JIB 431/4: BIOSYSTEMATIC (ASSIGNMENT 1)

JIB 431/4: BIOSYSTEMATIC (ASSIGNMENT 1)

Discuss the implications and impact of plant taxonomy to human society.

BOTANICAL N ZOOLOGICAL PART MAX : 5 PAGES Internet ? 1. biology studies2. Agriculture3. Biodiversity conservation4. Medical 5. Genetic variability6. Veterinary7. Pharmaceutical8. Food industry

Introduction

According to Khalik (2005), taxonomy is a branch of the biological sciences related to systematics that describing, identifying, classifying, and naming of organisms. The words are derived from the Greek which taxis means arrangement and nomos means law (Khalik, 2005).It is defined as the study and description of the variation of organisms, the investigation of the causes and consequences of this variation, and the manipulation of the data to produce a system of classification law (Khalik, 2005). Taxonomy is important since the past 260 years, and then biological nomenclature has been guided by the binomial system developed by Carolus Linnaeus (Bennett & Balick, 2014). Taxonomy that similar to systematic is universal and not restricted to plants or even living organisms (Khalik, 2005). Plant taxonomy is defined as science that describes, classifies, identifies and names plant (Sakariyawo, 2011). Its aims are to identify all type of plants and to arrange the type of plant in a scheme of classification to show their relationship (Sakariyawo, 2011). According to Mahon (2008), the simplest classification is based on need and use; classically, humans classified plants into edible, poisonous, medicinal, and hallucinogenic categories. Plant taxonomy gives us many advantages mainly in era of globalization now a day like agriculture, medicine, pharmaceutical, genetic variability and food industry.

Agriculture

Taxonomic is very important to support agriculture because sometime collections and publications contain many old, incorrect names that have been replaced, misidentifications, names which are applied to different species by different authors, species groups which are treated as a single species by one author, but as a complex of different species by another, and so on (Cock, 2011). In taxonomy, it is important to be aware of such synonyms, alternative taxonomic interpretations and local names to obtain all useful information (Cock, 2011). Generally, taxonomic is widely used in agriculture to identify of crop-related biodiversity and the tools and information that can be generated based on identification or sometimes more than identification is needed (Cock, 2011). For example, in a farming site, a farmer might find a bug on his crop, then takes to a specialist for advice. The specialist might ask you to take no action because this is a friends of farmers since they eat other insects, not crops (Cock, 2011). Sometime, the specialist might identify the bug as a defoliating caterpillar (Cock, 2011). It is harmful for crop because they eat leaves or other crop parts thus causing damage (Cock, 2011). Usually, the specialist will suggest the use of a preparation of Bacillus thuringiensis to kill defoliating caterpillars and give small impact on other insects in the crop (Cock, 2011). Therefore, by taxonomic, identification and characterize the food plants, pest status and control options for the species is become easy (Cock, 2011). When study on organism relevant to agriculture, taxonomists usually may query about their biology, differentiated populations of this organism in different parts of its range or different climate regions of the same country, individual variation is there within the species with regard to size, markings, phenology, and host range and so on (Cock, 2011). Hence taxonomy is important in agriculture as an essential support to pest management, which in turn is the key to losing less production to pests, and increasing food production and food security (Cock, 2011). Taxonomy is also necessary to facilitate trade in agricultural (Cock, 2011). Botanical nomenclature is started from 1973 with Species Plantarum publication (Bennett & Balick, 2014). The first name validly and effectively published on or after that date has priority while other names referring to the same taxon are synonyms (Bennett & Balick, 2014). All scientists employ the rules of the International Code of Nomenclature for Algae, Fungi, and Plants (known as the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature until 2011). Even though, the system is not perfect, it has been universally accepted in global biodiversity (Bennett & Balick, 2014). Taxonomy functions as an aid or starting point of various types of agricultural research; -The results of taxonomie investigations are used in extension, education, trade and commerce, so in all social situations in which vegetable products are to be dealt with.

