Celastrus paniculatus, “the intellect tree”, is a climbing shrub with medicinal properties found throughout India. And it’s under threat.

The genome size and organization of the important medicinal plant Catharanthus roseus is shown to correspond to 1C = 0.76 pg (~738 Mbps) and 2n=16 chromosomes. The data  in this recently published paper provide a sound basis for future studies including cytogenetic mapping, genomics and breeding.

Cadmium and hypodermal periderm formation in roots Periderm as a result of secondary meristem activity is not usually formed in monocot species. Lux et al.  describe periclinal cell division in the hypodermal layer of Merwilla plumbea, an African medicinal species often found on contaminated soils, which results in formation of multilayered suberized tissue when roots [...]