Leaf characters of populations of the aquatic macrophyte Montrichardia linifera were studied using geometric morphometrics to compare variation with traditional circumscriptions of the two recognized species. Two hundred and ten individuals were sampled from seven populations in the delta region of the Rio Parnaíba, north‐east Brazil. Six landmarks of the leaf blade were digitized from images and analysed with MorphoJ software. Procrustes‐aligned configurations were studied using principal component analysis and canonical variates analysis in the pooled data and individual populations. Sinus shape variation was studied using landmark configurations of the posterior lobe basiscopic lamina. Covariation of leaf blade shape, basiscopic lamina shape, secondary vein number and petiole ligule length was investigated with partial least squares analysis. Allometry of these variables with leaf blade centroid size was investigated using multivariate regression, linear modelling and analysis of covariance. Measured variables varied continuously over the ranges previously reported for the two species. The characters of the two species morphotypes covaried and were only partly influenced by allometric effects. Symmetric shape variables predominated, but a distinctive left‐ and right‐handed asymmetry occurred in all populations. Genetic and ecological studies are needed to investigate the significant inter‐population differences further. The study offers a methodology for a broader combined morphometric/molecular investigation. © 2012 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2012, 170, 554–572.

Pilocarpus microphyllus Stapf ex Wardlew (Rutaceae), popularly known as jaborandi, is a plant native to the northern and northeastern macroregions of Brazil. Several alkaloids from this species have been isolated. There are few reports of antibacterial and anthelmintic activities for these compounds. In this work, we report the antibacterial and anthelmintic activity of five alkaloids found in P. microphyllus leaves, namely, pilosine, epiisopilosine, isopilosine, epiisopiloturine and macaubine. Of these, only anthelmintic activity of one of the compounds has been previously reported. Nuclear magnetic resonance, HPLC and mass spectrometry were combined and used to identify and confirm the structure of the five compounds. As regards the anthelmintic activity, the alkaloids were studied using in vitro assays to evaluate survival time and damaged teguments for Schistosoma mansoni adult worms. We found epiisopilosine to have anthelmintic activity at very low concentrations (3.125 μg mL ); at this concentration, it prevented mating, oviposition, reducing motor activity and altered the tegument of these worms. In contrast, none of the alkaloids showed antibacterial activity. Additionally, alkaloids displayed no cytotoxic effect on vero cells. The potent anthelmintic activity of epiisopilosine indicates the potential of this natural compound as an antiparasitic agent. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Aims This study sought genetic evidence of long-term isolation in populations of Monstera adansonii var. klotzschiana (Araceae), a herbaceous, probably outbreeding, humid forest hemi-epiphyte, in the brejo forests of Ceará (north-east Brazil), and clarification of their relationships with populations in Amazonia and the Atlantic forest of Brazil. † Methods Within-population genetic diversity and between-population dissimilarity were estimated using AFLP molecular markers in 75 individuals from eight populations located in Ceará, the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and Amazonia. † Key Results The populations showed a clinal pattern of weak genetic differentiation over a large geographical region (F ST ¼ 0 . 1896). A strong correlation between genetic and geographical distance (Mantel test: r ¼ 0 . 6903, P ¼ 0 . 002) suggests a historical pattern of isolation by distance. Genetic structure analysis revealed at least two distinct gene pools in the data. The two isolated Ceará populations are significantly different from each other ( pairwise F PT ¼ 0 . 137, P ¼ 0 . 003) and as diverse (Nei's gene diversity, average H e ¼ 0 . 1832, 0 . 1706) as those in the Atlantic and Amazon forest regions. The population in southern Brazil is less diverse (Nei's gene diversity, average H e ¼ 0 . 127) than the rest. The Ceará populations are related to those of the Atlantic forest rather than those from Amazonia (AMOVA, among-groups variation ¼ 11 . 95 %, P ¼ 0 . 037). † Conclusions The gene pools detected within an overall pattern of clinal variation suggest distinct episodes of gene flow, possibly correlated with past humid forest expansions. The Ceará populations show no evidence of erosion of genetic diversity, although this was expected because of their isolation. Their genetic differentiation and relatively high diversity reinforce the importance of conserving the endangered brejo forests.

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A comparative study of the leaf outline morphometrics of Monstera adansonii var. klotzschiana, M. adansonii var. laniata and M. praetermissa was carried out. The study focused on populations in isolated montane humid (brejo) forests of Ceará state in Northeast Brazil and compared them with populations from Amazonia and the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Digitised outlines were prepared from a total of 1,695 field-collected leaf images from 20 populations, and elliptic Fourier analysis was used to generate matrices of coefficients, from which six shape variables (principal components) were extracted using Principal Components Analysis. Intra-population variability and inter-population differences were analysed with multivariate distance methods. Separate analyses were carried out for each of three leaf size classes (juvenile, submature, mature) because of the strong heteroblasty typical of this genus. Juvenile leaves were the least variable size class within populations of M. adansonii var. klotzschiana. The shape variables expressed very similar types of variation in all three size classes. The Ceará brejo populations of M. adansonii var. klotzschiana showed significant differences between mature leaf outlines in all pairwise comparisons; the Pacatuba population was the most distinct. The Ceará populations did not cluster together exclusively. In all three size classes, populations clustered together into their taxonomic groups, most clearly so in mature leaves. No correlation between morphological and geographic distance matrices was found, nor between morphological and molecular distance. The study showed that leaf outline shape is a practicable and useful quantitative trait for studying morphological variability at species, varietal and population levels.