@article {Rosch:2002p8031, title = {Chemotaxonomy of mints of genus Mentha by applying Raman spectroscopy}, journal = {Biopolymers}, volume = {67}, number = {4-5}, year = {2002}, month = {Jan}, pages = {358{\textendash}61}, abstract = {The characterization of mints is often problematic because Mentha is a taxonomically complex genus. In order to provide a fast and easy characterization method, we use a combination of micro-Raman spectroscopy and hierarchical cluster analysis. A classification trial of different mint taxa is possible for one collection time. For spectra measured at different points during the growing season, a more sophisticated pretreatment of the data is necessary to receive good discrimination between the species, as well as between the subspecies and varieties of the mints.}, keywords = {Algorithms, Cluster Analysis, Mentha, Phylogeny, Spectrum Analysis: Raman}, doi = {10.1002/bip.10099}, author = {P R{\"o}sch and W Kiefer and J Popp} } @article {Gobert:2006p8000, title = {Heterogeneity of three molecular data partition phylogenies of mints related to M. x piperita (Mentha; Lamiaceae)}, journal = {Plant Biol (Stuttg)}, volume = {8}, number = {4}, year = {2006}, month = {Jul}, pages = {470{\textendash}85}, abstract = {Phylogenetic reconstructions with molecular tools are now widely used, thanks to advances in PCR and sequencing technologies. The choice of the molecular target still remains a problem because too few comparative data are available. This is particularly true for hybrid taxa, where differential introgression of genome parts leads to incongruity between data sets. We have studied the potential of three data partitions to reconstruct the phylogeny of mints related to M. x piperita. These included nuclear DNA (ITS), chloroplast DNA (non-coding regions trnL intron, intergenic spacers trnL-trnF, and psbA-trnH), and AFLP and ISSR, markers. The taxonomic sampling was composed of hybrids, diploid and polyploid genomes. Since the genealogy of cultivated mint hybrids is known, they represent a model group to compare the usefulness of various molecular markers for phylogeny inference. Incongruities between ITS, chloroplast DNA, and AFLP-ISSR phylogenetic trees were recorded, although DNA fingerprinting data were congruent with morphological classification. Evidence of chloroplast capture events was obtained for M. x piperita. Direct sequencing of ITS led to biased results because of the existence of pseudogenes. Sequencing of cloned ITS further failed to provide evidence of the existence of the two parental copy types for M. x piperita, a sterile hybrid that has had no opportunity for concerted evolution of ITS copies. AFLP-ISSR data clustered M. x piperita with the parent that had the largest genome. This study sheds light on differential of introgression of different genome regions in mint hybrids.}, keywords = {DNA: Plant, Haplotypes, Mentha, Mentha piperita, Phylogeny, Polymorphism: Genetic, Pseudogenes}, author = {V Gobert and S Moja and P Taberlet and M Wink} } @article {Arzani:2007p7993, title = {Iron and magnesium concentrations of mint accessions (Mentha spp.)}, journal = {Plant Physiol Biochem}, volume = {45}, number = {5}, year = {2007}, month = {May}, pages = {323{\textendash}9}, abstract = {Plant foods can contribute significantly to human nutrition and health, because they contain almost all essential human nutrients. However, nutrient composition varies among different plant foods. Improvement of nutritional quality of our food supply, especially with respect to essential nutrient minerals, such as magnesium, iron and zinc, could be an important goal of vegetable crops. There is little information available on essential mineral concentration of mint (Mentha spp.). This study was conducted to evaluate some micronutrient minerals of twelve Iranian mint accessions, three of which belonging to Mentha longifolia (Mzin5, Mzin6 and Mzin11) and the remaining were Mentha spicata L species (Mzin1, Mzin2, Mzin3, Mzin4, Mzin7, Mzin8, Mzin9, Mzin10, and Mzin12). This report is assigned to two essential human nutrients, iron (Fe) and magnesium (Mg) concentrations of two mint herbage harvests in 12 mint clones within each of two studied years. Results of analysis of variance indicated a significant difference among accessions and a non-significant difference between