RESUMO

The Caatinga, an exclusively Brazilian biome, stands as a reservoir of remarkable biodiversity. Its significance transcends ecological dimensions, given the direct reliance of the local population on its resources for sustenance and healthcare. While Myrtaceae, a pivotal botanical family within the Brazilian flora, has been extensively explored for its medicinal and nutritional attributes, scant attention has been directed towards its contextual relevance within the Caatinga's local communities. Consequently, this inaugural systematic review addresses the ethnobotanical roles of Myrtaceae within the Caatinga, meticulously anchored in the PRISMA 2020 guidelines. We searched Scopus, MEDLINE/Pubmed, Scielo, and LILIACS. No date-range filter was applied. An initial pool of 203 articles was carefully scrutinized, ultimately yielding 31 pertinent ethnobotanical studies elucidating the utility of Myrtaceae amongst the Caatinga's indigenous populations. Collectively, they revealed seven distinct utilization categories spanning ~54 species and 11 genera. Psidium and Eugenia were the genera with the most applications. The most cited categories of use were food (27 species) and medicinal (22 species). The importance of accurate species identification was highlighted, as many studies did not provide enough information for reliable identification. Additionally, the potential contribution of Myrtaceae fruits to food security and human health was explored. The diversity of uses demonstrates how this family is a valuable resource for local communities, providing sources of food, medicine, energy, and construction materials. This systematic review also highlights the need for more ethnobotanical studies to understand fully the relevance of Myrtaceae species in the Caatinga, promoting biodiversity conservation, as well as support for local populations.

Assuntos

RESUMO

PREMISE: Increasingly complete phylogenies underpin studies in systematics, ecology, and evolution. Myrteae (Myrtaceae), with ~2700 species, is a key component of the exceptionally diverse Neotropical flora, but given its complicated taxonomy, automated assembling of molecular supermatrices from public databases often lead to unreliable topologies due to poor species identification. METHODS: Here, we build a taxonomically verified molecular supermatrix of Neotropical Myrteae by assembling 3909 published and 1004 unpublished sequences from two nuclear and seven plastid molecular markers. We infer a time-calibrated phylogenetic tree that covers 712 species of Myrteae (~28% of the total diversity in the clade) and evaluate geographic and taxonomic gaps in sampling. RESULTS: The tree inferred from the fully concatenated matrix mostly reflects the topology of the plastid data set and there is a moderate to strong incongruence between trees inferred from nuclear and plastid partitions. Large, species-rich genera are still the poorest sampled within the group. Eastern South America is the best-represented area in proportion to its species diversity, while Western Amazon, Mesoamerica, and the Caribbean are the least represented. CONCLUSIONS: We provide a time-calibrated tree that can be more reliably used to address finer-scale eco-evolutionary questions that involve this group in the Neotropics. Gaps to be filled by future studies include improving representation of taxa and areas that remain poorly sampled, investigating causes of conflict between nuclear and plastid partitions, and the role of hybridization and incomplete lineage sorting in relationships that are poorly supported.

Assuntos

RESUMO

Bird pollination is relatively common in the tropics, and especially in the Americas. In the predominantly Neotropical tribe Myrteae (Myrtaceae), species of two genera, Acca and Myrrhinium, offer fleshy, sugary petals to the consumption of birds that otherwise eat fruits, thus pollinating the plants in an unusual plant-animal interaction. The phylogenetic position of these genera has been problematic, and therefore, so was the understanding of the evolution of this interaction. Here we include new sequences of Myrrhinium atropurpureum in a comprehensive molecular phylogeny based on a balanced sample of two plastid and two nuclear markers, with the aim of providing the historical framework of pollination by frugivorous birds in Myrteae. We developed 13 flower and inflorescence characters that comprehensively depict the macroscopic morphological components of this interaction. Bayesian and parsimony phylogenies concur in placing both Acca and Myrrhinium in a clade with Psidium species; with Myrrhinium sister to Psidium. Mapping of morphological characters indicated some degree of convergence (e.g., fleshy petals, purplish display) but also considerable divergence in key characters that point to rather opposing pollination strategies and also different degrees of specialization in Acca versus Myrrhinium. Pollination by frugivorous birds represents a special case of mutualism that highlights the evolutionary complexities of plant-animal interactions.

