Hybridization and diversity of aquatic macrophyte Sparganium L. (Typhaceae) as revealed by high-throughput nrDNA sequencing

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 12; no. 1; p. 21610
• Main Authors: Belyakov, Evgeny A., Mikhaylova, Yulia V., Machs, Eduard M., Zhurbenko, Peter M., Rodionov, Aleksandr V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 14-12-2022; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 631/181/2474; 631/181/2480; 631/181/735; 631/181/759; 631/208/182; 631/208/2491/1559; 631/208/514/1948; 631/208/514/2254; 631/449/2669; Aquatic plants; DNA, Ribosomal - genetics; Heterogeneity; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; Humanities and Social Sciences; Hybridization; Hybridization, Genetic; Hybrids; Interspecific hybridization; multidisciplinary; Next-generation sequencing; Nucleic Acid Hybridization; Phenotypic plasticity; Phylogeny; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Sparganium; Subtropical zones; Taxa; Typhaceae - genetics
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-25954-0

Sparganium
is an emergent aquatic macrophyte widely spread in temperate and subtropical zones. Taxa of this genus feature high phenotypic plasticity and can produce interspecific hybrids. By means of high-throughput sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS1) of 35S rDNA, the status of 15 Eurasian
Sparganium
species and subspecies was clarified and the role of hybridization events in the recent evolution of the genus was investigated. It has been shown that a number of species such as
S. angustifolium, S. fallax
and
S. subglobosum
have homogenized rDNA represented by one major ribotype. The rDNA of other taxa is represented by two or more major ribotypes. Species with high rDNA heterogeneity are apparently of hybrid origin. Based on the differences in rDNA patterns, intraspecific diversity was identified in
S. probatovae
and
S. emersum
. Thus, we have concluded that
Sparganium
has extensive interspecific hybridization at the subgenus level, and there may also be occasional hybridization between species from different subgenera.