Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-r7xzm Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-27T04:45:41.476Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Molecular adaptation of the chloroplast matK gene in Nymphaea tetragona, a critically rare and endangered plant of India

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 March 2011

Jeremy Dkhar
Affiliation:
Plant Biotechnology Laboratory, Centre for Advanced Studies in Botany, North Eastern Hill University, Shillong793022, India
Suman Kumaria*
Affiliation:
Plant Biotechnology Laboratory, Centre for Advanced Studies in Botany, North Eastern Hill University, Shillong793022, India
Pramod Tandon
Affiliation:
Plant Biotechnology Laboratory, Centre for Advanced Studies in Botany, North Eastern Hill University, Shillong793022, India
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: sumankhatrikumaria@hotmail.com

Abstract

Sustainable utilization of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture has been increasingly discussed at both national and international forums. Besides exploitation, conservation of plant genetic resources has become an integral part of these discussions. Conservation aims at maintaining the diversity of living organisms, their habitat and the interrelationship between organisms and their environment. For achieving such goals, appropriate conservation strategies have to be adopted. Determining the genetic makeup of a particular plant species is of critical importance when planning a suitable conservation strategy. In this study, we sequenced the chloroplast trnK intron, matK and rbcL gene aimed at understanding the rarity of Nymphaea tetragona, a critically rare and endangered plant of India found at only one location. We extended our investigation to other Nymphaea species such as N. nouchali, N. pubescens and N. rubra that are commonly available throughout India. Interestingly, matK gene of N. tetragona revealed high number of non-synonymous substitutions. Molecular evolutionary analysis indicated that three of these sites may be under mild selective pressures. Such adaptive changes at the DNA and protein sequence level of matK gene may have been associated with the colonization of N. tetragona, suggesting that it could have migrated from China.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © NIAB 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aguileta, G, Refrégier, G, Yockteng, R, Fournier, E and Giraud, T (2009) Rapidly evolving genes in pathogens: methods for detecting positive selection and examples among fungi, bacteria, viruses and protests. Infection, Genetics and Evolution 9: 656670.Google Scholar
Cook, CDK (1996) Aquatic and Wetland Plants of India. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Dkhar, J, Kumaria, S, Rama Rao, S and Tandon, P (2010) Molecular phylogenetics and taxonomic reassessment of four Indian representatives of the genus Nymphaea. Aquatic Botany 93: 135139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dkhar, J, Kumaria, S and Tandon, P Molecular evidence suggests that an Indian plant called Nymphaea alba var. rubra is a hybrid originating from N. alba and N. odorata. Annales Botanici Fennici (in press).Google Scholar
eFloras, (2008) Published on the Internet http://www.efloras.org Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO and Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA. Accessed 16 March 2010.Google Scholar
Felsentein, J (1989) Phylip-phylogeny inference package (version 3.2). Cladistics 5: 164166.Google Scholar
Ganeshaiah, KN (2005) Recovery of endangered and threatened species. Developing a national priority list of plants and insects. Current Science 89: 599600.Google Scholar
Hao, DC, Chen, SL and Xiao, PG (2010) Molecular evolution and positive Darwinian selection of the chloroplast maturase matK. Journal of Plant Research 123: 241247.Google Scholar
Hausner, G, Olson, R, Simon, D, Johnson, I, Sanders, ER, Karol, KG, McCourt, RM and Zimmerly, S (2006) Origin and evolution of the chloroplast trnK (matK) intron: a model for evolution of group II intron RNA structures. Molecular Biology and Evolution 23: 380391.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Iida, S, Miyagi, A, Aoki, S, Ito, M, Kadono, Y and Kosuge, K (2009) Molecular adaptation of rbcL in the heterophyllous aquatic plant Potamogeton. PLoS ONE 4: e4633. doi:10.1371/journal.pone0004633.Google Scholar
Kapralov, MV and Filatov, DA (2006) Molecular adaptation during adaptive radiation in the Hawaiian endemic genus Schiedea. PLoS ONE 1: e8. doi:10.1371/journal.pone0000008.Google Scholar
Löhne, C, Borsch, T and Wiersema, JH (2007) Phylogenetic analysis of Nymphaeales using fast-evolving and noncoding chloroplast markers. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 154: 141163.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mitra, RL (1990) Nymphaeaceae. In: Nayar, MP, Thothathri, K and Sanjappa, M (eds) Fascicles of flora of India, Fascicles 20. Howrah: Botanical Survey of India, pp. 1125.Google Scholar
Swanson, WJ, Nielsen, R and Yang, Q (2003) Pervasive adaptive evolution in mammalian fertilization proteins. Molecular Biology and Evolution 20: 1820.Google Scholar
Yang, Z (2007) PAML4: a program package for phylogenetic analysis by maximum likelihood. Molecular Biology and Evolution 24: 15861591.Google Scholar