Kew Scientist

ISSN: 0967-8018

Spring 2015 Issue 47

Science news from the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew and Wakehurst Place

Digitising Kews collections

Digitisation strategies at Kew
The new science strategy of RBG Kew
recognises the need to increase access to its
8.5 million collections and sets an ambitious
target of digitising 80% of these by 2020.
Kew is seeking to reach this target with two
strategies: rapid digitisation of large parts of
the collections using modern technologies
and smaller-scale projects capturing more
in-depth data from specific collections.
Examples of the rapid digitisation
approach are the imaging of all Kews
herbarium specimens of the potato genus
(Solanum) and yam family (Dioscoreaceae)
in collaboration with the Natural History
Museum, (London) and Picturae, a
specialist digitisation company based in The
Netherlands. In contrast, in-depth data will
start to be be captured from Kews 150,000
microscope slide collection following the
recent acquisition of a digital microscope
slide scanner.

Imaging of herbarium specimens in The Netherlands

Economic Botany Collections

Kews Economic Botany Collection has been
online since 2012, making available full data
for nearly 90,000 ethnobotanical specimens.
A major upgrade occurred in 2014 with
the addition of 5,500 specimens of materia
medica from the Harrod Collection of the
former Chelsea College, donated by Kings
College London. The online catalogue has
both raised the visibility of the Economic
Botany Collection and enabled users to
target specimens more effectively; data
can also now be downloaded for use in
spreadsheets. The next challenge is to
increase the proportion of photographed
specimens. So far about 2,500 specimens
have been imaged, mainly those used in
recent publications and exhibitions.
http://apps.kew.org/ecbot/search

Contact: Dr Alan Paton (a.paton@kew.org)

Digitisation of type specimens

This year sees the culmination of a longterm endeavour which counts among its
achievements the digitisation of all the type
specimens deposited in Kews herbarium.
Initiated in 2004 as the African Plants
Initiative (API), with generous support from
the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the
digitisation work grew rapidly to encompass
numerous herbaria, creating high quality
(600 dpi) images of African type specimens,
and detailed transcription of all associated
data to common data standards. The Latin
American Plants Initiative (LAPI) built on
this success and by 2009 the endeavour
had grown into the Global Plants Initiative,
eventually involving 329 partner herbaria
worldwide and imaging a cumulative total
of 2.2 million herbarium sheets including
nomenclatural types, other historic and
original material, and specimens of plants
endemic to a single tropical country. The
images and data mobilised are consolidated
in a single resource at JSTOR Global Plants:
http://plants.jstor.org.
Kews contribution to the Global Plants
Initiative and its predecessors (API and
LAPI) included the provision of imaging
equipment, staff training and technical
support to herbaria as they joined the
network of contributors. The main focus
of digitisation efforts at Kew has been

www.kew.org

Photo: S. Knapp

Contact: Dr Mark Nesbitt (m.nesbitt@kew.org)

Type specimen of Carex banksii Boott,
collected by Charles Darwin Photo: RBG Kew

specimens filed in red covers within the

main Kew herbarium, which include
confirmed types, putative types and other
historic material. Over 325,000 such sheets
at Kew have been digitised to date, and this
work is expected to be completed over the
summer of 2015. In addition, the Mellonfunded digitisation team have imaged all
of the specimens (> 25,000) in the East
India Company Herbarium, which is rich
in unmarked types, and conducted pilot
projects on imaging important material
in the Fungarium (> 4,000 specimens).
Kews herbarium specimen images are also
available at www.kew.org/herbcat.
Contact: Dr Eimear Nic Lughadha
(e.niclughadha@kew.org)

Examples of the Harrod Collection recently

accessioned into Kews Economic Botany
Collection with data now digitised. Photo RBG Kew

Kew Scientist Spring 2015 Issue 47

Direction
Science Strategy
2015 marks the beginning of a new
phase in Kew Science. The launch of the
Science Strategy in February has set the
organisation on a clearly defined pathway
in pursuit of a new scientific vision: to
document and understand global plant
and fungal diversity and its uses, bringing
authoritative expertise to bear on the
critical challenges facing humanity today.
It reinforces Kews position as a global
resource in plant and fungal knowledge
and recognises the value and potential of
the collections to contribute to hard-hitting,
relevant research. Developed by scientists
across Kew, the strategy provides focus
and clarity on Kews scientific priorities,
which are defined as follows:
1. To document and conduct research into
global plant and fungal diversity and its
uses for humanity.
2. To curate and provide data-rich
evidence from Kews unrivalled
collections as a global asset for
scientific research.
3. To disseminate our scientific knowledge
of plants and fungi, maximising
its impact in science, education,
conservation policy and management.
These priorities will enable us to curate,
use, enhance, explore and share Kews
global resource, providing robust data and
a strong evidence base for our UK and
global stakeholders.
We have also developed an ambitious
set of strategic outputs to be delivered
by 2020. These include an online portal
giving access to information on all the
worlds known plant species, an annual
report on the State of the Worlds Plants,
and a target of banking 25% of the worlds
seeds by 2020.
Each of our outputs draws on strengths
from across the Science Directorate at
Kew and will be implemented by the six
newly formed research departments:
Collections, Identification and Naming,
Comparative Plant and Fungal Biology,
Conservation Science, Natural Capital and
Plant Health, and Biodiversity Informatics
and Spatial Analysis. The departments
bring out the best in our collections, our
people and our partnerships, and with a
new vision and strategy we aim to make
Kews scientific resources a global asset,
bringing benefits to science, conservation
policy and education worldwide.
The strategy does not claim to have
all the answers. The challenges facing
humanity will evolve, and science will
continue its forward progress. However,
understanding and conserving plant
and fungal diversity has never been
more relevant, and I am excited by the
opportunities for Kews scientists to
continue to produce world-class research
and make an important and unique
contribution to addressing some of the
major challenges of our time.
Prof. Katherine Willis, Director of Science

