Blog – Moricandia.info

This photo is an electronic photomicrograph with false color (which seeks to differentiate the most important parts of the images, making them more understandable) of the detail of the wet stigma of the summer flower of the plant Moricandia arvensis.

The image “Surviving by drops” has won third prize in the “Beyond our eyes” category, awarded by the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) in its scientific image contest. This photograph is the work of Isabel Sánchez Almazo, Lola Molina – two scientists from the Center for Scientific Instrumentation (CIC) of the University of Granada – and José María Gómez Reyes, research professor at the Experimental Station of Arid Zones (EEZA) of the CSIC. The contest aims to portray the beauty of physical processes and the impact of physics in our daily lives, as well as to illustrate how physics research and teaching is carried out around the world.

The image was acquired with an environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM) from CIC. The ESEM is capable of providing high-resolution electron images of hydrated samples in their natural state, without pre-observation treatments; it also allows in situ dynamic experiments of water condensation and dehydration. “This is achieved by cooling the sample surface and varying the partial pressure of water vapor inside the ESEM chamber, a process similar to the formation of dewdrops at dawn (known as dew point),” explains the research team.

The IUPAP award-winning image shows stigma papillae (pink) and pollen grains (orange) moist and with water droplets condensed on them. The photomicrograph was acquired with relative humidity close to 100% (at 2°C and 706.61 pascals water vapor pressure). Moricandia arvensis changes flower shape and color during summer, the driest season; these changes could be related to water stress, among other factors. The ability of some plant surfaces to generate droplets and retain some water, even under conditions of low water availability, is of particular interest for those that survive in arid or semi-arid regions. Micrometer-scale studies of hydrophobicity of natural and synthetic surfaces are possible with ESEM.

More info: CANAL UGR

In 2017, we presented a molecular phylogeny of the genus Moricandia (Brassicaceae). We found that a Spanish population previously attributed to Rytidocarpus moricandioides is in fact a species of Moricandia, which we named as M. rytidocarpoides sp. nov. Furthermore, M. foleyi appears outside the Moricandia lineage but within the genus Eruca. Thus, M. foleyi has been excluded from the genus Moricandia and ascribed to the genus Eruca as E. foleyi.

The tribe Brassiceae (Brassicaceae) has a complex evolutionary history, which has made its complete phylogenetic resolution difficult. This tribe comprises economically relevant species, including the genus Moricandia DC. This genus is currently distributed in North Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and southern Europe, where it is associated with arid and semi-arid environments. Although some species of Moricandia have been used in several phylogenetic studies, the phylogeny of this genus was not well established.

In this work, we presented a phylogenetic analysis of the genus Moricandia using a nuclear (the internal transcribed spacers of the ribosomal DNA) and two plastidial regions (parts of the NADH dehydrogenase subunit F gene and the trnT-trnF region). We also included in the analyses members of their sister genus Rytidocarpus and from the close genus Eruca.

The phylogenetic analyses showed a clear and robust phylogeny for this genus. The Bayesian inference tree was concordant with the maximum likelihood and timing trees, with the plastidial and nuclear trees showing only minor discrepancies. The genus Moricandia appears to be formed by two main lineages: the Iberian clade including three species, and the African clade including the four species inhabiting the Southern Mediterranean regions plus M. arvensis.

Molecular phylogeny for the genus *Moricandia*

We dated the main evolutionary events of this genus, showing that the origin of the Iberian clade probably occurred after a range expansion during the Messinian period, between 7.25 and 5.33 Ma. In that period, an extensive African-Iberian floral and faunal interchange occurred due to the existence of land bridges between Africa and Europa in what is, at present-days, the Strait of Gibraltar.

Hypothesis of the biogeography of the genus *Moricandia* coupled to the geological events at the end of the Miocene (A: Middle Torto- nian; B: Early Messinian) and early Pliocene (C: Late Zanclean) in the Betic-Rifean Arch, the Strait of Gibraltar at current times. Red lines depict the coastal lines at the present time. Based on the paleogeographical reconstruction of Martín et al. (2009).

We demonstrated that a Spanish population previously ascribed to Rytidocarpus moricandioides is indeed a Moricandia species, and we proposed to name it as M. rytidocarpoides sp. nov.

Moricandia rytidocarpoides Lorite, Perfectti, Gómez, González-Megías & Abdelaziz sp. nov.
Holotype: Spain: Jaén, Guadiana Menor basin Quesada, close to El Salón, 473 m a.s.l. 37◦48′19.51′′N/3◦09′01.31′′W, marly slopes over bad lands, 04/04/2017, Leg. and Det. J. Lorite. GDA62636.

Eruca foleyi (Batt.) Lorite, Perfectti, Gómez, González-Megías & Abdelaziz comb. nov. (Basionym = Moricandia foleyi Batt. Bull. Soc. Bot. France 61: 52. 1914)
Holotype: Algeria: Sud oranais, Nebkas dans les vallées de l’Oued Namous, et de la Zousfana, Haute Saoura, Bejjig. 04/1913, Leg: H. Foley, MPU006516.

More info:

Perfectti F, Gómez JM, González-Megías A, Abdelaziz M, Lorite J. (2017)
Molecular phylogeny and evolutionary history of Moricandia DC (Brassicaceae)
PeerJ 5:e3964
https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.3964