Molecular evidence of the hybrid origin of Cryptocoryne ×purpurea Ridl. nothovar. purpurea (Araceae)

Abstract

Natural hybridization has been considered a source of taxonomic complexity in Cryptocoryne. A combined study of DNA sequencing data from the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) of nuclear ribosomal DNA and the trnK-matK region of chloroplast DNA was used to identify the parents of Cryptocoryne putative hybrids from Peninsular Malaysia. Based on the intermediate morphology and sympatric distribution area, the plants were tentatively identified as the hybrid Cryptocoryne ×purpurea nothovar. purpurea. The plants were pollen sterile and had long been considered as hybrids, supposedly between two related and co-existing species, C. cordata var. cordata and C. griffithii. The status of C. ×purpurea nothovar. purpurea was independently confirmed by the presence of an additive ITS sequence pattern from these two parental species in hybrid individuals. An analysis of the chloroplast trnK-matK sequences showed that the hybridization is bidirectional with the putative hybrids sharing identical sequences from C. cordata var. cordata and C. griffithii, indicating that both putative parental species had been the maternal parent in different accessions.

Phylogenomic analyses of Alismatales shed light into adaptations to aquatic environments

“…The event possibly generated the ancestor of the clade that included all of the sampled taxa except Epipremnum and Spirodela. Based on cpDNA markers and a few nuclear markers, hybridization has been identified for some Araceae species, such as Arisaema ehimense (Ipor et al 2015) and Cryptocoryne species (Rosazlina et al 2021). These results suggest widespread hybridization or ILS affecting relationships among genera, which has not previously been reported in Araceae.…”