Kew Scientist Spring 2015 Issue 47

Awards
In February 2015, Honorary Research
Fellow Peter Brandham was awarded the
Peter Barr Memorial Cup by the Royal
Horticultural Society at a ceremony in the
RHS Lindley Hall in recognition of his work
on the chromosomal evolution of Narcissus
in cultivation.
Herbarium volunteer Sheila Thompson
was the 2014 winner in the Long Service
category of the London Volunteers
in Museums Awards. The Herbarium
reorganisation volunteers were the overall
winners of the 2014 Marsh Trust Volunteer
Awards.
In November 2014, Kew magazine won
the Environmental Award at the 2014
Garden Media Guild Awards at The Savoy
in London. The award was for a piece
by Stephanie Pain called Saving for the
Future on the UK National Tree Seed
Project.
An Atlas of the Worlds Conifers by Aljos Farjon
was awarded an Outstanding Academic
Title by CHOICE (Current Reviews for
Academic Libraries) in January 2015.
An exhibit by Joanne Everson, Ilia
Leitch and Laurence Hill showcasing the
variation in genome size in Fritillaria, using
photographic, scientific and horticultural
displays, won a Gold Award at the Early
Spring Show of the Alpine Garden Society
in Harlow, February 2015.

Peter Brandham awarded the Peter Barr

Memorial Cup Photo: R. Scamp

PhDs
The following students, co-supervised by
Kew staff, have successfully defended their
theses:
Paulina Hechenleitner, Biogeography
and systematics of South American Vicia
(Leguminosae) (December 2014).
Jacqueline St Quinton, An evaluation of
fungal pathogens as biological control
agents against the weed Rubus niveus
(February 2015).

Preferences of horse chestnut

leaf miner

Horse chestnut leaves damaged by the leaf

miner Cameraria ohridella Photo: T. Kokubun

A study has examined oviposition

preference and larval performance of
the horse chestnut leaf miner (Cameraria
ohridella) on its native host, Aesculus
hippocastanum, and other species of Aesculus
that are novel hosts. Cameraria ohridella laid
eggs on all species of Aesculus, but showed
preferences for A. hippocastanum and the
closely related A. turbinata. Successful mine
development, however, was observed only
on A. hippocastanum and A. turbinata, and
these species showed similar leaf traits,
which might explain why larvae performed
equally well. In contrast, resistant species
showed considerable variation in leaf traits,
suggesting that different species of Aesculus
have different mechanisms of resistance.
Entomol. Exp. Appl. 152, 157 (2014).
Contact: Prof. Monique Simmonds
(m.simmonds@kew.org)

Soejatmi Dransfield planting Soejatmia ridleyi

at Singapore Botanic Gardens Photo: J. Dransfield

Soejatmi plants Soejatmia

In October 2014, Honorary Research Fellow
Soejatmi Dransfield ceremonially planted
her eponymous bamboo, Soejatmia ridleyi, in
Singapore Botanic Gardens. The monotypic
genus Soejatmia was described by K.M. Wong
in 1993 to accommodate Bambusa ridleyi,
misplaced in Bambusa. The new genus was
named after Soejatmi for her contribution
to the systematic knowledge of Malesian
bamboos.
Contact: Dr Soejatmi Dransfield
(s.dransifeld@kew.org)

www.kew.org

Drivers of global plant diversity

Climbing palm diversity
Climbing plants contribute significantly to
species diversity and ecosystem processes
in tropical rainforests. In palms, climbing
species account for 22% of global palm
species richness, but their distribution is
highly skewed across the tropics. A multiinstitution team has analysed the broadscale patterns and drivers of climbing
palm species richness. The study identified
multiple origins of the climbing habit
between the early Eocene and the Miocene,
with diversification rate increases occurring
in those lineages leading to the most
species-rich groups. Past and present day
climatic factors and canopy height partly
explain climbing palm species richness, but
a strong role for historical contingencies is
also evident. Thus, climbing palm origins
and diversification are likely to have been
driven by a combination of factors including
climate, morpho-anatomical innovations,
biogeographic history of Southeast Asia,
and ecological opportunity due to the
evolution of tall dipterocarps in Asian
rainforests since the Miocene. Front. Genet.
5, 452 (2015).
Contact: Dr Bill Baker (w.baker@kew.org)

Plectocomia elongata, a climbing palm

Osmunda regalis frozen in time?

www.kew.org

Photo: W. Baker

Photo: G. Kite

Many extinctions occurred in the magnoliid clade (Liriodendron pictured) following the global cooling
that started approximately 50 million years ago Photo: W. Eiserhardt.

