In the phylogenetic history of photosynthesis the C4 photosynthetic pathway is a rather latě, a nearly recent event. With the background of globál CO2 starvation and given the evolutionary competence, different ecological constraints as water and/or nitrogen deficiency oř salinity could be the driving forces in distinct habitats for selection of genotypes with a CO2 pump. Whether C3-like C3-C4 intermediate species BLS Moricandia arvensis with a less efficient CO2 pump are on the way to C4 photosynthesis remains an open question. Selection for a somewhat improved CO2 concentration mechanism under strong selective pressure seems to be a possible experimental approach to imitate evolutionary steps in adaptation to CO2 starvation.
The study dealt with the problem of the other European identity as reflected in the English travel writing of the seventeenth century. The crucial question was if any coherent whole, in cultural terms, was distinguished on the mental map of the 17th century English traveller in the area of “Trans-Rhenic Europe”. The mental map was understood here as a sort of image which is not related to sensory experience. It is considered as Creative construction of unknown based on what was read, what was heard, and on past experience. The viewpoints defining units and drawing borders were of cultural character. Firstly, it was interested in traveller’s division of known and unknown Europe. Secondly, it was looking for the borders of learned part of Europe drawn on the traveller’s mental map. Thirdly, it was focused on characteristics of people given by travellers. Finally, the borders of “civilization” and “barbarism” on the mental map of a 17th century traveller were questioned.