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•A species-level phylogeny of Fumarioideae was built.•Fumarioideae became differentiated in Asia during the Upper Cretaceous.•Corydalis experienced two accelerations of ...diversification at ∼ 42 and ∼ 15 Ma.•Fumariinae underwent a burst of diversification at ∼ 15 Ma.•Aridification and transitions in life history traits seem to be jointly responsible for accelerated diversification of Corydalis and Fumariinae.
Rapid diversification of a group is often associated with exploiting an ecological opportunity and/or the evolution of a key innovation. However, how the interplay of such abiotic and biotic factors correlates with organismal diversification has been rarely documented in empirical studies, especially for organisms inhabiting drylands. Fumarioideae is the largest subfamily in Papaveraceae and is mainly distributed in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Here, we used one nuclear (ITS) and six plastid (rbcL, atpB, matK, rps16, trnL-F, and trnG) DNA sequences to investigate the spatio-temporal patterns of diversification and potential related factors of this subfamily. We first present the most comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of Fumarioideae to date. The results of our integrated molecular dating and biogeographic analyses indicate that the most recent common ancestor of Fumarioideae started to diversify in Asia during the Upper Cretaceous, and then dispersed multiple times out of Asia in the Cenozoic. In particular, we discover two independent dispersal events from Eurasia to East Africa in the late Miocene, suggesting that the Arabian Peninsula might be an important exchange corridor between Eurasia and East Africa in the late Miocene. Within the Fumarioideae, increased speciation rates were detected in two groups, Corydalis and Fumariinae. Corydalis first experienced a burst of diversification in its crown group at ∼ 42 Ma, and further accelerated diversification from the mid-Miocene onwards. During these two periods, Corydalis had evolved diverse life history types, which could have facilitated the colonization of diverse habitats originating from extensive orogenesis in the Northern Hemisphere as well as Asian interior desertification. Fumariinae underwent a burst of diversification at ∼ 15 Ma, which temporally coincides with the increasing aridification in central Eurasia, but is markedly posterior to the shifts in habitat (from moist to arid) and in life history (from perennial to annual) and to range expansion from Asia to Europe, suggesting that Fumariinae species may have been pre-adapted to invade European arid habitats by the acquisition of annual life history. Our study provides an empirical case that documents the importance of pre-adaptation on organismal diversification in drylands and highlights the significant roles of the synergy of abiotic and biotic factors in promoting plant diversification.
The evolutionary history of organisms with poor dispersal abilities usually parallels geological events. Collisions of the Indian and Arabian plates with Eurasia greatly changed Asian topography and ...affected regional and global climates as well as biotic evolution. However, the geological evolution of Asia related to these two collisions remains debated. Here, we used
, an angiosperm genus with poor seed dispersal ability and a discontinuous distribution across Eurasia, to shed light on the orogenesis of the Qinghai-Tibetan, Iranian and Mongolian Plateaus. Our phylogenetic analyses show that
comprises four major geographical clades: east Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau clade (I-1), North Asian clade (I-2), west Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau clade (II-1) and Mediterranean clade (II-2). Our molecular dating and biogeographic analyses indicate that within
, four vicariance events correlate well with the two early uplifts of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau during the Late Eocene and the Oligocene-Miocene boundary and the two uplifts of the Iranian Plateau during the Middle and Late Miocene. The origin and divergence of the Mongolian Plateau taxa are related to the two uplifts of the Mongolian Plateau during the Middle and Late Miocene. Additionally, our results are in agreement with the hypothesis that the central part of Tibet only reached an altitude of less than 2.3 km at approximately 40 Ma. This study highlights that organismal evolution could be related to the formation of the three great Asian plateaus, hence contributing to the knowledge on the timing of the key tectonic events in Asia.
It is well-documented that (bio)chemical reaction capacity of raw potato starch depends on crystallinity, morphology and other chemical and physical properties of starch granules, and these ...properties are closely related to gene functions. Preparative yield, amylose/amylopectin content, and phosphorylation of potato tuber starch are starch-related traits studied at the genetic level. In this paper, we perform a genome-wide association study using a 22K SNP potato array to identify for the first time genomic regions associated with starch granule morphology and to increase number of known genome loci associated with potato starch yield.
A set of 90 potato (
L.) varieties from the ICG "GenAgro" collection (Novosibirsk, Russia) was harvested, 90 samples of raw tuber starch were obtained, and DNA samples were isolated from the skin of the tubers. Morphology of potato tuber starch granules was evaluated by optical microscopy and subsequent computer image analysis. A set of 15,214 scorable SNPs was used for the genome-wide analysis. In total, 53 SNPs were found to be significantly associated with potato starch morphology traits (aspect ratio, roundness, circularity, and the first bicomponent) and starch yield-related traits.
A total of 53 novel SNPs was identified on potato chromosomes 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11 and 12; these SNPs are associated with tuber starch preparative yield and granule morphology. Eight SNPs are situated close to each other on the chromosome 1 and 19 SNPs-on the chromosome 2, forming two DNA regions-potential QTLs, regulating aspect ratio and roundness of the starch granules. Thirty-seven of 53 SNPs are located in protein-coding regions. There are indications that granule shape may depend on starch phosphorylation processes. The
gene, which is known to regulate starch phosphorylation-dephosphorylation, participates in the regulation of a number of morphological traits, rather than one specific trait. Some significant SNPs are associated with membrane and plastid proteins, as well as DNA transcription and binding regulators. Other SNPs are related to low-molecular-weight metabolite synthesis, and may be associated with flavonoid biosynthesis and circadian rhythm-related metabolic processes. The preparative yield of tuber starch is a polygenic trait that is associated with a number of SNPs from various regions and chromosomes in the potato genome.
Species of the genus
Atraphaxis
are xerophytic shrubs growing in steppe and semidesert habitats on various soil types, including saline ones. Despite much interest in
Atraphaxis
species as sources of ...phenolic and polyphenolic compounds, information on approaches to the cultivation of these plants’ tissues is not available in the literature. In this study, an in vitro technology of
A. frutescens
propagation was developed for the first time. The Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 0.5 µM 6-benzylaminopurine was chosen as optimal. Microshoots were successfully rooted on the ½ MS medium without auxins or supplemented with 1 µM indole-3-butyric acid. All the media regarding the in vitro propagation contained 3% of sucrose and 0.6% of agar. The subcultivation period was 30 days. The
A. frutescens in vitro
culture showed resistance to osmotic stress (up to 150 mM D-mannitol) and to a wide pH range: 3.8 to 8.3. Under the influence of the culture medium, there was an increase in concentrations of catechins, tannins, phenolic acids, and saponins and in the total phenolic content and a decrease in the levels of flavonols as compared to a natural sample. Cultivation of samples on culture media with D-mannitol reduced the levels of flavonols and phenolic acids as compared to a control medium. The highest concentrations of tannins, catechins, and flavonols were noted at pH 8.3, and the same was true for saponins at pH 3.8. Meanwhile, no significant correlations were found between phenolic compounds and antiradical activity. Thus, in vitro culture of
A. frutescens
microshoots can serve as an alternative source of valuable classes of secondary metabolites such as catechins, tannins, saponins, and phenolic acids. In future studies, to create large-scale in vitro systems of
A. frutescens
, the selection of a proper bioreactor type and optimization of process parameters will be crucial for maximizing secondary-metabolite production.
Key Message
This is the first report of an efficient in vitro methodology for
Atraphaxis frutescens
propagation and offers a tool for implementation of its conservation and for obtaining valuable secondary metabolites.