species for Mg and Fe concentrations. Mean comparisons showed that Mzin2, Mzin12 (both belong to M. spicata) and Mzin6 (belongs to M. longifolia) possess the highest Fe concentration. Furthermore, Mzins 5, 6 and 11 belong to M. longifolia as well as Mzins 2 and 10 belong to M. spicata did not significantly differ and all included the first ranking group for Mg concentration. Fe concentration averaged on the first harvest ranged from 134mg/kg for Mzin4 genotype (belongs to M. spicata) to 210mg/kg to for Mzin5 genotype (belongs to M. longifolia), while Fe concentration at the second harvest varied from 315mg/kg for Mzin1 to 582mg/kg for Mzin12. At the first harvest, Mg concentration ranged from 748mg/kg for Mzin1 to 1174 for Mzin5. At the second harvest, Mg concentration varied from 1171mg/kg for Mzin9 to 1618mg/kg for Mzin11. It is hence concluded that the magnesium and iron concentrations of Mentha species are comparable to those reported for other leafy vegetable crops. Therefore, this is evidence that this herb is rich in some essential nutrient minerals, especially Fe and Mg which are essential for human health.}, keywords = {Cluster Analysis, Iron, Magnesium, Mentha, Phylogeny}, doi = {10.1016/j.plaphy.2007.03.023}, author = {A Arzani and H Zeinali and K Razmjo} } @article {Lindqvist:2007p7988, title = {Polyglutamine variation in a flowering time protein correlates with island age in a Hawaiian plant radiation}, journal = {BMC Evol Biol}, volume = {7}, year = {2007}, month = {Jan}, pages = {105}, abstract = {BACKGROUND: A controversial topic in evolutionary developmental biology is whether morphological diversification in natural populations can be driven by expansions and contractions of amino acid repeats in proteins. To promote adaptation, selection on protein length variation must overcome deleterious effects of multiple correlated traits (pleiotropy). Thus far, systems that demonstrate this capacity include only ancient or artificial morphological diversifications. The Hawaiian Islands, with their linear geological sequence, present a unique environment to study recent, natural radiations. We have focused our research on the Hawaiian endemic mints (Lamiaceae), a large and diverse lineage with paradoxically low genetic variation, in order to test whether a direct relationship between coding-sequence repeat diversity and morphological change can be observed in an actively evolving system. RESULTS: Here we show that in the Hawaiian mints, extensive polyglutamine (CAG codon repeat) polymorphism within a homolog of the pleiotropic flowering time protein and abscisic acid receptor FCA tracks the natural environmental cline of the island chain, consequent with island age, across a period of 5 million years. CAG expansions, perhaps following their natural tendency to elongate, are more frequent in colonists of recently-formed, nutrient-rich islands than in their forebears on older, nutrient-poor islands. Values for several quantitative morphological variables related to reproductive investment, known from Arabidopsis fca mutant studies, weakly though positively correlate with increasing glutamine tract length. Together with protein modeling of FCA, which indicates that longer polyglutamine tracts could induce suboptimally mobile functional domains, we suggest that CAG expansions may form slightly deleterious alleles (with respect to protein function) that become fixed in founder populations. CONCLUSION: In the Hawaiian mint FCA system, we infer that contraction of slightly deleterious CAG repeats occurred because of competition for resources along the natural environmental cline of the island chain. The observed geographical structure of FCA variation and its correlation with morphologies expected from Arabidopsis mutant studies may indicate that developmental pleiotropy played a role in the diversification of the mints. This discovery is important in that it concurs with other suggestions that repetitive amino acid motifs might provide a mechanism for driving morphological evolution, and that variation at such motifs might permit rapid tuning to environmental change.