ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT Chile is located in the south-western region of South America along the Pacific Ocean and contributes to the worldwide flora with ca. 6,120 species of Bryophyta, Pteridophyta, Pinophyta, Gnetophyta, and Magnoliophyta (1.9% of worldwide total species), exhibiting high endemism across all plant divisions. Little is known about the genetic diversity of Chilean land plants worldwide, including their cytogenetic and molecular characteristics. In 2012 we published the first state-of-the-art review in Cytogenetics of Chilean Angiosperms. The article gathered 78 publications from 1924 to 2010 accounting for approximately 139 species (2.8% of total Chilean species). The aim of this paper was to review the advances in cytogenetic studies of Chilean land plants, reporting additional cytogenetic data for species of four botanical divisions until 2020. Cytogenetic data were searched in the CPCD (Chilean Plants Cytogenetic Database). In total, we found 180 publications from both Chilean and foreign researchers. To date, cytogenetic data have been reported for 499 Chilean land plant species (8.2% of total) belonging to 244 genera and 117 families. In this context, the 2001-2020 period has been among the most productive regarding publications, with 74 available reports that include 163 additional species. Based on chromosome numbers, angiosperms and bryophytes registered the greatest diversity with 55 and 29 different 2n, respectively; both divisions having the greatest number of studied species. Given the importance of increasing information on Chilean land plants, it is expected that more publications will contribute to the knowledge of their cytogenetic diversity in the near future.
RESUMEN Chile está ubicado en la región suroeste de América del Sur a lo largo del Océano Pacífico y contribuye a la flora mundial con aproximadamente 6.120 especies de Bryophyta, Pteridophyta, Pinophyta, Gnetophyta y Magnoliophyta (1,9% del total de especies en todo el mundo), que presentan un alto endemismo en todas las divisiones de plantas. Poco se conoce sobre la diversidad genética de las plantas terrestres chilenas en todo el mundo, incluidas sus características citogenéticas y moleculares. En 2012 publicamos la primera revisión sobre el estado del arte en Citogenética de Angiospermas Chilenas. El artículo reunió 78 publicaciones desde 1924 hasta 2010, que representan aproximadamente 139 especies (2,8% del total de especies chilenas). El objetivo de este trabajo fue revisar los avances en estudios citogenéticos de plantas terrestres chilenas, reportando datos citogenéticos adicionales para especies de cuatro divisiones botánicas hasta el 2020. Los datos citogenéticos se buscaron en el CPCD (Base de Datos Citogenéticos de Plantas Chilenas). En total, encontramos 180 publicaciones sobre citogenética de plantas terrestres chilenas, con datos citogenéticos para 499 especies (8,2% del total) pertenecientes a 244 géneros y 117 familias. En este contexto, el período 2001-2020 ha sido uno de los más productivos en cuanto a publicaciones, con 74 artículos disponibles que incluyen 163 especies adicionales. Basado en los números cromosómicos, angiospermas y briófitos registran la mayor diversidad, con 55 y 29 2n diferentes, respectivamente; ambas divisiones tienen también el mayor número de especies estudiadas. Dada la importancia de incrementar la información sobre plantas terrestres chilenas, se espera que más publicaciones contribuyan al conocimiento de su diversidad citogenética en un futuro próximo.
ABSTRACT
Objective: The amount of nuclear DNA (C-value) is a key biodiversity character that provides strong unifying elements in revealing the phylogenetic regularity and relationship between genome size and functional traits for plant resource. The estimation of C-values could primarily extend our knowledge on the genetic background and genome diversity for medicinal plants, and thereby the variation of pharmacological constituents and phylogenetic mechanism of medicinal plant taxa will be revealed. However, a large number of medicinal plants (e.g. Cornus officinalis) typically contain a series of secondary metabolites, especially tannic acid, which would significantly affect the estimation of DNA content by flow cytometry (FCM). Methodological discussions and improvement need to be made to solve this problem. Methods: Two isolation buffers LB01 and Otto 1 were selected to prepare nuclear suspension with additional treatments of pre-soaking and centrifugation combination of gradient centrifugal force and duration. The best isolation and estimation methods were determined by FCM measurement in C. officinalis. Results: The dry leaves were pre-soaked in Otto I buffer for 15 min and the Otto I nuclear suspension was centrifugated at 1.0103 g for 2 min. The results showed that debris and nuclei were better separated and the scatterplots of good quality were obtained with low coefficient of variation (CV). Contrarily, the nuclear DNA content of C. officinalis could not be accurately estimated for nuclei extracted by LB01 buffer. Finally, 2C-value and genome size of C. officinalis were first estimated as 5.92 pg and 2893 Mbp, respectively. Conclusion: The new methods proposed here are able to accurately estimate DNA content of C. officinalis, which provides valuable references for the estimation of genome size in other tannin-rich medicinal plants. © 2014 Tianjin Press of Chinese Herbal Medicines.
ABSTRACT
Although the number of protein-coding genes is not highly variable between plant taxa, the DNA content in their genomes is highly variable, by as much as 2,056-fold from a 1C amount of 0.0648 pg to 132.5 pg. The mean 1C-value in plants is 2.4 pg, and genome size expansion/contraction is lineage-specific in plant taxonomy. Transposable element fractions in plant genomes are also variable, as low as ~3% in small genomes and as high as ~85% in large genomes, indicating that genome size is a linear function of transposable element content. Of the 2 classes of transposable elements, the dynamics of class 1 long terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposons is a major contributor to the 1C value differences among plants. The activity of LTR retrotransposons is under the control of epigenetic suppressing mechanisms. Also, genome-purging mechanisms have been adopted to counter-balance the genome size amplification. With a wealth of information on whole-genome sequences in plant genomes, it was revealed that several genome-purging mechanisms have been employed, depending on plant taxa. Two genera, Lilium and Fritillaria, are known to have large genomes in angiosperms. There were twice times of concerted genome size evolutions in the family Liliaceae during the divergence of the current genera in Liliaceae. In addition to the LTR retrotransposons, non-LTR retrotransposons and satellite DNAs contributed to the huge genomes in the two genera by possible failure of genome counter-balancing mechanisms.