PREMISE OF THE STUDY Oceanic islands offer unparalleled opportunities to investigate evolutionary processes such as adaptation and speciation. However, few genomic resources are available for oceanic island endemics. In this study, we publish transcriptome sequences from three Macaronesian endemic plant species (Argyranthemum broussonetii [Asteraceae], Descurainia bourgaeana [Brassicaceae], and...

How climate-change induced environmental stress may alter the effects of inbreeding in patchy populations of rare species is poorly understood. We investigated the fitness of progeny from experimental self- and cross-pollinations in eight populations of different size of Echium wildpretii, a rare endemic plant of the arid subalpine zone of the Canarian island of Tenerife. As control treatments ...

Nuclear crystalloids have been found in sieve elements of several Boraginaceae. Nuclei of differentiating sieve elements of Echium and other genera except Amsinckia contain one or more crystalloids composed of thin rods densely packed in parallel arrangement. After the nuclei disintegrate in the maturing sieve element the crystalloids are released into the cell lumen where they persist intact. ...

Echium plantagineum and E. vulgare are congeneric exotics first introduced to Australia in the early 1800 s. There, E. plantagineum is now highly invasive, whereas E. vulgare has a limited distribution. Studies were conducted to evaluate distribution, ecology, genetics and secondary chemistry to shed light on factors associated with their respective invasive success. When sampled across geograp...

Metabolic profiling allows for simultaneous and rapid annotation of biochemically similar organismal metabolites. An effective platform for profiling of toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) and their N-oxides (PANOs) was developed using ultra high pressure liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight (UHPLC-QTOF) mass spectrometry. Field-collected populations of invasive Australian weeds, Ech...