}, keywords = {Alleles, DNA: Plant, Genes: Plant, Hawaii, Mentha, Minisatellite Repeats, Peptides, Phylogeny, Plant Proteins, Selection: Genetic, Sequence Homology: Amino Acid, Species Specificity}, doi = {10.1186/1471-2148-7-105}, author = {Charlotte Lindqvist and Liisa Laakkonen and Victor A Albert} } @article {Zaidi:1998p1135, title = {Free flavonoid aglycones from leaves of Mentha pulegium and Mentha suaveolens (Labiatae)}, journal = {Phytochemistry}, volume = {48}, number = {6}, year = {1998}, month = {Jan}, pages = {991{\textendash}994}, abstract = {Methoxyflavone aglycones were isolated from the leaf surface of Mentha suaveolens and M. pulegium. 5,7-Dihydroxy-6-methoxy- and 5,6-dihydroxy-7-methoxyflavones with a substituted B-ring and 5,6-dihydroxy-7,8-dimethoxyflavones, characteristic flavonoid constituents of the subfamily Nepetoideae and of the tribe Saturejeae, respectively, were observed in both species. Mentha suaveolens showed considerable chemical variation between samples from Spain and Algeria. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.}, keywords = {Chemotaxonomy, Chemotypes, External Flavones, Labiatae, Mentha, X-Piperita}, author = {F Zaidi and B Voirin and M Jay and MR Viricel} } @article {Tzanetakis:2007p7987, title = {Identification, detection and transmission of a new vitivirus from Mentha}, journal = {Arch Virol}, volume = {152}, number = {11}, year = {2007}, month = {Jan}, pages = {2027{\textendash}33}, abstract = {Mentha x gracilis {\textquoteright}Variegata{\textquoteright} is an ornamental clone with a phenotype caused by virus infection. Several clones were ordered from mail-order nurseries in an attempt to identify a virus consistently associated with symptoms. One of these clones did not exhibit typical {\textquoteright}Variegata{\textquoteright} symptoms, and steps were taken to identify any agents causing the {\textquoteright}off-type{\textquoteright} symptoms. One of the viruses identified in the atypical {\textquoteright}Variegata{\textquoteright} clone is a previously unknown virus, a member of the family Flexiviridae. Sequence and phylogenetic analysis indicate that the virus, designated as mint virus-2, is related to members of the species Grapevine virus A, Grapevine virus B and Heracleum latent virus, placing it in the genus Vitivirus. A detection protocol for the virus has been developed, and the mint aphid (Ovatus crataegarius) was able to transmit the virus in the presence of a helper virus but not from single infected plants.}, keywords = {Animals, Aphids, DNA Primers, Flexiviridae, Mentha, Molecular Sequence Data, Phylogeny, Plant Diseases, Plant Leaves, Polymerase Chain Reaction, Sequence Analysis: DNA}, doi = {10.1007/s00705-007-1030-1}, author = {I E Tzanetakis and J D Postman and R R Martin} } @article {Gobert:2002p2221, title = {Hybridization in the section Mentha (Lamiaceae) inferred from AFLP markers}, journal = {Am J Bot}, volume = {89}, number = {12}, year = {2002}, month = {Jan}, pages = {2017{\textendash}2023}, abstract = {The amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) method was used to evaluate genetic diversity and to assess genetic relationships within the section Mentha in order to clarify the taxonomy of several interspecific mint hybrids with molecular markers. To this end, genetic diversity of 62 Mentha accessions from different geographic origins, representing five species and three hybrids, was assessed. Three EcoRI/MseI AFLP primer combinations generated an average of 40 AFLP markers per primer combination, ranging in size from 50 to 500 base pairs (bp). The percentage of markers polymorphic ranged from 50\% to 60\% across all accessions studied. According to phenetic and cladistic analysis, the 62 mint accessions were grouped into two major clusters. Principal coordinates analysis separated species into well-defined groups, and clear relationships between species and hybrids could be described. Our AFLP analysis supports taxonomic classification established among Mentha species by conventional (morphological, cytological, and chemical) methods. It allows the assessment of phenetic relationships between species and the hybrids M. spicata and M. X piperita, largely cultivated all over the world for their menthol source, and provides new insights into the subdivision of M. spicata, based for the first time on molecular markers.}, keywords = {Aflp, Dna Fingerprinting, Genetic Diversity, Hybridization, Lamiaceae, Lines, Mentha, Polyploid, Rapd, Rflp}, author = {V Gobert and S Moja and M Colson and P Taberlet} }