Genetic inventory of rare and endemic plant species of the Baikal Region

Abstract

Replenishment of databases with genetic information of various species is necessary to solve topical issues of their taxonomy and systematics. One way to obtain genetic data from herbarium vouchers is to determine the nucleotide sequences of individual nuclear and chloroplast regions, which are widely used for molecular identification and plant phylogeny. Rare and endemic plant species are often the least represented in the genetic databases. In this work, we studied endemic plant species: Astragalus angarensis, Hedysarum turczaninovii, Hedysarum zundukii, Oxytropis popoviana, Papaver popovii, Gueldenstaedtia verna, Tulipa uniflora, Eutrema cordifolium, Megadenia pygmaea, Mannagettaea hummelii which have different conservation status in the Irkutsk Region and in the Republic of Buryatia. For Papaver popovii and Astragalus angarensis, genetic data have been obtained for the first time; for other species, information on universal DNA barcodes has been supplemented. In addition, genetic differences between Mannagettaea from the Republic of Buryatia and the type species Mannagettaea hummelii Harry Sm. (China) were shown. More detailed study on Mannagettaea is necessary to clarify its species diversity. Thus, results obtained supplemented the genetic information of the vouchers of the species presented in the herbarium of the Siberian Institute of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (SIPPB SB RAS). This DNA-barcoding expands application of the herbarium in integrative studies using genetic data and contributes to the further study of rare endemic species of the Baikal Region.