Genome Size of Life Forms of Araceae-A New Piece in the C-Value Puzzle.

Domen Kocjan,Marina Dermastia,Florian Etl,Jasna Dolenc Koce

doi:10.3390/plants11030334

Abstract

The genome size of an organism is an important trait that has predictive values applicable to various scientific fields, including ecology. The main source of plant C-values is the Plant DNA C-values database of the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, which currently contains 12,273 estimates. However, it covers only 2.9% of known angiosperm species and has gaps in the life form and geographic distribution of plants. Only 4.5% of C-value estimates come from researchers in Central and South America. This study provides 41 new C-values for the aroid family (Araceae), collected in the Piedras Blancas National Park area in southern Costa Rica, including terrestrial, epiphytic and aquatic life forms. Data from our study are combined with C-value entries in the RBGK database for Araceae. The analysis reveals a wider range of C-values for terrestrial aroids, consistent with other terrestrial plants, a trend toward slightly lower C-values for epiphytic forms, which is more consistent for obligate epiphytes, and comparatively low C-values for aquatic aroids.

Highlights

Genome size is a term widely used in the scientific literature, but it is used with different meanings depending on the author [1]
Forty-one new C-values from six aroid life forms (Figure 2) were estimated (Table 1). These include 26 epiphytic aroid forms, which represent 57.8% of all of the data on epiphytic aroids previously included in the RBGK C-value database [14]
We measured C-values already recorded in the database [14] for obligatory epiphytes Anthurium clavigerum and A. obtusum, a facultative epiphyte A. hoffmanii, three terrestrial species Alocasia longiloba, Anthurium ochranthum and Xanthosoma sagittifolium, a nomadic vine Syngonium podophyllum and an aquatic species Pistia stratiotes

Summary

Introduction

Genome size is a term widely used in the scientific literature, but it is used with different meanings depending on the author [1]. We use it here as a term that expresses the amount of DNA in the nucleus of a cell. The nuclear DNA amount is usually expressed as what is called the C-value, where “C” stands for “constant” [2]. The 1C-value refers to the size of the haploid genome, regardless of chromosome numbers and degree of polyploidy. Such a genome is found in an unduplicated nucleus of a haploid gamete. The 2C-value refers to the nuclear DNA amount in a duplicated nucleus of a gamete and an unduplicated nucleus of a diploid somatic cell. The 4C-value refers to the amount of nuclear DNA in a duplicated diploid nucleus before mitosis or meiosis. C-values higher than 4C are results of endopolyploidy [3], with the highest known multiplication being 24,576 C, as measured in the endosperm of the aroid Arum maculatum [4]

Methods

Results

Conclusion