Abstract
This study used morphological characterization and phylogenetic analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of nuclear ribosomal DNA to investigate the phylogeny of Passiflora species. The samples were collected from various regions of East Malaysia, and discriminant function analysis based on linear combinations of morphological variables was used to classify the Passiflora species. The biplots generated five distinct groups discriminated by morphological variables. The group consisted of cultivars of P. edulis with high levels of genetic similarity; in contrast, P. foetida was highly divergent from other species in the morphological biplots. The final dataset of aligned sequences from nine studied Passiflora accessions and 30 other individuals obtained from GenBank database (NCBI) yielded one most parsimonious tree with two strongly supported clades. Maximum parsimony (MP) tree showed the phylogenetic relationships within this subgenus Passiflora support the classification at the series level. The constructed phylogenic tree also confirmed the divergence of P. foetida from all other species and the closeness of wild and cultivated species. The phylogenetic relationships were consistent with results of morphological assessments. The results of this study indicate that ITS region analysis represents a useful tool for evaluating genetic diversity in Passiflora at the species level.
Highlights
Passiflora is extensively grown in tropical and subtropical regions of the world
Plant parts from cultivated Passiflora accessions P. edulis producing purple fruits (PE1), P. edulis producing dark purple fruits (PE2), P. incarnata, P. quadrangularis and P. maliformis were collected from the fruit farm of Universiti Putra Malaysia Bintulu Sarawak Campus (UPMKB) Bintulu (N 03∘ 12.45 and E 113∘ 4.68), Sarawak
Discriminant function analysis based on linear combinations of the variables produced better discrimination of the Passiflora species than the principal component analysis
Summary
Passiflora is extensively grown in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. More than 500 species in this genus have been identified, and most of them are distributed throughout Central and South America [1]. Colombia is one of the main centers of Passiflora diversity which accommodates more than 100 species and is rich in most sections of the genus [2]. Passiflora species have been cultivated for their edible fruits, ornamental flowers, and pharmaceutical uses. The Passiflora genus contains the highest number of species in Passifloraceae with edible fruit [3]; in addition, the plants of this genus have desirable organoleptic properties [4]. The species were divided into 22 subgenera based on floral morphology by Killip [6]. Species of subgenus Passiflora are characterized by handsome flowers that are dominated by corona [1]. Feuillet and MacDougal [7] subdivide the representatives of subgenus Passiflora into six supersections and further divided into sections or series based on their morphological characteristics
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