Abstract
The extraordinary biodiversity of tropical regions has attracted many researchers. Despite an increasing number of genome size (GS) estimations, those of tropic flora remain poorly explored. In this study, we applied the glycerol-preserved nuclei protocol for GS estimation in the field conditions of a tropical rainforest in Brunei Darussalam, northern Borneo. Samples were prepared in the field following this protocol and subjected to the flow cytometry analysis in the laboratory approximately 1 month later. The glycerol-preserved nuclei protocol enabled us to perform GS estimations of thirty taxa of Euphorbiaceae s.l. (twenty taxa of Euphorbiaceae and ten taxa of Phyllanthaceae family, respectively), all representing first estimates of GS for respective taxa. We found 5.09-fold overall variation in GS, with the lowest value in Croton sp. (2C = 0.97 pg) and the highest value in Aporosa elmeri (2C = 4.94 pg). The vast majority of species presented very small GS (77%), while 23% of the species had small GS. Using available data of Euphorbiaceae s.l. from the Plant DNA C-values database, we also tested the correlations of GS with climate (tropical vs. temperate) and growth form (woody vs. herbaceous). Tropical taxa of Euphorbiaceae s.l. (incl. Euphorbiaceae s.s. and Phyllanthaceae) have significantly smaller GS values than temperate ones. No significant difference in GS between woody and herbaceous taxa was detected.
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The data reported here are archived as supplemental material in Plant Systematics and Evolution.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Universiti Brunei Darussalam for permission to conduct research at the Kuala Belalong Field Studies Centre, and the Biodiversity Research and Innovation Centre, Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism for export permit. We thank staff of the Kuala Belalong Field Studies Centre for their support during our stay at KBFSC. Work of LK and MH was supported by the Internal Grant Agency of Palacký University IGA PrF-2019-004, IGA PrF-2020-003.
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Online Resource 1. Detailed results of genome size measurements using flow-cytometry. Genome size (2C), holoploid genome size (1C), percentual intraspecific genome size variation and genome size category according to Leitch et al. (1998) of investigated taxa.
Online Resource 2. List of the data taken from the Plant C-values Database (Leitch et al. 2019) with genome size (2C), holoploid genome size (1C), and original reference cited in the C-values Database to each record and growth form and biome to each taxon.
Online Resource 3. List of localities sampled of collected plant material. Tree no. indicate exact tree in ecological plot. Herbarium specimens are deposited in the Herbarium of the Palacký University in Olomouc (OL).
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Kobrlová, L., Dančák, M., Sukmaria Sukri, R. et al. Application of glycerol-preserved nuclei protocol for genome size estimation in the field conditions of a tropical rainforest. Plant Syst Evol 306, 73 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-020-01702-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-020-01702-7