Günther Heubl

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich | LMU · Division of Botany

Stachydeae, comprising c. 470 species, are one of the most diverse and taxonomically puzzling groups in Lamioideae. In the present study, the phylogenetic relationships in the Eurystachys clade (a phylogenetic name for all genera attributed to Stachydeae except Melittis) were reconstructed utilizing nuclear ribosomal DNA sequences (nrETS, 5S-NTS) f...

Tribe Marrubieae (Lamiaceae: Lamioideae) comprises about 91 species classified in four genera distributed from Europe to West and Central Asia and North Africa. Here, we present a phylogenetic analysis of cpDNA (rpl32-trnL, rps16, trnL intron, trnL-trnF spacer) and nuclear ribosomal (ITS) sequence data of 68 accessions representing all genera and m...

Despite the recent publication of several phylogenies focused on Rhinantheae, which has been expanded to include three Asian endemic genera, few studies so far have dealt with particular genera within the tribe. Here, we focus on Odontites and related genera because of the high morphological variability of the group and its unclear generic boundari...

The fruits of Xanthium sibiricum have been widely used in traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of nasal sinusitis and headaches. The genus Xanthium (cocklebur) is a taxonomically complex genus. Different taxonomic concepts have been proposed, some including several species, others lumping the different taxa in a few extremely polymorphic...

The figwort genus Scrophularia (Scrophulariaceae), widespread across the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere, comprises about 250 species and is a taxonomically challenging lineage displaying large morphological and chromosomal diversity. Scrophularia has never been examined in a large-scale phylogenetic and biogeographic context and represen...

The shrubby milkwort (Polygala chamaebuxus L.) is widely distributed in the Alps, but occurs also in the lower mountain ranges of Central Europe such as the Franconian Jura or the Bohemian uplands. Populations in these regions may either originate from glacial survival or from postglacial recolonization. In this study, we analyzed 30 populations of...

Teucrium, with an almost cosmopolitan distribution, comprises about 250 species and is the second-largest genus of subfamily Ajugoideae (Lamiaceae). Phylogenetic studies were conducted using nuclear ribosomal DNA (ITS) and chloroplast (ndhF gene, trnL-F region) DNA sequence data from 101 taxa to estimate phylogenetic relationships among Teucrium an...

Macrophytes have been used as bioindicators for eutrophication assessment in freshwaters required by the European Water Framework Directive (WFD). The red listed Najas marina s.l. is routinely mapped in Germany. Different indicator values have been assigned to the subspecies marina and intermedia which are, however, frequently hard to tell apart du...

Der Import Chinesischer Arzneidrogen aus China bereitet immer wieder Probleme bezüglich der Verfügbarkeit, Qualität und Verunreinigungen mit Schwermetallen und Pestiziden. Deshalb wird seit 1999 ein kontrollierter Anbau von wichtigen Chinesischen Arzneipflanzen in Bayern von der Bayerischen Landesanstalt für Landwirtschaft in einem interdisziplinär...

Plants used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) represent a great source of novel lead compounds due to its long history and tradition. However, the exact identification of the plant material sometimes remains a problem because of trivial and local names or wrong identification. Since plants differ in their chemical composition this mix-up can le...

Hintergrund: Chinesische Arzneimittel werden in Deutschland zunehmend angewandt. Der Import erfolgt primär aus China, mit der Folge einer erschwerten Qualitätskontrolle und Gewährleistung der Therapiesicherheit. Aus diesem Grund werden wichtige chinesische Arzneipflanzen seit 1999 in einem interdisziplinären Forschungsprojekt von der Bayerischen La...

Background: The use of Chinese medicinal drugs is becoming more common in Germany. However, the import of herbal drugs from China complicates quality controls, possibly jeopardizing therapeutic safety. Consequently, the Bayerische Landesanstalt für Landwirtschaft has been conducting an interdisciplinary research project since 1999 to cultivate and...

The systematics and phylogeny of the genus Arenaria and allied genera are unresolved. The use of morphological data has resulted in contradictory taxonomic concepts in the past due to their homoplastic nature. We present a phylogenetic analysis based on internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and rps16 sequence data of 140 (132 taxa) and 131 (120 taxa) a...

The main purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that Stachys persepolitana is extraneous in Stachys (tribe Stachydeae, subfam. Lamioideae, Lamiaceae) and instead belongs to the genus Lamium (Lamieae, Lamioideae). We investigated the phylogenetic position of S. persepolitana using plastid (rps16 intron, trnL-F and matK regions) and nuclear...

