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Societal Impact Statement Biodiversity is essential to food security and nutrition locally and globally. By reviewing the global state of edible plants and highlighting key neglected and underutilized species (NUS), we attempt to unlock plant food resources and explore the role of fungi, which along with the wealth of traditional knowledge about their uses and practices, could help support sustainable agriculture while ensuring better protection of the environment and the continued delivery of its ecosystem services. This work will inform a wide range of user communities, including scientists, conservation and development organizations, policymakers, and the public of the importance of biodiversity beyond mainstream crops. Summary As the world's population is increasing, humanity is facing both shortages (hunger) and excesses (obesity) of calorie and nutrient intakes. Biodiversity is fundamental to addressing this double challenge, which involves a far better understanding of the global state of food resources. Current estimates suggest that there are at least 7,039 edible plant species, in a broad taxonomic sense, which includes 7,014 vascular plants. This is in striking contrast to the small handful of food crops that provide the majority of humanity's calorie and nutrient intake. Most of these 7,039 edible species have additional uses, the most common being medicines (70%), materials (59%), and environmental uses (40%). Species of major food crops display centers of diversity, as previously proposed, while the rest of edible plants follow latitudinal distribution patterns similarly to the total plant diversity, with higher species richness at lower latitudes. The International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List includes global conservation assessments for at least 30% of edible plants, with ca. 86% of them conserved ex situ. However, at least 11% of those species recorded are threatened. We highlight multipurpose NUS of plants from different regions of the world, which could be key for a more resilient, sustainable, biodiverse, and community participation‐driven new “green revolution.” Furthermore, we explore how fungi could diversify and increase the nutritional value of our diets. NUS, along with the wealth of traditional knowledge about their uses and practices, offer a largely untapped resource to support food security and sustainable agriculture. However, for these natural resources to be unlocked, enhanced collaboration among stakeholders is vital.

In addition to two known ecdysteroids, 20-hydroxyecdysone and turkesterone, three previously undescribed stigmastane-type ecdysteroids were isolated from the underground parts of Rhaponticum acaule (L.) DC. by chromatographic techniques (CC, VLC, MPLC). The structures of the compounds were established by chemical (acetylation) and spectroscopic methods including UV, IR, HRMS, 1D-NMR: 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, DEPT-135. and 2D-NMR: COSY, NOESY, HSQC, HMBC. Two compounds were isolated as an isomeric mixture and each of them was purified and converted to the corresponding acetylated derivative. Based on all of the evidence, the structures of three undescribed stigmastane-type ecdysteroids were established as 2β,3β,11α,20β,22α,24,28-heptahydroxy-6-oxo-stigmast-7-en-25,29-lactone and the cyclic 22,29-hemiacetals 22R and 22S stigmast-7-en-29-al,2β,3β,11α,20α,22,28-hexahydroxy-6-oxo, and the trivial names acaulesterone and rhapocasterones A and B are suggested, respectively. The structures and absolute configurations of 20-hydroxyecdysone and cyclic-22,29-hemiacetal-22R-stigmast-7-en-29-al,2β,3β,11α,20α,22,28-hexahydroxy-6-oxo were confirmed by X-ray crystal-structure analyses of their acetyl derivatives.

European Journal of Plant Pathology, 134 (3), ISSN:0929-1873, ISSN:1573-8469

Occurrence and genomic organization of dispersed elements containing ZpS1 satellite repeats have been investigated in a wide representation of species of the old plant genus Zamia (Zamiaceae, Cycadales). In Z. paucijuga, the ZpS1 repeat is organized as long satellite DNA arrays and as short arrays inserted into AT-rich dispersed elements. A comparative study by Southern analysis shows that these unusual dispersed elements containing the ZpS1 repeat are present with different organizations in all investigated Zamia species. In some species these elements are present with a low copy number, while in other species secondary amplification events, involving specific sequence clusters, appear to have generated characteristic dispersed elements in a high copy number. Among Zamia species, several groups share similar restriction patterns, as the Zamia loddigesii complex and the Caribbean species suggesting a general correlation between organization and genomic representation of the dispersed repeated sequence and the pattern of phyletic relationships in the genus. However, the finding of different patterns also among closely related species suggests a complex history of amplifications and losses of these dispersed repetitive elements that cannot be always easily traced through the phylogenetic reconstruction of this ancient plant group.

Equipe AFEF ‘Architecture et Fonctionnement des Espèces fruitières’; Contact e-mail: bkeller@botinst.uzh.ch; International audience; Wheat production is threatened by a constantly changing population of pathogen species and races. Given the rapid ability of many pathogens to overcome genetic resistance, the identification and practical implementation of new sources of resistance is essential. Landraces and wild relatives of wheat have played an important role as genetic resources for the improvement of disease resistance. The use of molecular approaches, particularly molecular markers, has allowed better characterization of the genetic diversity in wheat germplasm. In addition, the molecular cloning of major resistance (R) genes has recently been achieved in the large, polyploid wheat genome. For the first time this allows the study and analysis of the genetic variability of wheat R loci at the molecular level and therefore, to screen for allelic variation at such loci in the gene pool. Thus, strategies such as allele mining and ecotilling are now possible for characterization of wheat disease resistance. Here, we discuss the approaches, resources and potential tools to characterize and utilize the naturally occurring resistance diversity in wheat. We also report a first step in allele mining, where we characterize the occurrence of known resistance alleles at the wheat Pm3 powdery mildew resistance locus in a set of 1,320 landraces assembled on the basis of eco-geographical criteria. From known Pm3 R alleles, only Pm3b was frequently identified (3% of the tested accessions). In the same set of landraces, we found a high frequency of a Pm3 haplotype carrying a susceptible allele of Pm3. This analysis allowed the identification of a set of resistant lines where new potentially functional alleles would be present. Newly identified resistance alleles will enrich the genetic basis of resistance in breeding programmes and contribute to wheat improvement

Flower emasculation is commonly used to make flowers unattractive to pollinating insects and to carry out controlled pollinations. In sweet cherry, we have observed recurrent low fruit set after flower emasculation and compatible pollination without apparent causes. This led us to evaluate its effect on the progress of the reproductive phase and on fruit set in this species., Financial support for this work was provided by project grants INIA-RTA 01-103, CICYT (AGL2003-05318, AGL2006-13529 and AGL2007-60130) and by the “Grupo de Investigación Consolidado de Aragón: A-02, A-43”.