Phylogeny and Flow Cytometry of the Genus Kalidium Moq. (Amaranthaceae s.l.) in Kazakhstan

Abstract

The article presents data on phylogeny, genome size, and ploidy of species of the genus Kalidium Moq. in the flora of Kazakhstan. Genus Kalidium belongs to the tribe Salicornieae of the subfamily Salicornioideae of the family Chenopodiaceae and unites eight species, the main range of which covers the Iranian-Turanian and Central Asian deserts. There are four species in the flora of Kazakhstan: K. foliatum, K. caspicum, K. schrenkianum, and the recently described K. juniperinum. Populations of species of the genus Kalidium in the saline deserts of Kazakhstan occupy large areas, often forming monodominant communities. Sometimes there is a joint growth of two and very rarely three species of the genus. During the period of fieldwork (2021–2022), populations were identified in which these species grew together with a predominance, in most cases, of K. caspicum. Samples of representatives from 15 populations were collected for research. Selected plant samples were studied by flow cytometry to determine plant ploidy. Sequencing of nrITS and two chloroplast fragments were used to build a phylogenetic tree, including sequences from the NCBI database., A phylogenetic tree of species of the genus Kalidium was compiled, which takes previously published data into consideration. In the valley of the middle reaches of the Syrdarya River, tetraploid populations of K. caspicum were found. A hybrid between K. foliatum and K. caspicum was found in the Ili River valley (Almaty region, Uigur district). To identify phylogenetic processes at the intraspecific level, the SCoT (Start codon targeted) fingerprinting method was used.

Revised checklist of endemic vascular plants of Kazakhstan

“…Following the compilation of a list of endemic taxa, we conducted a comprehensive re-assessment of the distribution of each species by cross-referencing published floristic records encompassing the administrative and geographical regions of Kazakhstan ( Goloskokov 1949 ; Stepanova 1962 ; Karmysheva 1973 , 1982 ; Pavlov 1980 ; Baitenov 1985 ; Pugachev 1994 ; Safronova 1996 ; Kotukhov 2005 ; Aralbay et al 2006 ; Kadenova et al 2008 ; Aipeisova 2012 , 2013 ; Ishmuratova et al 2016a ; Kokoreva et al 2018 ; Ivashchenko 2020 ; Kupriyanov 2020 ; Sitpayeva et al 2020 ; Kubentayev et al 2021 ; Orazov et al 2022 , 2024 ; Khasanov et al 2023 ; Kulymbet et al 2023 ; Osmonali et al 2023 ; Sumbembayev et al 2023 ). Furthermore, in order to clarify the presence of presumably endemic plants of Kazakhstan in neighbouring countries, we consulted floristic records of those territories ( Kamelin 1990 ; Yakovlev 2003 ; Kulikov 2005 ; Wu et al 2008 ; Ryabinina and Knyazev 2009 ; Lazkov and Sultanova 2014 ; Knyazev 2016 ; Nowak et al 2020 ; Vaganov and Shmakov 2020 ; Sennikov and Tojibaev 2021 ; Baasanmunkh et al 2022 ), as well as publications documenting the discovery of former Kazakhstan endemics outside their native range ( Ho and Fu 1993 ; Yakovlev 2003 ; Kurtto et al 2004 ; German 2005 ; Mavrodiev et al 2005 ; German 2006a , 2006b ; German et al 2006 ; Belkin 2009 ; Sennikov et al 2011 ; Soskov 2011 ; German et al 2012 ; German et al 2013 ; Byalt and Bubyreva 2014 ; German 2014 ; Nobis et al 2014 ; Pimenov and Kljuykov 2014 ...…”