RESUMO

Meiotic index and palynology were assessed for Eugenia involucrata DC-Myrtaceae, a native species of southern Brazil that presents fruits with commercial potential and medicinal properties. For this purpose, floral buds were collected of different individuals from one population at Campo Erê, Santa Catarina, Brazil, and fixed for analysis. Anthers at different development stages were subjected to several techniques for analysis of meiocytes and pollen grains. The behavior of chromosomes in meiosis was normal, with cells in several phases of the cell cycle. Analysis of meiotic index allowed high cytological stability, with 95% of regular tetrads. The pollen grains were positive-starch and negative-lipid. The pollen viability was higher than 95% in all colorimetric tests. Pollen grains are monads, small, oblate, tricolporate, syncolpate with verrucate ornamentation of exine. The high meiotic stability, presence of reserve substances and pollen morphology evidenced in this study have important implications in the selection of potential genetic material for plant breeding, the understanding of pollinating mechanisms and the biosystematics of the genus.(AU)

O índice meiótico e a palinologia foram realizados para a cerejeira-do-mato (Eugenia involucrata DC- Myrtaceae), uma espécie nativa do sul do Brasil que apresenta frutos que podem ser destinados à agroindústria, além de potencial biotecnológico devido às suas propriedades medicinais. Botões florais oriundos de diferentes indivíduos de uma população localizada no município de Campo Erê, Santa Catarina, Brasil, foram coletados e fixados. Anteras em distintos estágios de desenvolvimento foram submetidas a diferentes técnicas para a obtenção de células meióticas e grãos de pólen. As células meióticas, em diferentes estágios do ciclo celular, apresentaram um comportamento cromossômico normal. Os indivíduos analisados apresentaram índices meióticos superiores a 95%, indicando estabilidade citológica. Os grãos de pólen apresentaram-se amido-positivos e lipídeo negativos e percentuais de viabilidade polínica superiores a 95% em todos os testes colorimétricos. A espécie apresenta grãos caracterizados como mônades, pequenos, oblatos, tricolporados, sincolpados e ornamentação verrucada. A alta estabilidade meiótica, a presença de substâncias de reserva e a morfologia polínica evidenciadas no presente estudo possuem importantes implicações para a escolha de materiais genéticos potenciais para o melhoramento genético, para o entendimento de mecanismos de polinização na biossistemática do gênero.(AU)

RESUMO

Meiotic index and palynology were assessed for Eugenia involucrata DC-Myrtaceae, a native species of southern Brazil that presents fruits with commercial potential and medicinal properties. For this purpose, floral buds were collected of different individuals from one population at Campo Erê, Santa Catarina, Brazil, and fixed for analysis. Anthers at different development stages were subjected to several techniques for analysis of meiocytes and pollen grains. The behavior of chromosomes in meiosis was normal, with cells in several phases of the cell cycle. Analysis of meiotic index allowed high cytological stability, with 95% of regular tetrads. The pollen grains were positive-starch and negative-lipid. The pollen viability was higher than 95% in all colorimetric tests. Pollen grains are monads, small, oblate, tricolporate, syncolpate with verrucate ornamentation of exine. The high meiotic stability, presence of reserve substances and pollen morphology evidenced in this study have important implications in the selection of potential genetic material for plant breeding, the understanding of pollinating mechanisms and the biosystematics of the genus.

O índice meiótico e a palinologia foram realizados para a cerejeira-do-mato (Eugenia involucrata DC- Myrtaceae), uma espécie nativa do sul do Brasil que apresenta frutos que podem ser destinados à agroindústria, além de potencial biotecnológico devido às suas propriedades medicinais. Botões florais oriundos de diferentes indivíduos de uma população localizada no município de Campo Erê, Santa Catarina, Brasil, foram coletados e fixados. Anteras em distintos estágios de desenvolvimento foram submetidas a diferentes técnicas para a obtenção de células meióticas e grãos de pólen. As células meióticas, em diferentes estágios do ciclo celular, apresentaram um comportamento cromossômico normal. Os indivíduos analisados apresentaram índices meióticos superiores a 95%, indicando estabilidade citológica. Os grãos de pólen apresentaram-se amido-positivos e lipídeo negativos e percentuais de viabilidade polínica superiores a 95% em todos os testes colorimétricos. A espécie apresenta grãos caracterizados como mônades, pequenos, oblatos, tricolporados, sincolpados e ornamentação verrucada. A alta estabilidade meiótica, a presença de substâncias de reserva e a morfologia polínica evidenciadas no presente estudo possuem importantes implicações para a escolha de materiais genéticos potenciais para o melhoramento genético, para o entendimento de mecanismos de polinização na biossistemática do gênero.

RESUMO

A new section of Eugenia (Myrtaceae) is described, segregate from Eugenia sect. Phyllocalyx. Phylogenetic studies suggest that Eugenia sect. Phyllocalyx as traditionally delimited is paraphyletic. To maintain the monophyly of each of the sections in Eugenia s.l., we herein opt to circumscribe a new section and recognize six taxa in sect. Speciosae, which has a distribution mostly in southeastern Brazil and northern South America. Nomenclatural notes are made and a taxonomic key is provided for the species of the section.