Morphological Characterization and DNA Barcoding of Duckweed Species in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Duckweeds, or Lemnaceae, are widespread aquatic plants. Morphology-based identification of duckweed species is difficult because of their structural complexity. Hence, molecular tools provide significant advantages for characterizing and selecting species or clones for sustainable commercial use. In this study, we collected and characterized ten duckweed isolates from nine different regions in Saudi Arabia (SA). Based on the morphological characterization and phylogenetic analysis of intergenic spacer sequences of chloroplast DNA using six barcoding markers, the clones were classified into three genera, represented by seven species: Lemna gibba L., Lemna minor L., Lemna japonica Landolt, Lemna aequinoctialis Welw., Lemna perpusilla Torr., Spirodela polyryiza (L.) Schleid., and Landoltia punctate G. Mey. Lemna gibba was revealed to be a distinct dominant duckweed species in many regions of SA. Five barcoding markers showed that L. gibba, L. minor, and L. punctata were the most widely distributed species in the country. However, L. punctata, L. perpusilla, and S. polyryiza were the dominant species in the Al-Qassim, Madinah-1, and Madinah-2 regions, respectively. Moreover, the morphological traits revealed variations for these clones, relative to other studied duckweed clones. According to the results obtained in this study, three out of six plastid markers (trnH-psbA, matK, and atpF-atpH) helped to identify the dominant duckweed species in Saudi Arabia. Further evaluation based on adaptability, molecular genetic studies, and functional genomics is needed for these species to be used at the commercial level in Saudi Arabia.

Differential Morpho-Physiological and Biochemical Responses of Duckweed Clones from Saudi Arabia to Salinity

“…Ten duckweed clones were collected from different locations in Saudi Arabia. These duckweed clones had previously been characterized by Al-Dakhil et al [ 31 ] and were deposited in the NCBI database based on their sites of collection as follows: Riyadh (accession OK103562), Dhahran (accession: OK383787), Tohama (accession: OK383788), Al-Baha (accession: OK103563), Jazan (accession: OK383786), Al-Taif (accession: OK383789), Tanomah (accession: OK383790), Al-Qassim (accession: OK247674), Madinah-1 (accession: OK571366), and Madinah-2 (accession: OK247675) [ 31 ]. The plants were rinsed with water, cultured, and allowed to multiply under greenhouse conditions at 28 °C and with 14 h of light.…”

Analysis of DNA Markers from Vietnamese Asarum L. Species

“…In recent years, for the identification of herbs, many researches combined ITS2 and other marker for instance psbA-trnH to determine raw materials for plant-originated medicine [22,23] or other plant as Duckweed [24]. In the report of Wu et al,, twenty-eight Asarum samples were collected from herbal markets which were assessed by ITS2 and psbA-trnH barcodes.…”

Phân Tích Chỉ Thị Dna Its Và Matk Trên Một Số Loài Đinh Lăng Của Việt Nam

“…Sự kết hợp chỉ thị DNA ở bèo tấm là rất quan trọng vì nhóm thực vật này có rất nhiều loài khác nhau nhưng đặc điểm hình thái nhận dạng rất khó vì rất nhỏ và giống nhau. Nghiên cứu của Al-Dakhil và cộng sự (2021) đã nhận dạng các loại bèo tấm phổ biến ở Ara Saudi gồm L. punctata, L. perpusilla, S. polyryiza, L. gibba, L. minor, L. punctate Saudi và được xác định với các chỉ thị lục lạp là trnH-psbA, matK và atpF-atpH [19]. Như vậy, những chỉ thị DNA barcode vẫn giữ nguyên tầm quan trọng trong nghiên cứu đa dạng di truyền và cùng song hành với những phương pháp truyền thống và hiện đại khác.…”