Echium species

Several plants A6-desaturase genes have been cloned from Anemone leveillei, borago [211], three Echium species, Marchantia polymorpha. Primula farcinosa, P. vialii and P. juliae, as well as from fungi Mortierella alpine, M. isabelina, Mucor rouxii [205] and Pythium irregulare, from the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum [203] and from mosses the Ceratodom purpureus and Physcomitrella patens [212], although not all of them have been expressed in plants. 

As part of a broad study of bioactive PAs from Chilean, Canarian and European Heliotropium, Senecio and Echium species, we have isolated several pyrrolizidine alkaloids [61-64], If PA chemical diversity represents an evolutionary advantage, we should expect individual PAs to be specific rather than general plant defenses. In this context we have performed a comparative study of the biological effects of PAs 32-41 on two insect herbivores, S. littoralis (PA-tolerant), and L. decemlineata (not adapted to PAs) in relation to their chemical class (table 16). 

Carvalho JCB, Almeida HD, Lobo JFR, Ferreira JLP, Oliveira AP, Rocha L. Pyrro-hzidine alkaloids in two endemic capeverdian Echium species. Biochem Syst Ecol 2013 50 1-6. 

Some novel seed oils contain a relatively high proportion of 18 4n-3, such as oils from blackcurrant seeds, redcurrant seeds, alpine currant seeds, and Echium species (Table 7). As a precursor of 20 4n-3 (see Figure 1), 18 4n-3 is regarded as a good source of long-chain n-3 PUFA and appears to possess a higher biological activity than ALA (Petrick et al., 2000). 

The toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids are a large group of related compounds which occur in plants, mainly in species of Crotalaria, Senecio, Heliotropium, Trichodesma, Symphytum and Echium and are poisonous (Brown, 2003 Orech et al., 2005). 

The occurrence of pyrrolizidine derivatives in the Lepidoptera is not confined to butterflies, but has also been observed in the tiger moth, where their function may be similar to that established in one species of butterfly. Male tiger moths (fam. Arctiidae) possess scent organs in the form of inflatable coremata which have a pheromone-distributing function. Some of these species are known to use plants containing pyrrolizidine alkaloids, e.g. Heliotropium europaeum and Echium... 

To demonstrate the applicability of the mathematical approach we compare our model with population data taken from the literature for different invasive plants. Data from the native and exotic ranges of Echium plantagineum, Cytisus scoparius, and Carduus nutans [172, 344, 397,398,479] were used to establish that the model predicts their invasive behavior when the fecundity of these species in their exotic ranges is considered. Finally, the invasion rates recently found experimentally [221] for Carduus acanthoides are shown to fit closely the analytical predictions of the model. 

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