Abstract
Calcium oxalate druses were isolated from the stems and leaves of six Pereskioideae family members and investigated by infrared spectroscopy, showing that in all samples the biomineral was present in the form of whewellite, CaC2O4 · H2O. As Pereskia is thought to represent the "ancestral" condition of the leafless stem-succulent cacti, these results suggest that the biomineralization of calcium oxalate in Cactaceae represents a primitive characteristic of the group and also support a close genetic relationship between Pereskia and Opuntia.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 763-766 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Zeitschrift fur Naturforschung - Section C Journal of Biosciences |
Volume | 64 |
Issue number | 11-12 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2010 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was supported by Universidad Na-cional de La Plata (UNLP) and Consejo Nacion-al de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas de
Keywords
- Biominerals
- Infrared spectroscopy
- Pereskia
- Whewellite
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (all)