Does Matk, Trnh-Psba, Trnl-F And Its1 Identification Mirror Morphological Identification In Hibisceae?

Abstract

DNA barcoding applied to conservation, and food authentication contributes to attaining the United Nations goals for sustainability. However, congruence between morphological and molecular data in plant species identification needs further study in specific taxons sampled in particular areas. Malaysian samples were used to test congruence between morphologically identified Hibisceae species with their identification based on matK, trnH-psbA, trnL-F, and ITS1. Morphological characters provisionally identified the taxons as Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, Hibiscus sabdariffa, and Malvaviscus arboreus previously named Hibiscus malvaviscus. Basic local alignment search tool (BLAST) and maximum likelihood tree using ITS1 sequences ambiguously identified the H. rosa-sinensis to several Hibiscus species. BLAST using ITS1 identified M. arboreus to the closely related M. penduliflorus, due to absence of M. aboreus ITS1 sequences in the database. Still, the maximum likelihood tree formed a separate clade suggesting the two species were different. BLAST using trnH-psbA identified species to the morphologically identified taxons, but tree topology could only discriminate M. arboreus. BLAST of trnL-F identified both H. rosa-sinensis and M. aboreus as H. rosa-sinensis, as the database lacks M. arboreus trnL-F sequences. The trnL-F locus also incorrectly identified H. sabdariffa as Gossypium nelsonii using BLAST and could not discriminate all three species using tree topology. Similarly, the matK could not confirm the identity of any of the three species. DNA barcoding of Hibisceae is not trouble-free, and thus needs further study on loci and analysis. However, DNA barcoding can guide the morphological examination to be done selectively and more effectively.