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Olsen and Schaal analyze microsatellite variation in cassava (Manihot esculenta, Euphorbiaceae) and two Brazilian wild relatives. The origin of this important food crop has long been speculative. The authors' evidence, however, suggests that cassava was domesticated from a single species in the southern Amazonian basin. Their findings are of key importance to genetics and cassava breeding, especially as a guide in prospecting for favorable alleles for enhancing crop productivity left behind in the wild progenitor. (see p. 131)

The new family Aliquandostipitaceae

It is estimated that only 5% of all fungal species are known to science. Inderbitzin and coauthors are exploring the other 95%. They make a significant contribution to the taxonomy and biology of the ascomycetes with the report of two new tropical fungal species found in Thailand and China. These newly described fungi are peculiar and unusual in morphology, resembling miniature stalked capsules of a moss. Based on DNA data, the two new fungi are closely related but so different from known species that they cannot be placed in any existing order. (see p. 52)

A practical taxonomy

The cultivated potato has over 200 similar tuber-bearing wild species relatives. Spooner, Van den Berg, and Miller's morphological study examines the species status of ten such wild relatives of potatoes in the important genus Solanum (section Petota). Their study highlights conflicts between biological and morphological species concepts and exemplifies a practical approach to handling taxonomic difficulty. (see p. 113)

Fern xylem

Sherwin Carlquist and Edward Schneider have presented their long-term study of fern xylem in a series of 20 papers. Here they summarize that body of work, offering guidelines for their interpretation of scanning electron microscopy data. Among the distinctive features described are the packing of tracheary elements in fascicles (which differs from that in monocots and dicots), pores in pit membranes that interconnect rhizome vessel elements with those of roots, and diversity of structure that demands another cycle of research and discovery. (see p. 1)

This Article Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Search for Related Content