Background and Aims Some species of Genlisea possess ultrasmall nuclear genomes, the smallest known among angiosperms, and some have been found to have chromosomes of diminutive size, which may explain why chromosome numbers and karyotypes are not known for the majority of species of the genus. However, other members of the genus do not possess ult...

Variations in seed micromorphology of 64 taxa of Arenaria and allied genera were examined using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) in order to evaluate their diagnostic value for systematic studies in the genus and providing additional evidence on delimitation of natural groups. Significant diversity was found in seed coat morphology both among and...

Ancistrocladus (Ancistrocladaceae) is an Old World genus of woody lianas, occurring in tropical Africa and Southeast Asia. Its species produce a number of structurally unique naphthylisoquinoline alkaloids with promising activities against the pathogens of tropical infectious diseases and against HIV. Species identification for phytochemical and ph...

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), with its long history, is deeply rooted in the Chinese culture and represents one of the oldest forms of medical therapy in the world. TCM has been used for thousands of years in China for health maintenance, disease prevention, and used to a lesser extent for the application of a variety of clinical therapies. T...

The flora of the Mediterranean region and Macaronesia is characterized by high levels of species diversity and endemism. We examined phylogenetic relationships of Scrophularia within one of its secondary centers of diversity located in the Iberian Peninsula and adjacent Macaronesia. In total, 65 ingroup accessions from 45 species, representing an a...

Although tribe Stachydeae (Lamiaceae) is considered monophyletic, relationships within the tribe are still poorly understood. The complexity of Stachydeae includes paraphyletic genera, considerable morphological plasticity, a range of ploidy levels, and presumably frequent natural hybridization. We performed parsimony and Bayesian phylogenetic anal...

Mbandakamines A (1) and B (2), isolated from the leaves of an as yet unidentified Congolese Ancistrocladus species, are the first dimeric naphthylisoquinoline alkaloids with an unsymmetrically coupled central biaryl axis. Their novel 6',1″-coupling type implies a hitherto unprecedented peri-peri coupling in one of the naphthalene parts, leading to...

A molecular systematic approach using DNA sequences of two non-coding chloroplast loci (trnK, rps16) and the nuclear ITS region was applied to reconstruct phylogenetic relationships within the tribe Rhinantheae (Orobanchaceae). This tribe includes approximately 19 genera of hemiparasitic plants predominantly occurring in the Old World. An exception...

South America and Oceania possess numerous floristic similarities, often confirmed by morphological and molecular data. The carnivorous Drosera meristocaulis (Droseraceae), endemic to the Neblina highlands of northern South America, was known to share morphological characters with the pygmy sundews of Drosera sect. Bryastrum, which are endemic to A...

Valerian occurs in di-, tetra- and octoploid forms prevalent in wide areas of Europe. To select suitable accessions for a breeding program, the relationships within a large collection of accessions were characterized based on DNA and caryological analyses. Cytotypes of 122 valerian accessions were measured by flow cytometry. AFLP (amplified fragmen...

The tribe Phlomideae (Lamiaceae: Lamioideae) is divided into the three genera Phlomis, Phlomoides (incl. Pseud- eremostachys, Lamiophlomis and Notochaete), and Eremostachys (incl. Paraeremostachys), contains about 278 species and has a distribution range extending from Europe to Mongolia, China, and India. Here, we present a phylogenetic analysis b...

A comprehensive study based on gland and seed micromorphology in Euphorbia (Euphorbiaceae) for species distributed in Iranian highlands is presented. A total of 86 species were studied. The gland structure was examined by direct field observations. Taxonomically important characters of glands were observed and measured: size, texture, shape, color,...

Five new species of Genlisea are described from Brazil, and all eight species of Genlisea subgenus Tayloria are described and illustrated, including remarks on ecology, biogeography, and habitat. Distribution maps, line drawings, photographs of the corolla, and SEM microphotographs of the seeds are presented for all species, and an identification k...

A comprehensive study based on gland and seed micromorphology in Euphorbia (Euphorbiaceae) for species distributed in Iranian highlands is presented. A total of 86 species were studied. The gland structure was examined by direct field observations. Taxonomically important characters of glands were observed and measured: size, texture, shape, color,...

Stachys (Lamiaceae: Lamioideae) is a species-rich, widespread, and taxonomically complex genus. A comparative anatomical study of the petioles and leaf lamina of 34 Stachys taxa representing 12 sections of the genus distributed in Iran was carried out to evaluate interspecific relationships and anatomical features that may be useful in species iden...