Climate-driven extinctions
Species extinction is one of the
fundamental processes shaping biodiversity
as well as the appearance and function of
ecosystems. Extinction of entire groups of
related organisms is more likely to have
drastic ecosystem consequences than species
losses that are spread evenly across the tree
of life and is less easily amended by the
evolution of new species. Understanding
what circumstances lead to the loss of entire
branches from the tree of life is crucial.
In the temperate forests of the Northern
Hemisphere, many tree genera went
regionally extinct due to a global cooling
trend that started approximately 50 million
years ago. By combining data on fossil
and present distributions, environmental

tolerances, and phylogenetic relationships

of temperate trees, researchers from Kew
and Aarhus University have shown that this
cold-driven extinction was concentrated
in groups of closely related genera.
Therefore, certain parts of the tree of life
are overrepresented in the surviving floras,
while others are lacking. This effect was
most pronounced in the regions that were
hardest hit by cold-driven extinction.
Given that many taxa are currently
threatened with extinction due to
anthropogenic climate change, the study
raises concerns that future climate-driven
extinctions will prune the tree of life in a
similarly non-random way. Ecol. Lett. 18, 263
(2015).
Contact: Dr Wolf Eiserhardt (w.eiserhardt@kew.org)

Genomes frozen in time?

Adaptive species divergence

The royal ferns (Osmundaceae) have

traditionally been regarded as living
fossils due to similarity in morphological
appearance between extant species and
fossils over 200 million years old. Further
evidence for this stasis was recently
suggested by scientists from Sweden
who discovered a new Jurassic fossil with
exceptionally well preserved cellular
structures. Indeed, the similarity in size
of the fossil cell nuclei with extant species
of Osmundastrum led the authors to
suggest that genome size had remained
unchanged over 180 million years.
Does this mean that the DNA which
makes up the genomes of royal ferns
has also undergone limited evolution
and hence become frozen in time?
To address this, colleagues at Kew, the
Natural History Museum (London) and
Fairylake Botanical Garden (China)
combined new genomic data with those
in the literature. The observations
indicate that while the genomes of
royal ferns are indeed less dynamic and
evolving more slowly than other fern
lineages, they are not completely frozen
in time as there is evidence of some
limited evolutionary capacity. New Phytol.
207, 10 (2015).

Research on the plants of Lord Howe Island

has revealed some of the most compelling
examples of how natural selection can
drive the evolution of new species in a very
small area. Now, a research team from Kew
and Imperial College London has used
innovative genetic methods to understand
whether individuals of 18 endemic plants
on Lord Howe Island are adapted to their
local habitat. Unexpectedly, all species
studied show genetic evidence of adaptation
to the local environment and a third of
the species are adapted to their local
plant communities. These results further
strengthen the case for adaptive species
divergence in nature and demonstrate that
local adaptation is widespread in plants.
Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 369, 20130342 (2014).

Contact: Dr IIia Leitch (i.leitch@kew.org)

Zygogynum howeanum

Contact: Dr Alex Papadopulos

(a.papadopulos@kew.org)

Photo: W. Baker

Kew Scientist Spring 2015 Issue 47

What plants and fungi occur on Earth?

Eugenia systematics

Diversity of mushrooms from a cloud forest in Ecuador

Photo: B. Dentinger

Genome mining from fungarium specimens

The advent of high throughput DNA
sequencing has had a major impact on
many areas of biological research, including
systematics where the use of genomic data
for phylogeny reconstruction has been
greatly accelerated. However, the utility of
preserved natural history collections for
generating genomic datasets is not well
known. A new study, led by Kew scientists
Bryn Dentinger and Ester Gaya, applied
high throughput sequencing to generate 14
whole genome sequences from fungarium
specimens and newly collected fungi.
Their study, which compiled a dataset

of >60,000 amino acids from over 200

genes for 35 taxa representing most of the
known families of mushrooms in the order
Agaricales, demonstrates the feasibility of
using traditional fungarium collections for
generating genomic datasets, and provides
the first reliable subordinal classification
for the group. In addition to seven new
suborders, this study also provides a set of
top performing genes for phylogenomic
studies of other fungi. Biol. J. Linn. Soc, in
press, doi: 10.1111/bij.12553 (2015).
Contact: Dr Bryn Dentinger (b.dentinger@kew.org)

Eugenia is one of the most species diverse

genera in the Neotropics and one of the
most taxonomically challenging. In the first
phylogenetic hypothesis of Eugenia, based
on DNA sequencing and analyses carried
out at Kew, researchers from Brazil and Kew
have investigated the validity of currently
recognised infrageneric groups in Eugenia as
well as identifying supporting morphological
characters. The study used the largest
Eugenia sample analysed to date and
included representative species from Africa,
Asia and the Pacific. The results confirm that
Neotropical genera Calycorectes, Hexachlamys,
Phyllocalyx and Stenocalyx should be included
within Eugenia to preserve its monophyly.
In Eugenia s.l., nine morphologically
diagnosable clades are identified. The
results provide a basis for a much needed
new subgeneric classification for Eugenia.
These subgeneric groupings now form the
bases for multiple doctoral studies currently
underway. Kew Bull. 69, 9497 (2014).
Contact: Dr Eve Lucas (e.lucas@kew.org)

