The types of glandular trichomes, their ontogeny and pattern of distribution on the vegetative and reproductive organs of Leonotis leonurus at differ

Pitaya is one of the fruit species whose demand has increased in recent years due to the numerous health benefits and lucrative price of the fruit and its by-products. In Europe, the Iberian Peninsula and other Mediterranean countries are the ones with favorable climatic conditions for its cultivation. This document describes much of the history of pitaya in the Iberian Peninsula and the difficulties related to its cultivation. A bibliographical survey was carried out on the culture of pitaya in the world, focusing on the edaphoclimatic requirements, and on the possibility of this becoming a consolidated crop in the Iberian Peninsula. The relatively low water requirement of pitaya makes this crop sustainable among crops that require irrigation. In addition, we provide a perspective for use and research of this emerging crop. There has been an exponential growth of scientific publications on pitaya in the last decade; however, much more needs to be researched to know how to increase productivity as well as the sensory quality of fruits in different regions. This sustainable crop is a good option to diversify fruit production in the Iberian Peninsula.

Citrus tristeza virus (CTV) has been studied intensively at the molecular level. However, knowledge regarding the dynamics of its evolution is practically non-existent. In the past, diverse authors have referred to CTV as a highly variable virus, implying rapid evolution. Others have, in recent times, referred to CTV as an exceptionally slowly evolving virus. In this work, we used the capsid protein (CP) gene to estimate the rate of evolution. This was obtained from a large set of heterochronous CP gene sequences using a Bayesian coalescent approach. The best-fitting evolutionary and population models pointed to an evolutionary rate of 1.58×10−4 nt per site year−1 (95 % highest posterior density, 1.73×10−5–3.16×10−4 nt per site year−1). For an unbiased comparison with other plant and animal viruses, the evolutionary rate of synonymous substitutions was considered. In a series of 88 synonymous evolutionary rates, ranging from 5.2×10−6 to 6.2×10−2 nt per site year−1, CTV ranks in the 10th percentile, embedded among the slowest animal RNA viruses. At the time of citrus dissemination to Europe and the New World, the major clades that led to the current phylogenetic groups were already defined, which may explain the absence nowadays of geographical speciation.