Contrasting Reproductive Strategies of Two Nymphaea Species Affect Existing Natural Genetic Diversity as Assessed by Microsatellite Markers: Implications for Conservation and Wetlands Restoration.

Rajesh Tandon,Shailendra Goel,Nutan Singh,Seema Parveen,Manu Agarwal,Arjun Adit,Arun Jagannath,Suman Kumaria

doi:10.3389/fpls.2022.773572

Rajesh Tandon, Shailendra Goel + Show 6 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.773572

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Abstract

Nymphaea, commonly known as water lily, is the largest and most widely distributed genus in the order Nymphaeales. The importance of Nymphaea in wetland ecosystems and their increased vulnerability make them a great choice for conservation and management. In this work, we studied genetic diversity in a collection of 90 N. micrantha and 92 N. nouchali individuals from six different states of India, i.e., Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Maharashtra, Goa, and Kerala, using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers developed by low throughput Illumina sequencing (10X coverage of genome) of N. micrantha. Nymphaea nouchali is native to India, whereas N. micrantha is suggested to be introduced to the country for its aesthetic and cultural values. The study revealed extensive polymorphism in N. nouchali, while in N. micrantha, no apparent genetic divergence was detected prompting us to investigate the reason(s) by studying the reproductive biology of the two species. The study revealed that N. micrantha predominantly reproduces asexually which has impacted the genetic diversity of the species to a great extent. This observation is of immense importance for a successful re-establishment of Nymphaea species during restoration programs of wetlands. The information generated on reproductive behaviors and their association with genotypic richness can help in strategizing genetic resource conservation, especially for species with limited distribution. The study has also generated 22,268 non-redundant microsatellite loci, out of which, 143 microsatellites were tested for polymorphism and polymorphic markers were tested for transferability in five other Nymphaea species, providing genomic resources for further studies on this important genus.

Highlights

Nymphaea, an aquatic perennial herb commonly known as water lily, is the largest and most widely distributed genus in the order Nymphaeales
The genome size estimation of N. micrantha, based on the linear relationship of 2C peaks of the sample and the internal standard, indicated an approximate genome size of 1.11 pg per 2C content corresponding to 544 Mbp/1C (Supplementary Figure 2)
About 2,464 simple sequence repeat (SSR) were present in the compound formation, which were removed from further analysis

Summary

Introduction

An aquatic perennial herb commonly known as water lily, is the largest and most widely distributed genus in the order Nymphaeales. Nymphaea spp. acts as an important component of plant communities They provide food and habitat for many aquatic animals and migratory birds, including Siberian cranes and lilytrotters (Jacanas), act to reduce water turbidity and provide in-stream sediment stabilization (Leito et al, 2016; Ranjan and Prakash, 2019; Dalziell et al, 2020). Nymphaea species such as N. mexicana and N. violacea are sensitive to salt stress and are known to occur in freshwater only (Lauer and Ross, 2016; Dalziell et al, 2020). The loss of Nymphaea plants would be detrimental nutritionally and culturally, and ecologically

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