Eugenia azurensis Photo: O.Berg

Phylogenetic signal in repetitive elements

Nicotiana cavicola, one of the species studied

that revealed phylogeneatic signal in repetitive
elements Photo S. Hopper

When using next-generation sequencing,

most genomic information, especially
repetitive elements, is usually discarded
without any investigation of content
and usefulness. Various types of repeats
are scattered across chromosomes in
angiosperms and can comprise most
genomic DNA. In a new study, the
usefulness of these repetitive elements is
evaluated in a phylogenetic context by
comparative graph-based clustering of nextgeneration sequence reads. This analysis
results in abundance estimates of different
classes of genomic repeats that must be
treated as continuously varying characters

(programs that do this are available). In six

distantly related cases, five flowering plants
and one insect (the fruit fly, Drosophila), this
method provides generally well-supported
relationships that are in accord with results
based on standard markers. This methodology
is potentially useful in groups where there
is minimal variability found in standard
phylogenetic markers and hybridisation is
suspected. It also provides a wealth of data
for comparative studies of genome evolution.
Syst. Biol., in press, doi: 10.1093/sysbio/syu080
(2015).
Contact: Prof. Mark Chase (m.chase@kew.org)

Relationships in Myrcia sect. Aulomyrcia

Floral and fruit diversity of Myrcia sect. Aulomyrcia

Photo: V. Staggemeier

Kew Scientist Spring 2015 Issue 47

Researchers from Universidade Federal de

Gois and Kew have produced a DNA-based
phylogenetic overview of relationships
in a section of Myrcia (sect. Aulomyrcia
c.130 species; Myrtaceae) that brings
clarity to the systematics of a very complex
and ecologically significant group. The
researchers also used likelihood to estimate
region-dependent rates of speciation,
extinction and dispersal, comparing
historical climatically stable (refuges) and
unstable areas. Phylo-systematic results
re-iterate the polyphyly of Myrcia and
Marlierea and divide the Aulomyrcia
clade into morphologically explicable

groups for imminent monography. The

major ecological results are that there is
support for a link between Amazonian and
northeastern species as well as between
northeastern and southeastern species.
Lower extinction rates within glacial refugia
suggest that these areas were important in
the maintenance of current diversity in the
Atlantic forest biodiversity hotspots and
that range expansion from unstable areas
contributed to the highest levels of plant
diversity within these refugia. Ann. Bot. 181,
115, 747(2015).
Contact: Dr Eve Lucas (e.lucas@kew.org)

www.kew.org

What plants and fungi occur on Earth?

Filling gaps in legume phylogeny

Dehisced fruits of Medusagyne oppositifolia

Photo: M. Christenhusz

Ochnaceae phylogenetics
With nearly-complete generic sampling
for the first time, phylogenetics of family
Ochnaceae has been studied using
five DNA regions. Based on this, a new
classification of Ochnaceae has been
published, with Medusagynoideae and
Quiinoideae included as subfamilies,
and former subfamilies Ochnoideae and
Sauvagesioideae recognized as tribes.
Medusagynoideae (Medusagyne oppositifolia
alone) are weakly supported as sister to
Quiinoideae. Ochneae are supported
as monophyletic, but Sauvagesieae in
the traditional sense are polyphyletic,
necessitating recognition of Luxemburgieae

Updated classification of
Orchidaceae

and Testuleeae. The position of Lophira

has varied between earlier classifications,
but in the new study it is sister to the rest
of Ochneae; endosperm-free seeds and
ovules with partly to completely united
integuments are thus characters that unite
that tribe. Ancestral state reconstructions
revealed zygomorphic flowers with
adaptations to buzz-pollination, syncarpous
gynoecia, numerous ovules, septicidal
capsules and winged seeds with endosperm
as ancestral states in Ochnoideae. Winged
seeds in Medusagyne are not homologous
with those in Ochnoideae. Mol. Phylogenet.
Evol. 78, 199 (2015).
Contact: Dr Mike Fay (m.fay@kew.org)

A recent study (Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 84,

112; 2015) has focused on filling the gaps
in early diverging lineages of papilionoid
legumes. It revealed that the Amazonian
monospecific genus Petaladenium is sister to
the genus Dussia in the Amburaneae clade,
one of the first-diverging lineages of the
Papilionoideae. The fimbriate-urceolateglandular wing petals make Petaladenium
unique among legumes. Similar structures
on the bracts of some Dussia species and a
similar floral morphology support the sister
relationship of the two genera. Previously,
Petaladenium was considered related to
genistoid legumes, but a supplementary
study (Phytochemistry 116, 198; 2015)
showed that the leaves lacked quinolizidine
alkaloids, characteristic of genistoids, and
instead accumulated novel pipecolic acids
derivatives, a character unique among
members of the Amburaneae clade.
Two further studies into the Amburaneae
clade have focussed on Amburana,
describing the taxonomy of the genus and
one new species (Phytotaxa 212, 249; 2015)
and floral morphology and development
(Int. J. Pl. Sci. 176, 94; 2015). The corolla
of Amburana cearensis is reduced to a single
petal and the analysis of its floral ontogeny
unearthed rare and novel ontogenetic
characters that deviate from patterns found
in more derived papilionoid legumes.
This fits into the emerging picture of an
experimental phase in the floral evolution
of early diverging legumes.
Contact: Dr Gerhard Prenner (g.prenner@kew.org)

