Exploring the Botanical Origins of Bee-Collected Pollen: A Comprehensive Historical and Contemporary Analysis

Bee-collected pollen is one of the most important bee products. In order to predict its chemical composition and nutritional value botanical origin of pollen plays a crucial role. This review intended to collect all available data published about botanical origin of pollen collected all around the world. Due to enourmous amount of data and variables nonlinear principal component analysis (NLPCA), by applying Categorical Principal Component Analysis (CATPCA), was conducted in order to try to determine any specifity and/or differences among samples. Also, importance of some plant families/genera/species for bees was monitored. Based on CATPCA results families can serve in order to distinct samples from North/South America. Also, some samples from Europe (Turkey and Serbia) were characterized with presence of some specific families. Genera were excellent tool to distinguish samples from different parts of Brazil as well as Australia, Asia and Africa. Due to high and specific biodiversity pollen samples obtained from Sonoran desert (USA) completely were separated during analysis. This review presents the first attempt to summarize and classify a large number of data about botanical sources of bee-collected pollen.

Genetic diversity in Tunisian castor genotypes (Ricinus communis L.) detected using RAPD markers

Castor (Ricinus communis L.) is a plant that is commercially very important to the world. It is produced in about 30 countries lying in the tropical belt of the world. It is an important plant for production of industrial oil. Assessment of genetic diversity of a crop species is a prerequisite to its improvement; hence it is important to identify the genetic diversity of castor genetic resources for development of improved cultivars. The present study is focused on estimation of genetic distance between 56 Tunisian castor genotypes, based on 18 RAPD markers. Seeds of castor were obtained from the University of Carthage, National Institute of Research in Rural Engineering, Waters and Forests (INRGREF), Regional Station of Gabí¨s, Tunisia. The ricin genotypes were obtained from 12 regions of Tunisia. The efficacy of the RAPD technique in this study is further supported by the obtained PIC values of the primers used in the analysis. PCR amplification of DNA using 18 primers for RAPD analysis produced 145 DNA fragments that could be scored in all 56 genotypes of Tunisian castor. The number of amplified fragments varied from 3 (OPE-07) to 13 (SIGMA-D-01), and the amplicon size ranged from 100 to 1500 bp. Of the 145 amplified bands, 145 were polymorphic, with an average of 8.11 polymorphic bands per primer. The lowest values of polymorphic information content were recorded for RLZ 9 (0.618) and the the highest PIC values were detected for OPD-08 (0.846) with an average of 0.761. A dendrogram was constructed from a genetic distance matrix based on profiles of the 18 RAPD primers using the unweighted pair-group method with the arithmetic average (UPGMA). According to analysis, the collection of 56 Tunisian castor genotypes were clustered into five main clusters. Genetically the closest were four genotypes from cluster 1 (BT-1 - S-5 and K-1 - N-3). Knowledge of the genetic diversity of castor can be used in future breeding programs for increased oil production to meet the ever increasing demand of castor oil for industrial uses as well as for biodiesel production.

Molecular analysis of buckwheat using gene specific markers

Buckwheat (Fagopyrium esculentum) is a pseudo-cereal which has spread troughout the world and nowadays it represents cultural, economic and nutritionally important pseudocereal. It´s enviromentally friendly, characterized by high fiber, routine, protein and B vitamins, and is general-purpose. The goal of the present study was to analyze 17 genotypes of buckwheat by using 7 SCoT markers. In total, 52 fragments were detected, of which 38 were polymorphic. The average number of polymorphic fragments was 5.43. The most polymorphic fragments were detected in SCoT 26 and SCoT 29 markers, and the average percentage of polymorphism was 73.36 %. SCoT 29 reached the highest percentage of polymorphism (87.5 %) and SCoT 36 was lowest (60 %). The DI values ”‹”‹ranged from 0.625 (SCoT 36) to 0.887 (SCoT 26) and the average DI value was 0.749. The average PIC value was 0.729 with PIC values ranging from 0.386 (SCoT 36) to 0.831 (SCoT 26). To determine the genetic diversity of 17 genotypes of the buckwheat, a dendrogram was created using the hierarchical cluster analysis. The genotypes were divided into two major clusters (I and II). Cluster I was divided into three other subgroups. Sixteen genotypes were included in cluster I and the genotype of Madawaska (USA) was genetically the farthest in cluster II. Genetically the closest were the varieties of Ballada (Russia) and Bamby (Austria). Used SCoT markers were sufficiently polymorphic, were able identify and differentiate chosen set of buckwheat genotypes.

A thaumatin-like genomic sequence identification in Vitis vinifera l., stormy wines and musts based on direct pcr

Direct polymerase chain reaction method was use to amplify a thaumatin-like sequence of Vitis vinifera L. in grapes as well as in stormy wines and musts. Thaumatin-like proteins (TLPs) of Vitis vinifera possess beside its function in abiotic and biotic stress response another one - they are able to cause protein haze in wine unless removed prior to bottling. Direct PCR is an approach where omission of DNA extraction is typical prior the amplification of the target site of plant genome. Crude extract or small pieces of plant tissues are used in the analysis directly without steps of extraction and purification of gDNA. The biological material that was used in analysis was collected during August - October 2017 in local stores and winery Sabo and comprises from cultivars Iršai, Muškát, Savignon Blanc, Svätovavrinecké, Dornfelder and Pálava. Direct PCR was performed by a cutted piece of grape tissue and a dilution buffer was use in 1:2 for stormy wine or must, respectively. Direct amplification of thaumatin-like protein sequence of Vitis vinifera was performed along with the control reactions with the primers for conserved region of plant chloroplast. Possitive amplification of thaumatin-like allergen sequence resulted in 570 bp amplicon. The most abundant amplicons were amplified in stormy wines, followed by musts and the amplicons from grapes were weaker when comparing them to others. The amplicon specificity checking of obtained PCR product of thaumatin-like allergen was performed by restriction cleavage by Psi I and resulted in restriction amplicons of the 80 bp, 81 bp, 94 bp and 315 bp in length. Confirmation of the amplicon specificity by restriction cleavage support the potential of direct PCR to become a reproducible method that will be fully applicable in routine analysis of not only plant genomes in the future, but it was demonstrated, that it works in liquids, too. 