Carnivory in plants is an adaptation strategy to nutrient-poor environments and soils. Carnivorous plants obtain some additional mineral nutrients by trapping and digesting prey; the genus Nepenthes is helped by its specialized pitcher traps. To make the nutrients available, the caught prey needs to be digested, a process that requires the concerte...

Stachys (Lamiaceae: Lamioideae) is a species-rich, widespread, and taxonomically complex genus. A comparative anatomical study of the petioles and leaf lamina of 34 Stachys taxa representing 12 sections of the genus distributed in Iran was carried out to evaluate interspecific relationships and anatomical features that may be useful in species iden...

Table S1: Taxa, specimens and GenBank acession numbers for sequences used in the 5 gene analysis. Voucher information.

Figure S2: Tree from rbcL analysis. Strict consensus of 100 MP bootstrap replicates performed.

Figure S5: Tree from combined trnK/matK, trnL-F, rps16, rbcL, ndhF analysis. 100 bootstrap replicates performed.

Figure S1: A comparison of decay values. Numbers above branches give decay values from nucleotide data matrix; numbers below branches that from nucleotides plus coded indels.

Figure S3: Tree from ndhF analysis. Strict consensus of 100 MP bootstrap replicates performed.

Figure S4: Tree from angiosperm-wide matK analysis of the Hilu et al. 2003 dataset plus our newly generated Hydrostachys sequence. Strict consensus of 100 MP bootstrap replicates performed.

DNA technology provides a powerful tool to complement chemical analyses for authentication of Chinese medicinal plants and to ensure that herbal materials are not contaminated with ineffective or potentially harmful substitutes or adulterants. In the last two decades molecular biotechnology has provided sophisticated molecular techniques for authen...

In the large angiosperm order Lamiales, a diverse array of highly specialized life strategies such as carnivory, parasitism, epiphytism, and desiccation tolerance occur, and some lineages possess drastically accelerated DNA substitutional rates or miniaturized genomes. However, understanding the evolution of these phenomena in the order, and clarif...

Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) is increasingly used in Germany and Europe. Due to the need for herbal drugs of consistent quality and reliable supply, methods for commercial field cultivation and post-harvest processing under south German conditions have been developed for selected plant species used in CHM since 1999. The project used an interdisci...

Ononis L. (Fabaceae, Papilionoideae) is a common genus in the circum-Mediterranean region. To infer phylogenetic relationships, 69 Ononis species were analyzed using plastid trnL-F and nuclear ITS DNA sequences. Trees resulting from maximum parsimony analysis and Bayesian inference provide evidence that Ononis is monophyletic but contradict the tra...

Background and aims – The taxonomy of Ancistrocladus Wall. (Ancistrocladaceae) is poorly understood. Recent interest is stimulated by the occurrence of biologically active naphthylisoquinoline alkaloids. The discovery of the here reported novelty was made in the framework of an interdisciplinary research program dealing with alkaloid patterns, chro...

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has become very popular in Western countries during the last years. Zicao, a remedy of TCM, has been traditionally used to treat cancer, and, its main constituents, naphthoquinones, have been reported to possess antitumor activity (Chen et al., 2002; Papageorgiou et al., 1999). Here, we prepared extracts of differ...

The carnivorous plant genus Genlisea A. St.-Hil. (Lentibulariaceae) comprises at least 22 species distributed in South and Central America as well as in Africa (including Madagascar). It has only recently been shown to be a true carnivore, specialized in protozoa and other small soil organisms. Here we present a statistically highly supported phylo...

Although the subfamily Nepetoideae (Lamiaceae) is considered to be monophyletic, relationships between tribes, subtribes and genera within the subfamily are poorly understood as complex and possibly homoplasious morphological characters make taxa difficult to delimit. DNA sequence data from three regions (chloroplast: trnK intron; trnL-F; nuclear:...

The genus Scrophularia L. (Scrophulariaceae) comprises 200–300 species, of which approximately 19 are distributed in North America and the Greater Antilles. To investigate phylogenetic and biogeographic relationships of the New World species, two intergenic spacers (trnQ-rps16 and psbA-trnH) of chloroplast DNA and nuclear ribosomal ITS were sequenc...

We tested previously published protocols for DNA isolation from plants with high contents of polyphenols and polysaccharides for several taxa of carnivorous plants. However, we did not get satisfying results with fresh or silica dried leaf tissue obtained from field collected or greenhouse grown plants, nor from herbarium specimens. Therefore, we h...