Epidendroideae phylogeny

Molecular studies have covered nearly

all groups of Orchidaceae, and this
wealth of information has revealed
many unexpected sets of relationships
and required fairly extensive revision
of generic limits within many groups. A
team led by Mark Chase has reviewed
phylogenetic papers published since the
reclassification of Orchidaceae in 2003
and proposed an updated classification.
Relative to the 2003 classification, the
updated classification recognises three new
tribes, all in subfamily Epidendroideae,
the largest of the five subfamilies
recognised. Compared to other large
families, such as Asteraceae, the number
of genera recognised in Orchidaceae is
modest (approximately 740), and several
recent cases of major lumping of genera
has occurred, propelling many orchid
genera into the top ten largest genera,
for example: Bulbophyllum, Dendrobium,
Epidendrum and Maxillaria. Publication
of this revised classification can be used
to organise other sorts of studies because
it provides a reliable way of knowing the
closest relatives of any target orchid genus.
Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 177, 151-174 (2015).

In terms of pollination strategies,

vegetative adaptations and sheer number
of species, Epidendroideae, the largest
subfamily of Orchidaceae, represent one
of the largest angiosperm radiations. A
new study has used seven DNA regions
to evaluate associations of key characters
with diversification. The matrix included
representatives of 312 genera (of the
roughly 740 recognised in the most recent
classification). Likelihood and parsimony
analyses yielded highly resolved trees that
are in good agreement and show significant
support for many key clades. Statistical
character-associated diversification
analyses were performed and showed that
epiphytism is most strongly associated with
diversification, followed by dispersal to the
New World and anther characters involved
with pollinator specificity. However, all
other characters examined also exhibited
significant association with species richness,
indicating that there was no single key
character that initiated an episode of
explosive speciation. A series of important
features evolved at different times,
sometimes in parallel, and these often
supported diversification. Ann. Bot., in press,
doi:10.1093/aob/mcu253 (2015).

Seasonally dry woodland of the inter-Andean

valleys of Bolivia Photo: B. Klitgaard

Contact: Prof. Mark Chase (m.chase@kew.org)

Contact: Prof. Mark Chase (m.chase@kew.org)

Contact: Dr Bente Klitgaard (b.klitgaard@kew.org)

www.kew.org

Bolivian biodiversity
Kew scientists contributed accounts of
Acanthaceae, Convolvulaceae, Cyperaceae,
Lamiaceae, Leguminosae and Poaceae to
the Catalogue of the Vascular Plants of
Bolivia (Monogr. Syst. Bot. Mo. Bot. Gard. 127;
2014). In Kews Science Strategy, Bolivia
is identified as a focus for developing
partnerships to conduct targeted field
research and identify priority areas for
plant and habitat conservation under Kew`s
TIPAs (Tropical Important Plant Areas)
programme.

Kew Scientist Spring 2015 Issue 47

What plant and fungal diversity

is under threat?
Phylogeny, extinction
and conservation
The IUCN Sampled Red List Index
(SRLI) is a policy response by biodiversity
scientists to the need to estimate trends
in extinction risk. Kew scientists are
actively involved in the SRLI for Plants,
Phase I of which provided baseline data
predominantly by making assessments
using herbarium specimen data. This
is due to the overwhelming absence of
accurate population data or detailed
distribution maps for the vast majority
of plant species. This method creates
difficulties in re-assessing these species to
measure genuine changes in conservation
status. However, the same specimen data
identify precise localities where threatened
species have previously been collected
and can be used to model species ranges
and to target fieldwork. Thus, Phase II
of the SRLI for Plants aims to mobilise
an extensive global network of botanists,
academics and conservationists to establish
an international monitoring scheme. The
strategy for prioritising fieldwork efforts to
produce a more robust estimation of the
SRLI in Phase II has been published in a
discussion meeting issue of the Philosophical
Transactions of the Royal Society B entitled
Phylogeny, extinction and conservation
(http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/
content/370/1662/).
The goal of this discussion meeting
issue, outlined in the introductory paper
by the organisers (including Felix Forest

Anogramma success

Photo: F. Forest

and Mark Chase from Kew), was to

offer a platform to present the available
methods allowing the integration of
phylogenetic and extinction risk data in
conservation planning. Evolutionary studies
have played a fundamental role in our
understanding of life, but they have had
only a modest involvement in addressing
conservation issues. In a third paper in
the issue co-authored by Kew scientists, it
is shown how incorporating evolutionary
history directly in conservation actions is
beneficial, particularly given the likelihood
that extinction is not random and that
phylogenetic diversity is lost at higher
rates than species diversity. The authors
use evolutionary data on the legumes of
Madagascar to show that this evidence
is even more compelling in biodiversity
hotspots.
Contact: Dr Flix Forest (f.forest@kew.org)

Does genome size influence invasive

potential?