Genetic variability

Management of genetic resources require better understanding of taxonomy as it allows us to differentiate a set of species priorities (Rao & Hodgkin, 2001). Taxonomy reveals of genome in the different organism and documents it as different taxa (Rao & Hodgkin, 2001). Therefore, conservationists can share their finding of materials properties (Rao & Hodgkin, 2001). Conventionally, taxonomy is compared based on morphological features, but now data generated using molecular techniques has provided new understandings into the phylogeny and taxonomy of many plant groups (Rao & Hodgkin, 2001). Classification is based on genetic diversity, adaptation and fixation of genes (Rao & Hodgkin, 2001).

These include: Molecular techniques make it possible to analyse numerous characters, which are also independent, whereas morphological analysis provides fewer characters, often of dubious homology. Morphology is prone to considerable convergence while most DNA regions are less so and even if there is some convergence, the genetic basis of convergence in molecules is better understood. Thus the molecular approach is more objective. Molecular markers are relatively independent of the environment (Beckmann and Soller, 1986). A further advantage has been the opportunity that organellar DNA studies can analyse maternal and paternal lineages separately. For example, it has been proposed that the use of chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) restriction fragment analysis provides numerous independent molecular characters that can often rigorously define monophyletic lineages (Sytsma et al., 1991; Gielly and Taberlet, 1994; Tsumura et al., 1996) and exhibit low intraspecific variation. The latter assumption was reviewed and it was concluded that, far from being rare, intraspecific cpDNA variation is relatively common (Harris and Ingram, 1991). The possible effects of this on phylogenetic reconstructions are yet to be fully understood, suggesting that cpDNA data should be used along with a wider consideration of the degree of intra-individual and intraspecific variation and of the mode of plastid transmission. There may be some serious questions as to its inheritance patterns, which can create problems of interpretation (Dong and Wagner, 1994).

However, there is no doubt that the use of both nuclear and organellar DNA in taxonomic studies is providing very interesting new insights in a number of plant families with important crop plants. In the Brassicineae, relationships between species are now seen rather differently in the light of molecular studies which tend to confirm results from interspecies crossing experiments (Warwick and Black, 1993). Not surprisingly, there have been a number of reports of discrepancies between analyses of DNA and morphology in the estimation of plant phylogeny. The discrepancies may arise as result of procedural problems or biological attributes of the organisms. The problems can arise from within both the morphological and the molecular aspects of the study (Sytsma,1990). Both kinds of problems must be better understood to permit a more thorough synthesis of DNA

Medicine

The identification of the diversity of life and understanding relationships among organisms are important to medicinal plant studies (Bennett & Balick, 2008). Understanding evolutionary relationships among species need to be understood in the study of plant medicines (Bennett & Balick, 2008). The importance of standardized nomenclature is well established in medicine. In addition, necessity standard definition is required to improve the quality of critical care clinical trials (Singh & Ferguson, 2009). Monophyly is basic principle that very important in medicine. Monophyly is a group that includes its ancestor and all of its descendants (Bennett & Balick, 2013). Taxonomic is a basis to classify natural products, other than morphological studies (Arriaza, 2009). Generally, metabolite that stored in the plant will determine their species, genera, families or specific plant because metabolites were specific of some plants (Arriaza, 2009). For example, the "opium" of Papaver somniferum contains twenty alkaloids such as morphine, thebaine, codeine, and narcotine. According to Arriaza (2009), this has led to a new field called "chemotaxonomy, which is to study the constituents of plants according to their taxonomy. The phytochemical constituents are considered as symbols to understand the evolution relationship and classification of the plants (Arriaza, 2009). According to Mathe (2011), 80% of people in the world tend to choose traditional medicines for their healthcare and medicinal plants play an important role in the remaining 20%. But, still, there is no special group to accompany the human by the history (Mathe, 2011). Medicinal plants are used based on tradition and literature records according to the ingredient and metabolites (Mathe, 2011). As an example aromatic plants will being fragrant and determine the taste of the material, while species plant is used for seasoning, spicing, flavouring, coloring foods and so on (Mathe, 2011). Complexity and the overlapping uses of active ingredients cause them difficult to classify, thus, these plants used as medicinal plants regardless their specific features (Mathe, 2011). But, recent study Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (MAPs) used to differentiate ingredients-containing group of medicinal plants (Mathe, 2011). For instance, the family Labiateae (Lamiaceae) compose of a large number of essential oil containing species (lavender, thyme and rosemary) whereas Solanaceae are characterized by the occurrence of several alkaloid-containing species (Belladonna, thorn apple and tobacco) (Mathe, 2011).

