microremains are phytoliths and starch granules recovered from 14 grinding stones that are among the oldest from Denmark as well as the first from this region analysed using state-of-the-art methods. The data are discussed in the context of an updated overview of crop spectra, evidence of gathered plants and of plant food preparation techniques at Funnel Beaker sites in the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and Sweden. The results from the Early Neolithic site of Frydenlund show that the macroremains assemblage was dominated by Triticum turgidum ssp. durum (durum wheat), T. turgidum ssp. dicoccum (emmer wheat) and Hordeum vulgare var. nudum (naked barley), which apart from durum wheat fits the observed pattern from other Funnel Beaker sites in northwestern Europe. These crops were presumably cultivated separately as summer crops. Corylus avellana (hazel), Rubus fruticosus (blackberry) and R. idaeus (raspberry) were probably consumed as well, and possibly R. caesius (dewberry). While cereals were abundant in the macroremains assemblage, the microremains from the grinding stones indicate that these were used for grinding solely wild plants. The carbonised cereal grain fragments are therefore interpreted as possible evidence of cereal consumption mainly in the form of porridge or gruel, which corresponds well to comparable finds at other contemporary northwestern European sites. Future analysis of comparable high-quality data on combined macro- and microremains analysis is necessary to further refine our understanding of plant diets and plant food preparation techniques of the Funnel Beaker Culture as well as during the neolithisation process.

Aim We investigated whether cross‐cultural food plant selection in southern Africa is best explained by language ancestry, floristic environment or subsistence strategy. Location The flora of southern Africa region. Taxa All 1,740 edible plant taxa of southern Africa, representing 711 genera in 156 families. Methods Distribution data of plants were overlapped in ArcMap with 19 language maps, eight biomes and all taxa with nutritional data. Six correlations were estimated between five pairwise distance matrices (language ancestry, geographical proximity, floristic and edible environments and utilized species) with Mantel tests using the ‘vegan’ package in R. Regression analyses were used to identify floristic and cultural preferences in food plant selection. Results Spatial autocorrelation did not influence the selection of edible plants by the 19 language groups of southern Africa (r = −.078). The floristic and edible environments had a strong correlation (r = .9743) while the distance matrices of the edible and actually utilized plants had a low correlation for 13 of the language groups (r = .2174). Regression analyses between the floristic and edible environments for the FSA region and three languages, representing hunter‐gatherers (Ju│’hoan), pastoralists (Khoekhoe) and agrarians (Venda) were all significant (p < .001) with high R2 values (respectively .6181, .7702, .6654 and .7900), as were the relationship (p < .001) between what is edible and what was actually utilized. Surprisingly, the Apocynaceae had a much higher residual value than globally important food plant families. Vitamin C of fruits seems to have higher levels along the coastal regions, and carbohydrates in underground storage organs have higher levels in the summer‐arid western region. Main conclusions There is an apparent preference for certain food plant families in southern Africa. This selection appears to be driven by subsistence strategy, based on the categories of plants preferred by the three representative language groups.

RNA isolation is an important step in any transcriptome-based functional genomics study, and the quality and quantity of RNA are crucial for downstream applications like gene expression. Since plant cells contain diverse metabolites, such as polyphenols, starch, etc., isolation of pure-quality RNA is always a challenging task. Specialized plant tissues, such as underground storage organs of potato, turnip, beet, carrot, and other crops, are extremely rich in starch and other secondary metabolites. RNA isolation from these tissues with commonly used reagents (e.g., Trizol) or commercial kits often results in inferior quality and quantity of RNA unsuitable for downstream applications. In the present study, a modified CTAB and SDS-based homogenization procedure amalgamated with the routinely used phase separation procedure has been employed for RNA isolation. High-quality RNA from multiple tissues, especially plant underground storage organs, was obtained with an absorption (A 260 /A 280 and A 260 /A 230 ) value of 1.80–2.00 and ~ 2.00, respectively. In order to evaluate the suitability of isolated RNA in downstream applications, first-strand cDNA was synthesized and used to amplify seven genes considered as the standard reference genes for different plant storage tissues. RNA isolation from cold-stored potato tuber and gene expression studies also demonstrated suitability and wide applicability of this protocol. Overall, the results indicated better efficacy of the protocol employed in the present study than the existing resource-demanding RNA isolation methods available for potato and other secondary metabolite-rich plant storage organs.

