A Chemometry of Aldrovanda vesiculosa L. (Waterwheel, Droseraceae) Populations.

Lubomír Adamec,Bartosz J. Płachno,Anna Danielewicz,Sławomir Dresler,Kamila Wojas-Krawczyk,Vitor F. O. Miranda,Maciej Strzemski,Ireneusz Sowa

doi:10.3390/molecules26010072

Abstract

The genus Aldrovanda is a Palaeogene element containing a single extant species, Aldrovanda vesiculosa L. This aquatic carnivorous herb has a very wide range of distribution, natively covering four continents; however, it is a critically endangered aquatic plant species worldwide. Previous studies revealed that A. vesiculosa had an extremely low genetic variation. The main aim of the present paper is to explore, using chemometric tools, the diversity of 16 A. vesiculosa populations from various sites from four continents (Eurasia, Africa, Australia). Using chemometric data as markers for genetic diversity, we show the relationships of 16 A. vesiculosa populations from various sites, including four continents. Phytochemical markers allowed the identification of five well-supported (bootstrap > 90%) groups among the 16 populations sampled. The principal component analysis data support the idea that the strongly related African (Botswana) and Australian (Kimberley, NT, NW Australia) populations are the most distant ones, separated from the European and Asian ones. However, considering the five Australian populations sampled, three are nested within the Eurasian group. The chemometric data are correlated positively with the geographical distances between the samples, which suggests a tendency toward isolation for the most distant populations.

Highlights

Aldrovanda L. is a monotypic genus containing a single extant aquatic species, Aldrovanda vesiculosa L. (Figure 1A–D), which produces leaves with snap-traps [1,2,3]
It is accepted that Aldrovanda is a Tertiary (Palaeogene) element and that the recent A. vesiculosa is a relict species [3,4,7,8]
Using the chemometric data as markers for genetic diversity, we aim to reveal the relationships of 16 A. vesiculosa populations from various sites from four continents (Eurasia, Africa, Australia), comparing them with the literature data based on DNA [22,23,24], and we present some discussions about the phylogeography of world populations

Summary

Introduction

Aldrovanda L. is a monotypic genus containing a single extant aquatic species, Aldrovanda vesiculosa L. (Figure 1A–D), which produces leaves with snap-traps [1,2,3]. (Figure 1A–D), which produces leaves with snap-traps [1,2,3] It belongs to the family Droseraceae and shares a common ancestor with the Venus’ flytrap (the monotypic Dionaea): both taxa are sister to the genus Drosera Despite its very wide range, it is an extremely rare aquatic plant species, possible due to several bottleneck events. This species is under severe threat, classified as ‘Endangered’ by The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species [9], and is gradually disappearing due to human impact and a lack of suitable habitats (eutrophication of sites from adjacent agriculture, fishery or the municipal pollution or drying of habitats [3,8,10]). The “Aldrovanda disease”, probably caused by several Phytopythium and Pythium (Oomycetes) species, is harmful for the plants and may kill ex vitro and ex situ cultivated plants [11]; it can hinder the effort to conserve this endangered species

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