Representatives of the genus Ancistrocladus, woody lianas of tropical Africa and Asia, contain pharmaceutically interesting alkaloids and have been the subjects of intensive phytochemical investigations. In Southeast Asia, Ancistrocladus tectorius, previously regarded as the only species of the genus from this region, is extremely polymorphic with...

Within the interdisciplinary research project focussing on field cultivation in Bavaria of selected medicinal plants, used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), the species Salvia miltiorrhiza has been investigated. The project has been financially supported by the Bavarian State Ministry of Agriculture. DNA-analyses as well as analyses of the bio...

No comprehensive revision of Micromeria is available and uncertainties about the taxonomy of the genus have lasted for a long time. Since the last synopsis many new data from both morphological and molecular genetic studies have been accumulated and, consequently, the number of accepted taxa and the delimitation of the genus have changed considerab...

The genus Killickia is described to accommodate the South African endemic species formerly placed in Micromeria sect. Hesperothymus. Morphological data, as well as results from unpublished phylogenetic studies support its separation from the genera Micromeria and Clinopodium. A new species Killickia lutea Bräuchler is described and three new combin...

Alchemilla (the lady's mantles) is a well known but inconspicuous group in the Rosaceae, notable for its ornamental leaves and pharmaceutical properties. The systematics of Alchemilla has remained poorly understood, most likely due to confusion resulting from apomixis, polyploidisation and hybridisation, which are frequently observed in the group,...

Summary The progesterone 5β-reductase (5β-POR), a key enzyme in the cardenolide biosynthesis, was sequenced for 21 species of Digitalis and Isoplexis to infer phylogenetic and biogeographic relationships. This new secondary metabolism molecular marker was compared to the previously applied nuclear ITS and plastid trnL-F sequences. The results from...

From the roots of a recently discovered Ancistrocladus taxon, with close affinities to Ancistrocladus congolensis regarding molecular ITS sequence data, six naphthylisoquinoline alkaloids, 5'-O-demethylhamatine (2), 5'-O-demethylhamatinine (3), 6-O-demethylancistroealaine A (4), 6,5'-O,O-didemethylancistroealaine A (5), 5-epi-6-O-methylancistrobert...

Nepenthaceae are an exceptional family with regard to carnivory and the uniformity of characters. This makes it difficult to resolve phylogenetic relationships due to convergent evolution of morphological features. Using comparative sequencing of the chloroplast trnK intron, the monophyly of this complex family and hypotheses of infrageneric relati...

The Resedaceae, containing 6 genera and ca. 85 species, are widely distributed in the Old World, with a major center of species diversity in the Mediterranean basin. Phylogenetic analyses of ITS and plastid trnL-trnF sequences of 66 species from all genera of the Resedaceae reveal (1) monophyly of the family, in congruence with preliminary phylogen...

The isolation and structural elucidation of three novel-type naphthylisoquinoline alkaloids, ancistrocladinium A and B (the latter along with its atropisomer), from a Congolese Ancistrocladus species collected in the habitat Yeteto is reported. Their structures, including all stereochemical features, were elucidated by spectroscopic, chemical, and...

The Canary Islands have been a focus for phylogeographic studies on the colonization and diversification of endemic angiosperm taxa. Based on phylogeographic patterns, both inter island colonization and adaptive radiation seem to be the driving forces for speciation in most taxa. Here, we investigated the diversification of Micromeria on the Canary...

Nepenthaceae, the pitcher plants of the Old World tropics show a remarkable diversity in SE Asia, especially on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. This region is considered as a secondary center of diversity. Sequence analysis of the cpDNA TRNK intron supports this hypothesis showing the species of the Malay Archipelago as neighbour group to the is...

Recent phylogenetic analyses based on single gene and combined data sets have substantially increased our knowledge of the phylogeny of Caryophyllales s.l., indicating that additional carnivorous families are related to this alliance. In earlier contributions towards a reassessment of inter- and infrafamilial relationships slowly evolving genes had...

Micromeria has recently been revealed polyphyletic by molecular analyses, with members of sect. Pseudomelissa placed in close relationship to Clinopodium vulgare. Morphological data suport transferring the section to Clinopodium. A list of names under Clinopodium (including 15 new combinations) is provided for the taxa hitherto included in Micromer...

During phylogenetic analysis of the Nepenthaceae cpDNA trnK intron, it became apparent that a second non-functional copy of the locus was present in most of the investigated taxa. The translocation event was older than the radiation of all recent Nepenthaceae, and the translocated pseudogenized copy was conserved in nearly all members of the plant...