Species of the genus Wolffia are traditionally used as human food in some of the Asian countries. Therefore, all 11 species of this genus, identified by molecular barcoding, were investigated for ingredients relevant to human nutrition. The total protein content varied between 20 and 30% of the freeze-dry weight, the starch content between 10 and 20%, the fat content between 1 and 5%, and the fiber content was ~25%. The essential amino acid content was higher or close to the requirements of preschool-aged children according to standards of the World Health Organization. The fat content was low, but the fraction of polyunsaturated fatty acids was above 60% of total fat and the content of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids was higher than that of n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids in most species. The content of macro- and microelements (minerals) not only depended on the cultivation conditions but also on the genetic background of the species. This holds true also for the content of tocopherols, several carotenoids and phytosterols in different species and even intraspecific, clonal differences were detected in Wolffia globosa and Wolffia arrhiza. Thus, the selection of suitable clones for further applications is important. Due to the very fast growth and the highest yield in most of the nutrients, Wolffia microscopica has a high potential for practical applications in human nutrition.

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Duckweeds (Lemnaceae) are extremely reduced in morphology, which made their taxonomy a challenge for a long time. The amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) marker technique was applied to solve this problem. 84 clones of the genus Lemna were investigated representing all 13 accepted Lemna species. By neighbour-joining (NJ) analysis, 10 out of these 13 species were clearly recognized: L. minor, L. obscura, L. turionifera, L. japonica, L. disperma, L. aequinoctialis, L. perpusilla, L. trisulca, L. tenera, and L. minuta. However, L. valdiviana and L. yungensis could be distinguished neither by NJ cluster analysis nor by structure analysis. Moreover, the 16 analysed clones of L. gibba were assembled into four genetically differentiated groups. Only one of these groups, which includes the standard clones 7107 (G1) and 7741 (G3), represents obviously the "true" L. gibba. At least four of the clones investigated, so far considered as L. gibba (clones 8655a, 9481, 9436b, and Tra05-L), represent evidently close relatives to L. turionifera but do not form turions under any of the conditions tested. Another group of clones (6745, 6751, and 7922) corresponds to putative hybrids and may be identical with L. parodiana, a species not accepted until now because of the difficulties of delineation on morphology alone. In conclusion, AFLP analysis offers a solid base for the identification of Lemna clones, which is particularly important in view of Lemnaceae application in biomonitoring.

Duckweeds (Lemnaceae) are the smallest and fastest-growing angiosperms. This feature, together with high starch production and good nutritional properties, makes them suitable for several applications, including wastewater treatment, bioenergy production, or feed and food supplement. Due to their reduced morphology and great similarity between diverse species, taxonomic identification of duckweeds is a challenging issue even for experts. Among molecular genotyping methods, DNA barcoding is the most useful tool for species identification without a need for cluster analysis. The combination of two plastid barcoding loci is now considered the gold standard for duckweed classification. However, not all species can be defined with confidence by these markers, and a fast identification method able to solve doubtful cases is missing. Here we show the potential of tubulin-based polymorphism (TBP), a molecular marker based on the intron length polymorphisms of β-tubulin loci, in the genomic profiling of the genera Spirodela, Landoltia, and Lemna. Ninety-four clones were analyzed, including at least two representatives of each species of the three genera, with a special focus on the very heterogeneous species Lemna minor. We showed that a single PCR amplification with universal primers, followed by agarose gel analysis, was able to provide distinctive fingerprinting profiles for 10 out of 15 species. Cluster analysis of capillary electrophoresis–TBP data provided good separation for the remaining species, although the relationship between L. minor and Lemna japonica was not fully resolved. However, an accurate comparison of TBP profiles provided evidence for the unexpected existence of intraspecific hybrids between Lemna turionifera and L. minor, as further confirmed by amplified fragment length polymorphism and sequence analysis of a specific β-tubulin locus. Such hybrids could possibly correspond to L. japonica, as originally suggested by E. Landolt. The discovery of interspecific hybrids opens a new perspective to understand the speciation mechanisms in the family of duckweeds.

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