Novel microsatellite loci for Sebaea aurea (Gentianaceae) and cross-amplification in related species.

Premise of the study: Microsatellite loci were developed in Sebaea aurea (Gentianaceae) to investigate the functional role of diplostigmaty (i.e., the presence of additional stigmas along the style). Methods and Results: One hundred seventy-four and 180 microsatellite loci were isolated through 454 shotgun sequencing of genomic and microsatellite-enriched DNA libraries, respectively. Sixteen polymorphic microsatellite loci were characterized, and 12 of them were selected to genotype individuals from two populations. Microsatellite amplification was conducted in two multiplex groups, each containing six microsatellite loci. Cross-species amplification was tested in seven other species of Sebaea. The 12 novel microsatellite loci amplified only in the two most closely related species to S. aurea (i.e., S. ambigua and S. minutiflora) and were also polymorphic in these two species. Conclusions: These results demonstrate the usefulness of this set of newly developed microsatellite loci to investigate the mating system and population genetic structure in S. aurea and related species.

Diplostigmaty in plants: a novel mechanism that provides reproductive assurance.

Differentiation of female sexual organs in flowering plants is rare and contrasts with the wide range of male reproductive strategies. An unusual example involves diplostigmaty, the possession of spatially and temporally distinct stigmas in Sebaea (Gentianaceae). Here, the single pistil within a flower has an apical stigma, as occurs in most flowering plants, but also a secondary stigma that occurs midway down the style, which is physically discrete and receptive several days after the apical stigma. We examined the function of diplostigmaty in Sebaea aurea, an insect-pollinated species of the Western Cape of South Africa. Floral manipulations and measurements of fertility and mating patterns provided evidence that basal stigmas function to enable autonomous delayed self-pollination, without limiting opportunities for outcrossing and thus avoiding the costs of seed discounting. We suggest that delayed selfing serves as a mechanism of reproductive assurance in populations with low plant density. The possession of dimorphic stigma function provides a novel example of a flexible mixed-mating strategy in plants that is responsive to changing demographic conditions.

Un témoin latin du Protévangile de Jacques: l'homélie Postulatis filiae Ierusalem en l'honneur de sainte Anne (BHL 483-485)

L'article s'inscrit dans une recherche sur la survie du Protévangile de Jacques en latin. Il contient l'édition critique et la traduction d'une homélie pour la fête de sainte Anne, qui combine le début du Protévangile (ch. 1-4) et le début du De Nativitate Mariae (ch. 1-5 ). L'homélie se compose de trois parties. (1) un préambule (<pilcrow> 1-6) ; (2) un récit sur Anne et Joachim, qui associe les deux sources précitées (<pilcrow> 7-29), (3) une péroraison (<pilcrow> 30-34 ). Les manuscrits l'ont conservée sous des formes plus ou moins complètes et remaniées. Certains la transmettent comme légende d'Anne au sein de la Legenda Aurea de Jacques de Voragine. La plupart son t des recueils liturgiques, contenant l'office et les lectures pour la fête d'Anne. Dans un cas, l'homélie a été transformée et fournit des leçons pour la fête de la Conception de la Vierge. L'auteur de l'homélie s'adresse à une communauté de moniales qui lui ont demandé de traduire en latin un « petit livre grec - qui n'est autre que le Protévangile. Le texte a dû être composé à Chartres ou dans les environs immédiats de cette ville, durant les premières années du XIIIe siècle Son origine est liée à l'institution dans l'église de Chartres d'une fête en l'honneur de sainte Anne. Cette innovation liturgique s'explique par la donation d'une relique- la tête de la sainte - acquise par Louis de Blois et provenant du butin enlevé à Constantinople lors de la conquête de la ville par les Latins (1204).