Figure 1: the queen of medicinal plant, Chamomilla recutita L (Mathe, 2011).

Conclusions

Taxonomy is very important. Misuse of scientific names will cause companies miss commercial opportunities because failure to access published research as not knowing all names ever used for that plant because it is more than one name.

Taxonomic names providejudgmentsonspeciesboundariesandonthe phylogeneticrelationshipsoftaxa(Godfray,2007). Closelyrelated taxa aremorelikelytosharecharacteristics,includingchemical. constituents, than distantly related ones.Therefore,theyaremore likely toproducesimilarphysiologicaleffectsinvitroorinvivo. The physicistEnricoFermiquippedthatifhecouldremember the namesofthesubatomicparticleshewouldhavebeena botanist(Lloyd andMitchinson,2007). Thereareindeedmany plant names.ThePlantList,anonlinedatabasecreatedbythe RoyalBotanicGardens,KewandtheMissouriBotanicalGarden, includes 1,244,871scientific namesofvascularplantsandbyro- phytesinits first iteration.Ofthese,298,900areacceptedspecies names (The PlantList,2013). UnlikeFermi,today'sresearcherhas readyaccesstothesenamesinonlinedatabases.Thereisno legitimate excuseforusingincorrectnameormisspellednames.If researchersandreviewersfollowafewsimplerules,theywould avoidambiguityassociatedwitherroneoustaxonomy.Itistimefor botanyandmedicinetoreunite.

Taxonomy is also important outside the fieldof research. Man wants to give a name toeverything what he uses. He is also forced toclassify to find his way between so many ofplant species and cultivars.Without names we cannot do much: plantproducts are asked and offered for sale undercrop names or cultivar names. A name acts asan important bridge between plant and itsperformance. Therefore it seems logical thatlegislations, which make possible to attachrights and obligations to cultivars, makeregulations with respect to nomenclature toprotect consumer and user.Nomenclature rules for botanical taxa, cultivarsand cultivar groups as well are importantfor the relatively small group of botanists,and bear a general effect on human society.

Arriaza P. 2009. Classification of medicinal and aromatic plants.

Bennett and Balick. 2008. Plant Taxonomy for Preclinical and Clinical Medicinal Plant Researchers. Journal of the Society for Integrative Oncology, Vol 6, No 4 (Fall), 2008: pp 150157

Bennett B.C & Balick M.J. 2013. Does the name really matter? The importance of botanical Nomenclature and plant taxonomy in biomedical research. /JournalofEthnopharmacology152(2014)387392

Cock M.J.W. 2011. Funding taxonomic support to agriculture in developing countries.Conservation (Ed. Leadlay & Jury). Cambridge University Press.Dransfield (2006). Rattans, taxonomy and development. In Taxonomy and Plant

Khalik K.A. 2005. Introduction to Plant Systematics. LevetinMcMahon: Plants and Society, Fifth Edition II. Introduction to Plant Life: Botanical Principles 8. Plant Systematics and Evolution The McGrawHill Companies, 2008Mathe A. 2011. Medicinal and Aromatic Plants. Vol II- Medicinal and Aromatic Plants.Nelson D.R., 2005. Gene nomenclature by default or blasting to Babel. Hum. Genomics 2,196201.Rao V.R & Hodgkin T. 2001. Genetic diversity and conservation and utilization of plant genetic resources. Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture 68: 119, 2002.Sakariyawo O. 2011. Anatomy, Taxonomy and Physiology of Agricultural Plants.Singh, J.M.,Ferguson,N.D.,2009.Betterinfrastructureforcriticalcaretrials: nomenclature, etymology,andinformatics.Crit.CareMed.37(Suppl.1), S173S177.

Food Science Text Series2005Modern Food MicrobiologyAuthors: James M. Jay, Martin J. Loessner, David A. GoldenISBN:978-0-387-23180-8 (Print)978-0-387-23413-7 (Online)

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