Mycorrhizal fungi are a major functional

guild controlling plant-soil interactions.
Mapping and monitoring of forest
ectomycorrhizal fungi has untapped
potential to inform forest management
and fungal conservation. However, studies
need to reach beyond national boundaries
to reflect fungal geographic distributions
and their drivers of change. The vast
European forest monitoring network, ICP
Forests, is an ideal platform for mycorrhizal
studies. A study, based on the findings of
an NERC-supported workshop organized
at Kew in April 2014, has assessed the
potential of intensively monitored longterm forest plots in developing and scaling
up forest mycorrhizal research and fungal
biomonitoring. The authors propose
research hypotheses and encourage
further discussion by raising questions
covering current knowledge gaps. They
also make recommendations for scaling
up mycorrhizal assessments so as to inform
a variety of stakeholders, with a focus on
conservation and policy. Discussions will
continue at a workshop supported by the
British Ecological Society in October 2015
at Kew. Ann. For. Sci., in press, doi: 10.1007/
s13595-014-0447-4 (2015).
Contact: Dr Laura Martinez-Suz
(l.martinez-suz@kew.org)

Currently, there is only one non-lichen

fungus species worldwide on the IUCNs
Red List. To begin to address this dearth
of information on what fungal diversity is
under threat, mycologists from Europe,
including Kews Martyn Ainsworth, attended
a workshop in Sweden aimed at getting the
conservation status of more threatened
fungal species assessed.

Winners and losers among British

and Irish orchids.

Following the rediscovery of Anogramma

ascensionis (Ascension Island parsley fern) in
2009, successful propagation work has been
carried out by Kew and the Ascension Island
Government Conservation Department.
In November 2014, ten plants at different
developmental stages were planted into the
habitat of this critically endangered species
on Ascension Island. The success has been
outstanding with gametophytes producing
over 175 sporophytes, many of which have
produced spores, ensuring the full cycle of
generations.

Invasive plants are estimated to cost the

UK over 1.7 billion each year. Much
research has been targeted at trying to
understand and predict why some plants
become invasive and others do not by
comparing traits of invasive and noninvasive species. However, the role of
genome size (the total amount of DNA
in the nucleus), which varies c. 2,400fold, has not been widely investigated
even though species with large genomes
are known to be constrained in many
functional traits that have been linked
to invasive potential (e.g. minimum
generation time, seed characteristics,
relative growth rate of seedlings, water
use and photosynthetic efficiency).
A recent review highlights the many
ways that genome size could influence
the invasive potential of a species, and
argues that such data are needed in
comparative macroecological studies
on species invasiveness. The authors of
the review predict that such data will
provide a more complete understanding
of how interactions between multiple
traits influence the invasive potential of a
species. New Phytol. 205, 994 (2015).

Based on the Local

Change Survey
(published by the
Botanical Society
of the British Isles)
and recent Red List
assessments, the
current state and
the likely future of
populations of all
native British and
Irish orchids have
been analysed. This
Neottia nidus-avis
identified likely
Photo: M. Christenhusz
winners and losers
in the face of climate change and other
factors. Winners include Himantoglossum
hircinum, Ophrys apifera and Orchis
purpurea, while losers include Cephalanthera
longifolia, Epipactis palustris, Hammarbya
paludosa and Neottia nidus-avis. Changes in
woodland management and drying out of
localities (due to natural causes or human
intervention) appear to be major reasons
for the declining populations of some of the
losers. Curtiss Bot. Mag. 32, 3 (2015).

Contact: Marcella Corcoran (m.corcoran@kew.org)

Contact: Dr Ilia Leitch (i.leitch@kew.org)

Contact: Dr Mike Fay (m.fay@kew.org)

Sporophytes developing on gametophytes of

Anagramma ascensionis.

Immature fruits of Eligmocarpus cynometroides, a

Critically Endangered Madagascan legume

Mapping and monitoring

mycorrhizal fungi

Kew Scientist Spring 2015 Issue 47

www.kew.org

Plants contributing to natural capital

Phytochemicals as micronutrients in
health and disease

Evolutionary history of Aloe

Worldwide, non-infectious diseases (NIDs)

including cardiovascular disease, cancer
and diabetes kill 38 million people
each year, and 47.5 million people have
dementia, which is a WHO public health
priority. While unhealthy diets increase the
risk of dying from a NID, intake of dietary
phytochemicals has been associated with
health benefits. The role of phytochemicals
in maintaining health and preventing
disease has recently been reviewed by Kew
scientists in a study that focused on recent
progress on their mechanistic effects,
clinical and epidemiological evidence.
Phytochemicals emerging as potentially
relevant for health, with particular relevance
for NIDs, include catechins, resveratrol,
curcumin, anthocyanins and isoflavones.
It was concluded that evidence for the role
of phytochemicals in health and disease
is growing, but knowledge of the species
in which they occur and their specific
associations with health need to be more
firmly understood and established from
more robust data using authenticated plant
material and phytochemically characterised
preparations. Curr. Opin. Clin. Nutr. Metab.
Care 17, 558 (2014).

