title: Taxonomy of gymnospermae: multivariate analyses of leaf fatty acid composition.
abstract: The fatty acid composition of photosynthetic tissues from 137 species of gymnosperms belonging to 14 families was determined by gas chromatography. Statistical analysis clearly discriminated four groups. Ginkgoaceae, Cycadaceae, Stangeriaceae, Zamiaceae, Sciadopityaceae, Podocarpaceae, Cephalotaxaceae, Taxaceae, Ephedraceae and Welwitschiaceae are in the first group, while Cupressaceae and Araucariaceae are mainly in the second one. The third and the fourth groups composed of Pinaceae species are characterized by the genera Larix, and Abies and Cedrus, respectively. Principal component and discriminant analyses and divisive hierarchical clustering analysis of the 43 Pinaceae species were also performed. A clear-cut separation of the genera Abies, Larix, and Cedrus from the other Pinaceae was evidenced. In addition, a mass analysis of the two main chloroplastic lipids from 14 gymnosperms was performed. The results point to a great originality in gymnosperms since in several species and contrary to the angiosperms, the amount of digalactosyldiacylglycerol exceeds that of monogalactosyldiacylglycerol.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biogenèse Membranaire-CNRS-UMR 5544, Université Victor Segalen-Bordeaux II, Bordeaux, France. mongras@rockvax.rockefeller.edu
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mongrand
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Badoc
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Patouille
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lacomblez
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chavent
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cassagne
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Bessoule
mesh_terms: D028202:Abies / Q000145:classification; D028203:Cedrus / Q000145:classification; D002736:Chloroplasts / Q000737:chemistry; D032462:Cycadopsida / Q000145:classification*; D016002:Discriminant Analysis; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000032:analysis*; D038983:Galactolipids; D006017:Glycolipids / Q000032:analysis; D028221:Larix / Q000145:classification; D008055:Lipids / Q000032:analysis; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010802:Phylogeny; D028201:Pinaceae / Q000145:classification; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry*; D009626:Terminology as Topic
chemical_list: D005227:Fatty Acids; D038983:Galactolipids; D006017:Glycolipids; D008055:Lipids