Contrasting Reproductive Strategies of Two Nymphaea Species Affect Existing Natural Genetic Diversity as Assessed by Microsatellite Markers: Implications for Conservation and Wetlands Restoration

Abstract

Nymphaea, commonly known as water lily, is the largest and most widely distributed genus in the order Nymphaeales. The importance of Nymphaea in wetland ecosystems and their increased vulnerability make them a great choice for conservation and management. In this work, we studied genetic diversity in a collection of 90 N. micrantha and 92 N. nouchali individuals from six different states of India, i.e., Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Maharashtra, Goa, and Kerala, using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers developed by low throughput Illumina sequencing (10X coverage of genome) of N. micrantha. Nymphaea nouchali is native to India, whereas N. micrantha is suggested to be introduced to the country for its aesthetic and cultural values. The study revealed extensive polymorphism in N. nouchali, while in N. micrantha, no apparent genetic divergence was detected prompting us to investigate the reason(s) by studying the reproductive biology of the two species. The study revealed that N. micrantha predominantly reproduces asexually which has impacted the genetic diversity of the species to a great extent. This observation is of immense importance for a successful re-establishment of Nymphaea species during restoration programs of wetlands. The information generated on reproductive behaviors and their association with genotypic richness can help in strategizing genetic resource conservation, especially for species with limited distribution. The study has also generated 22,268 non-redundant microsatellite loci, out of which, 143 microsatellites were tested for polymorphism and polymorphic markers were tested for transferability in five other Nymphaea species, providing genomic resources for further studies on this important genus.

Hormone and transcriptomic analysis revealed that ABA and BR are key factors in the formation of inter‐subgeneric hybridization barrier in water lily

“…Water lily is a collective name for plants of the Nymphaea , which are widely used in landscaping, medicine and water restoration (Yu et al 2018, Parveen et al 2022, Xiong et al 2023). To date, more than 50 species of water lilies have been discovered, which can be categorized into tropical and hardy water lily according to their geographical distribution (Perry and Robinson 1997, Sun et al 2021).…”

Hormonal and transcriptomic analysis reveals the role of ABA and BR in breaking the barrier of inter-subgeneric hybridization in water lily (Nymphaea)

“…Water lily is a collective name for plants of the Nymphaea , which are widely used in landscaping, medicine and water restoration (Parveen et al ., 2022; Xiong et al ., 2023; Yu et al ., 2018). To date, more than 50 species of water lilies have been discovered, which can be categorized into tropical and hardy water lily according to their geographical distribution (Perry and Robinson, 1997; Sun et al ., 2021).…”

Genome-Wide Survey and Analysis of Microsatellites in Waterlily, and Potential for Polymorphic Marker Development

“…N. colorata , a diploid dicotyledon, lies at the base of the angiosperm linage and has a strong genetic significance. At present, there are many varieties of waterlily species and commercial species, but there are few studies on the specific molecular markers of Nymphaea [ 13 , 14 , 15 ] or the molecular-level identification of different varieties. Therefore, it is crucial to analyze the characteristics of the simple repeat sequence (SSR) loci of the whole-genome sequence of N. colorata to identify germplasm resources, analyze genetic diversity and construct a genetic linkage map of Nymphaea .…”