A team of scientists led by Kew and the

University of Copenhagen have studied
evolution in the succulent genus Aloe,
shedding light on the worlds preference
for Aloe vera over hundreds of related
species of Aloe. The common term aloes
refers to the large Old World genus Aloe
(ca. 500 species) and a further 20 species
in five smaller related genera, Aloidendron,
Aloiampelos, Aristaloe, Gonialoe and Kumara. In
this study, a phylogenetic tree constructed
with DNA sequence data from about 40%
of the aloesan unprecedented sampling
of the groupwas used to estimate the
distribution of the predecessors of modern
aloes using biogeographical methods. The
resulting evolutionary hypothesis identified
the origin of the aloes to southern Africa
approximately 16 million years ago, and the
origin of Aloe vera to the Arabian Peninsula
more recently. The succulent leaf tissue of
Aloe vera is one of the worlds most popular
plant ingredients. Many other species of Aloe
are used traditionally, but none has the same
commercial status. Using the phylogenetic
tree to scrutinise patterns in the properties
of leaf succulence and medicinal use
revealed that aloes with very succulent leaves
are the most likely to be used medicinally.
Hence, Aloe vera does not appear to have a
unique evolutionary history, and the early
introduction of the species to major trade
routes likely contributed to its popularity
and near-cosmopolitan distribution, and the
global market it supports today. BMC Evol.
Biol. 15,29 (2015).
Contact: Dr Olwen Grace (o.grace@kew.org)

Food security from cultivated yams

Across Madagascar, wild endemic yam
species are collected from open access
areas and used as a food of last resort, at
times when other crops fail. An alternative
is to cultivate yams. A notable knowledge
gap in using yam cultivation to enhance
local food security is a paucity of data
concerning demand for cultivated yams and
whether people in the relevant communities
prefer the wild yam species to the exotic
cultivated yam species. Understanding
these preferences contributes to addressing
the issue of poor food security causing
extinction pressure on specific native
yams and helps to determine whether yam
cultivation can reduce this. A study, using
a preference choice experiment approach,
has found that subsistence farmers would
rather obtain the cultivated but introduced
species Dioscorea alata as a standby rather
than the three wild species of yam that
occur locally: D. kimiae, D. arcuatinervis and
D. seriflora. The study shows that a choice
experiment can provide information about
preferences in a subsistence setting and
demonstrates how validity tests can be
incorporated into a choice experiment
approach. Afr. J. Agric. Econ. Rural Develop.
31, 165 (2015).

Aloe vera, a globally popular succulent plant

Photo: O. Grace

Contact: Dr Melanie Howes (m.howes@kew.org)

Comparative seed biology

Homoglutathione in legumes
Glutathione ( -glutamylcysteineglycine),
a tripeptide found in all higher
eukaryotes, has antioxidant properties
and plays a key role in maintaining
cellular redox homeostasis. A glutathione
homologue, homoglutathione, is found
only in some species of Leguminosae
and is believed to have arisen as a result
of gene duplication after the divergence
of the Leguminosae. Previous studies
on the distribution of homoglutathione
have focused only on species belonging
to seven of the 35 tribes of Leguminosae,
all of which belonged to subfamily
Papilionoideae.
Recent research by Kew scientists
into the distribution of glutathione
and homoglutatione in legume species,
representing 30 tribes across all three sub
families, revealed that homoglutathione
was restricted to the Old World clade
of Papilionoideae. The appearance
of homoglutathione coincides with a
whole genome duplication event that
is proposed to have occurred after
divergence of the Old World clade.
Not all species in the Old World clade
produce homoglutathione, so the
ability to synthesise homoglutathione
may have been lost in some species.
Homoglutathione showed a different
tissue-specific distribution to glutathione,
which suggests that it may play a distinct
role in some tissues. Phytochemistry 115,
175 (2015).
Contact: Dr Louise Colville (l.colville@kew.org)

Centrosema
pubescens: contains
homoglutathione in
its roots and seeds
Photo: L. Colville

Seed persistence
A team of scientists from Australia and the
UK have reviewed the ecophysiology of seed
persistence. Seed persistence is a strategy
enabling plants to disperse seeds through
time and avoid germination in adverse
seasons. It also enables seeds to be stored
for long periods ex situ. Seeds dispersed
into the natural environment encounter
dynamic climatic, soil and site conditions,
which result in variable persistence times.
Thus, persistence of individual seeds is an
expression of numerous seed characteristics
including inherent dormancy, longevity and
defence, and how these characteristics are
influenced by the immediate environment
of the seed. An understanding of seed
persistence is critical for weed management,
agricultural management and restoration
programmes. The authors of the review
propose a resistance-exposure model as a
first step in addressing the need to predict
how seed, species, climate, soil and site
factors influence overall persistence. Biol.
Rev. 90, 31 (2015).
Contact: Dr Louise Colville (l.colville@kew.org)

Contact: Dr Tim Harris (t.harris@kew.org)

www.kew.org

Kew Scientist Spring 2015 Issue 47

New species found in Kew glasshouses

Each year Kew scientists publish numerous
species of plants and fungi from around the
world that are new to science. Discovering
new species in the glasshouses at Kew, rather
than in a remote corner of the tropics, is
unusual. Nevertheless, two new species (a
pitcher plant and an orchid) have recently
been discovered in Kews living collections.

Nepenthes zygon

Photo: M. Cheek

New books
Curating Biocultural
Collections: A
Handbook (Eds J.
Salick, K. Konchar
& M. Nesbitt, Kew
Publishing, 2014;
ISBN 978 18 2464
98 4) provides
advice for successful
management of collections that
document the richness and diversity of
human engagement with the natural
world. The book places a strong
emphasis on meeting the needs of
collection users and encourages ethical
and equitable engagement with source
communities, and it gives valuable
insight into biocultural collections
for anyone working to preserve these
valuable resources.
The Plants of Sudan and South Sudan: An
Annotated Checklist (by I. Darbyshire,
M. Kordofani, I. Farag, R. Candiga &
H. Pickering; Kew Publishing, 2015;
ISBN 978 18 4246 47 3) is the first
publication dedicated to the flora of
the Republic of Sudan and the recently
seceded Republic of South Sudan. It
provides a baseline reference for all
future botanical and conservation work
in the Sudan region.