Genetic diversity and population structure in tunisian castor genotypes (Ricinus communis L.) Detected using scot markers

Due to the chemical and physical properties of castor oil (Ricinus communis L.) that make it a valuable raw material for numerous industrial applications, including the production of biofuel, interest to develop more and better varieties has been increased. In the present study, the representatives of the genus castor collected from 12 different parts of Tunisia were differentiated by the DNA fingerprinting patterns using 37 SCoT primers. PCR amplification of DNA using 37 primers for SCoT analysis produced 268 DNA fragments that could be scored in all 56 genotypes of Tunisian castor. The number of amplified fragments varied from 4 (SCoT 45, SCoT 31 and ScoT 17) to 10 (SCoT 3, SCoT 11, SCoT 14, SCoT 18 and SCoT 12). Of the 268 amplified bands 230 were polymorphic, with an average of 6.22 polymorphic bands per primer. To determine the level of polymorphism in the analysed group of Tunisian castor genotypes polymorphic information content (PIC) was calculated. The lowest values of polymorphic information content were recorded for SCoT 17 (0.411) and the the highest PIC values were detected for SCoT 14 (0.868) with an average of 0.751. A dendrogram was constructed from a genetic distance matrix based on profiles of the 37 SCoT primers using the unweighted pair-group method with the arithmetic average (UPGMA). According to analysis, the collection of 56 Tunisian castor genotypes were clustered into two main clusters (1 and 2). Of the 56 genotypes of Tunisian castor, 2 unique genotypes were separated (BA-5 and K-4). Genetically the closest were two genotypes from Tunisian region Souassi (S-2 and S-5) in subclaster 2bc. Results showed the utility of SCoT markers for estimation of genetic diversity of castor genotypes leading to genotype identification.

Study of polymorphism of maize using dna and protein markers

In the present investigation 40 genotypes of maize from Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Slovakia and Yugoslavia were analysed using 20 start codon targeted (SCoT) markers, 10 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers, 13 random amplified polymorphic (RAPD) markers and using SDS-PAGE markers. Twenty SCoT primers produced 114 DNA fragments with an average of 5.7 bands per primer. Out of the total of 114 amplified fragments, 86 (76.43 %) were polymorphic, with an average of 4.30 polymorphic bands per primer. Ten SSR primers revealed a total of 65 alleles ranging from 4 (UMC1060) to 8 (UMC2002 and UMC1155) alleles per locus with a mean value of 6.50 alleles per locus. 20 SCoT primers produced total 114 fragments across 40 maize genotypes, of which 86 (76.43 %) were polymorphic with an average of 4.30 polymorphic fragments per primer and number of amplified fragments ranged from 2 (SCoT 45) to 8 (SCoT 28 and SCoT 63). The number of total scorable protein bands was twentythree as a result of SDS-PAGE technique but those that were not cosistent in reproducibility and showed occasional variation in sharpness and density were not considered. Based on these bands forty accessions of maize were screened. Out of twentythree polypeptide bands, 6 (31%) were commonly present in all accessions and considered as monomorphic, while 17 (65%) showed variations and considered as polymorphic. The dendrogram of 40 old maize genotypes based on SSR, SCoT, RAPD and SDS-PAGE markers using UGMA algorithm was constructed.

Morphometric characteristics of sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) fruits

Aim of this study was to determine morphometric differences of fruits between selected sweet chestnuts (Castanea sativa Mill.). The 28 genotypes (referred as CS-01 to CS-28) were introduced by seeds from Czech Republic, Carpathians, Kyrgyzstan. Genotypes of sweet chestnut are grow more than 30 years in Forest-Steppe of Ukraine in the M.M. Gryshko National Botanical Garden of NAS of Ukraine. They are well adapted to the climatic and soil conditions. The fruits were collected at the period of their full maturity (September). The population differs in weight, shape, size and color of fruits. Their morphometric parameters were following: weight from 1.70 g (CS-26) to 18.60 g (CS-20), length from 8.07 mm (CS-28) to 33.39 mm (CS-11), width from 16.34 mm (CS-28) to 40.95 mm (CS-11), thickness from 9.02 mm (CS-26) to 28.70 mm (CS-11) and hilum length from 6.62 mm (CS-26) to 31.30 mm (CS-07), hilum width from 6.50 mm (CS-23) to 19.99 mm (CS-07). The shape index of the fruits was found in the range of 0.81 (CS-20) to 0.98 (CS-12). The shape index of the hilum was found in the range of 1.48 (CS-04) to 2.03 (CS-23). The outcome of the research point to the fact that the genepool Ukrainian sweet chestnut is a rich source of genetic diversity and might be used in selection for creation a new genotypes and cultivars.