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  • About
  • The Global ETD Search service is a free service for researchers to find electronic theses and dissertations. This service is provided by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.
    Our metadata is collected from universities around the world. If you manage a university/consortium/country archive and want to be added, details can be found on the NDLTD website.
1

A taxonomic study of Senecio speciosus, Senecio macrocephalus and possible hybrid populations using morphological data, toxicty tests and chromatography

Lewis, Gillian Elizabeth January 1995 (has links)
The variation between populations of Senecio speciosus Willd., Senecio macrocephalus DC. and intermediate plants was investigated in a comparative study of morphological characters, toxicity of plant extracts to brine shrimps (Artemia salina) and chromatography of plant extracts. Specimens were collected at 18 localities in the Eastern Cape Province. All these specimens were examined morphologically and chemical extracts were tested for toxicity and by comparative chromatography. The collection of Senecio speciosus and Senecio macrocephalus specimens in the Selmar Schonland Herbarium (GRA) was also examined morphologically. Six geographical areas were represented in the combined collections. Analysis of morphological data separated typical Senecio speciosus and Senecio macrocephalus at either end of hybrid index histograms and principal components analysis diagrams. The intermediate populations displayed morphological characters of both Senecio speciosus and Senecio macrocephalus. Some specimens were intermediate between these two species, falling within the range of variation of these species while others fell outside this range. The Brine Shrimp Assay was used to test for toxicity and to investigate the possibility of using toxicity data as a genetic marker in taxonomic studies. As Senecio speciosus extracts were less than 1% toxic and Senecio macrocephalus extracts were at least 95% toxic to the brine shrimps it is suggested that in this case toxicity can be used as a genetic marker. Toxicity can even be described as a good taxonomic character as discontinuity is very sudden and complete. The intermediate plants in the Grahamstown area were at least 92% toxic to the brine shrimps linking them to Senecio macrocephalus. Thin layer and paper chromatography were used as comparative techniques to study the chemical profiles of the specimens. Alkaloids, terpenoids and flavonoids were studied. Thin layer chromatography to separate the alkaloid components of the plant extracts showed Senecio speciosus and Senecio macrocephalus to have distinct chemical profiles suggesting that they are separate species. The intermediate plants- were found to contain chemical compounds matching either or both Senecio speciosus and Senecio macrocephalus suggesting that they may have arisen by hybridisation. In a preliminary investigation Senecio speciosus extracts showed a complete lack of terpenoid compounds whereas extracts from Senecio macrocephalus and the intermediate specimens tested gave a terpenoid colour reaction in the basal spot only. This links the intermediate populations with Senecio macrocephalus. Paper chromatography to separate the flavonoid constituents of the plant extracts also showed typical Senecio speciosus and Senecio macrocephalus to be distinct. The intermediate populations contained flavonoid compounds from one or both of these species. The populations in the Grahamstown area show morphological features close to and in some cases indistinguishable from Senecio speciosus. Chemically these specimens show some similarities with Senecio macrocephalus. In the East London area specimens show a similar mixture of characters but appear morphologically to be closer to Senecio macrocephalus. However, in the Amatole Mountains, despite both species being present in the same locality it appears that no hybridisation has occurred. It is therefore suggested that at some of the localities where the geographical ranges of Senecio speciosus and Senecio macrocephalus overlap in the Eastern Cape Province hybridisation between these two species occurs.
2

The pyrrolizidine alkaloids of Senecio chrysocoma and Senecio paniculatus

Logie, Catherine Gwynedd January 1996 (has links)
In order to compare the pyrrolizidine alkaloid content of two closely related species, Senecio chrysocoma and S. paniculatus, nine populations of plants distributed between the two species, were examined. Three novel pyrrolizidine alkaloids, 7ß-angelyl-l-methylene-8∝-pyrrolizidine, 7ß-angelyl-l-methylene-8∝-pyrrolizidine and 7ß-angelyl-l-methyleneSO!-pyrrolizidine-4-oxide, as well as eight known pyrrolizidine alkaloids, 7-angelylhastanecine, 9-angelylhastanecine, 7-angelylplatynecine, 9-angelylplatynecine, 9-angelylplatynecine-4-oxide, sarracine, neosarracine and retrorsine, were isolated and identified by NMR and GC-MS techniques. Traces of five tiglyl isomers, 9-tiglylplatynecine, 9-tigl ylplatynecine-4-oxide, 7ß-tiglyl-l-methylene-8∝-pyrrolizidine, sarranicine and neosarranicine, were also isolated and tentatively identified; however, these compounds could have been artefacts of the extraction and analytical procedures. While both species of plant investigated, S. chrysocoma and S. paniculatus, were found to be morphologically different, their pyrrolizidine alkaloid content was, in fact, very similar. The presence of retrorsine in S. paniculatus plant extracts, but not in those from S. chrysocoma plants, was the only major chemical difference observed. It is perhaps significant that retrorsine was the only macrocyclic pyrrolizidine to be identified. A comprehensive, computerised database of physical data for pyrrolizidine alkaloids has been compiled, which has facilitated the identification of new pyrrolizidines and the examination of trends in proton and carbon-13 NMR data for pyrrolizidine alkaloids. A stereospecific synthesis of 7ß-angelyl-l-methylene-8∝-pyrrolizidine was undertaken toconfirm the absolute stereochemistry of the product isolated from S. chrysocoma and S. paniculatus. An inseparable 5:2 mixture of 7ß-angelyl-l-methylene-8∝-pyrrolizidine and 7ß-angelyl-l,2-didehydro-l-methyl-8∝-pyrrolizidine, together with a small amount of tiglyl isomer, was finally synthesised. The application of various chiral differentiating chromatographic and spectroscopic techniques confirmed that both the natural and synthetic products had the same stereochemistry, permitting the natural alkaloid to be identified as 7ß-angelyl-methylene-8∝-pyrrol izidine
3

Phylogenetic analyses and taxonomic studies of Senecioninae : southern African Senecio section Senecio

Milton, Joseph J. January 2009 (has links)
Molecular phylogenetic analyses of subtribe Senecioninae, based on combining sequenced ITS and trnL-F fragments from specimens collected in the field with sequences collected from GenBank, suggest the subtribe is monophyletic, as is Senecio s.str. (including Robinsonia), and suggest an expanded monophyletic section Senecio. Many Senecio species should be removed from the genus, as they are only distantly related to it, emphasising the para- or polyphyletic nature of Senecio as it is currently circumscribed. Area optimisation suggests southern Africa as a possible geographical origin for the genus and section. Harvey’s (1865) sectional classification of South African Senecio species (the only attempt to date to impose infrageneric groupings on these taxa), was tested for monophyly which, however, was not seen in the sections tested. A number of southern African species from Harvey’s sections are suggested for inclusion in an expanded section Senecio. A clade suggested as basal to sect. Senecio, consisting of Senecio engleranus and Senecio flavus, was found to be only distantly related to the section. Resolution of the two species within the clade was not evident; a comparative study was therefore made employing RAPDs, morphometrics and breeding experiments. The two proved to be distinct entities, both genetically and morphologically, although they remain interfertile, suggesting that intrinsic postzygotic barriers between them are weak, and that hybridisation – not found in the wild - is mainly prevented by prezygotic barriers. F1 hybrids created between the two were seen to have intermediate morphologies and RAPD profiles. A single F1 individual self-pollinated to produce a vigorous F2 generation, allowing preliminary surveys of pollen number, pollen fertility and pappus type. Pappus type is seen to be under the control of allelic variations in a single major gene, while pollen numbers and pollen fertility are seen to be under more complex genetic control.

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