New pitcher plant

The longstanding Nepenthes research
collaboration of Martin Cheek (Kew) and
Matthew Jebb (National Botanic Gardens,
Ireland) has resulted in many new species
of Nepenthes being described. Twelve
new species from the Philippines alone
were published in 2013, resulting from
examination of herbarium specimens
loaned to Kew from diverse botanical
institutes. In addition to these, the sterile
specimen Elmer 14248 collected in
1912 from Mt Masaya in Mindanao did
not fit any known species. While verifying
identifications of the living collections in
Kews glasshouses, Martin Cheek noticed
a plant mislabelled as N. copelandii that
connected it to the Elmer specimen.
Eventually the living plant flowered,
and the herbarium specimen made
from it was a close match for the Elmer
specimen. Records showed that the Kew
plant had been collected from Mindanao
in 1997 from a location close the Elmer
specimen. The species has been named
Nepenthes zygon, and it is only known
from a small number of individuals at
two locations in Mindanao, one of which
is reported to have been cleared for
timber, so the species has been assessed
as Critically Endangered. Blumea 59, 144
(2014).

During a fieldtrip to the Cardamom

Mountains in Cambodia in NovemberDecember 2013, Andr Schuiteman and
Christopher Ryan had permission to collect
a number of living orchid specimens for
Kew. Among these was a small epiphytic
orchid, which superficially resembled the
widespread Porpax elwesii. About a dozen
specimens were seen, all growing on the
trunk of a fallen tree. The flowering season
of this species being almost over, only two
flowers were left, which were collected and
preserved in spirit. A few living plants were
brought back to Kew, where they flowered a
year later in the Quarantine House. A closer
examination of the bell-shaped flowers
revealed that it was not P. elwesii, but an
undescribed species. It differs from P. elwesii
especially in the much broader petals that
are covered with large, translucent warts.
The new orchid will soon be published and
named in Kew Bulletin.
Contact: Andr Schuiteman
(a.schuiteman@kew.org)
The undescribed species of Porpax
Photo: A. Schuiteman

Contact: Dr Martin Cheek (m.cheek@kew.org)

Treasured Trees (by

M. Yamanaka, C.
Harrison & M. Rix; Kew
Publishing, 2015; ISBN
978 18 42465 86 8) is
a celebration of the
oldest and finest trees
growing at the Kew, with
beautiful botanical art by Japanese artist
Masumi Yamanaka.
On the Forests of Tropical Asia: Lest the Memory
Fade (by P. Ashton; Kew Publishing/Arnold
Arboretum, 2015; ISBN 97 8 1 842464 75
5) is the first book to describe the forests of
the entire tropical Asian region, from Sind
to New Guinea. It opens with chapters on
physical geography and geological history
and then moves on to address forest and
tree structure and dynamics, floristics, and
symbiotic organisms, as well as genetics,
evolutionary history, species diversity, and
human impact. A final chapter covers future
policy and practice options for saving what
remains.
Atlas of Wood Diversity in the Cerrado of So
Paulo (by J. Sonsin, P. Gasson, S. Machado,
C. Caum & C. Marcati; Editora FEPAF, 2014;
ISBN 978 85 98187 50 1) describes the
wood anatomy and macromorphology of 91
species of trees and shrubs collected in a 180
ha nature reserve in the state of So Paulo.
Order Kew Publishing books from kewbooks.com

Kew Scientist, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 3AB.
Tel: +44 (0)20 8332 5000 Fax: +44 (0)20 8332 5310 Web: www.kew.org
Published in Spring and Autumn.

New orchid in quarantine

Editor: Dr M. Fay
Production Editor: Dr G. Kite
Design: Design team, RBG Kew

MSc in Plant and Fungal

Taxonomy, Diversity and
Conservation
In partnership with Queen Mary
University of London, Kew will launch a
new joint MSc course in Plant and Fungal
Taxonomy, Diversity and Conservation
in September 2015, based at Kew. With
only a small percentage of the planets
diversity formally described by science,
it is more important than ever to train
a new generation of taxonomists who
will go on to describe, understand and
conserve biodiversity. The new MSc
course delivers vital plant and fungal
identification skills in combination with
a thorough grounding in molecular
systematics, evolutionary biology and
conservation policy, theory and practice.
The one-year taught Masters programme
is designed for biology graduates or
graduates of other relevant natural
science degree courses. Applicants
with relevant professional experience
in science will also be considered.
Applications should be made through
Queen Mary University of London.
Kew is also organizing an Applied Plant Taxonomy,
Identification and Field Survey Skills Course from 7 to 18
September, 2015. The course is designed for early career
environmental scientists and PhD students of any discipline,
with competitive bursaries supported through NERC
funding. Contact: Dr Gemma Bramley (g.bramley@kew.org)

Editorial advisory team:

F. Cook, Dr C. Clubbe, Dr F. Forest, Dr E. Gaya,
Dr G. Lewis, Prof. M. Simmonds

RBG Kew receives about half its funding from the UK Government through the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).