North China is regarded as a center of domestication for broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum) and foxtail millet (Setaria italica ssp. italica). The Neolithic Xinglonggou site (ca. 8000–7500 cal. BP) in the Liao River region has revealed the earliest macrobotanical evidence of domesticated millets in Northeast China, but controversy remains as to the importance of the millets in human diet. We employed an interdisciplinary approach involving analyses of starch grains, phytoliths, and usewear patterns to study a range of materials from Xinglonggou, including grinding stones, human dental calculus, and vegetative charcoal. The results demonstrate a broad spectrum of plant exploitation by the first farmers in Northeast China rather than dependence upon singular crops. Furthermore, three types of underground storage organs appear to be major staples, while millets were secondary to another early and important cultivated cereal, Job’s tears (Coix lacryma-jobi L.). Wild grasses and acorns also account for small portions of plants used. This study documents the northernmost and earliest occurrence of Job’s tears in temperate Northeast China, a species which may have originated in the subtropical regions. We argue that Job’s tears may have been one of the earliest domesticates in China along with millets.

Edible underground storage organ (EUO) plants, including tubers, rhizomes, corms, and root tubers, play a crucial role in food security, nutrition, traditional medicine, and local livelihoods, yet many regions of northeastern Thailand, including Maha Sarakham Province, remain underexplored in ethnobotanical research. This study aimed to document the diversity, traditional uses, and economic importance of EUO plants in the province. Field surveys, local market assessments, and ethnobotanical interviews were conducted, and voucher specimens were collected. Quantitative indices, including the Cultural Food Significance Index (CFSI), Fidelity Level (%FL), and economic value (EV), were applied to evaluate the cultural, medicinal, and economic significance of each species. A total of 53 EUO taxa from 22 families were recorded, representing both wild-harvested and cultivated resources. Dioscoreaceae and Zingiberaceae were among the most species-rich families. Among the EUO plants, Allium ascalonicum L. stood out for its cultural significance, Gloriosa superba L. for its medicinal importance, and Smallanthus sonchifolius (Poepp.) H.Rob. for its economic value. Several other EUO plants exhibited high cultural consensus and consistent use patterns, underscoring their integration into local diets, traditional healthcare, and rural economies. The study demonstrates that EUO plants contribute not only to dietary diversity and cultural identity but also to rural economies. These findings highlight the importance of conserving biological and traditional knowledge and promote sustainable cultivation and horticultural development of priority EUO species to strengthen local food system resilience.

Sperm storage is common in internally fertilizing animals, but is also present in several external fertilizers, such as many cephalopods. Cephalopod males attach sperm packets (spermatangia) to female conspecifics during mating. Females of eight externally fertilizing families comprising 25% of cephalopod biodiversity have sperm-storage organs (seminal receptacles) in their buccal area, which are not in direct physical contact with the deposited spermatangia. The mechanism of sperm transmission between the implantation site and the storage organ has remained a major mystery in cephalopod reproductive biology. Here, jumbo squid females covering almost the entire life cycle, from immature to a laboratory spawned female, were used to describe the internal structure of the seminal receptacles and the process of sperm storage. Seminal fluid was present between the spermatangia and seminal receptacles, but absent in regions devoid of seminal receptacles. The sperm cellular component was formed by spermatozoa and round cells. Although spermatozoa were tracked over the buccal membrane of the females to the inner chambers of the seminal receptacles, round cells were not found inside the seminal receptacles, suggesting that spermatozoa are not sucked up by the muscular action of the seminal receptacles. This finding supports the hypothesis that spermatozoa are able to actively migrate over the female skin. Although further experimental support is needed to fully confirm this hypothesis, our findings shed light on the elusive process of sperm storage in many cephalopods, a process that is fundamental for understanding sexual selection in the sea.