{"title":"Taxonomic implications of leaf morphology and epidermal anatomy for 14 species of Gagea (Liliaceae) from Xinjiang, China.","authors":"Juan Qiu, Musen Lin, Dunyan Tan","doi":"10.1186/s40529-023-00405-9","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Leaf morphology and epidermal characters are important for phylogenetic and taxonomic studies of many plants, but there is currently insufficient data to use them to help distinguish species of Gagea, which is a taxonomically difficult genus mainly due to polyploidy and hybridization. Therefore, leaf morphology and epidermal characters of Gagea were studied to assess the characters that can be used to elucidate the taxonomy and systematics of 14 species of Gagea collected in Xinjiang, China. Using light microscopy (LM), six qualitative and three quantitative leaf epidermal anatomical characters were examined for both the adaxial and abaxial surfaces. Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) was employed to reveal the similarities based on leaf morphology and epidermal characters of the investigated species.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Basal leaf of these species can be terete or flat, and it is triangle, flat, or circular in transverse section. Anticlinal wall patterns of the leaf epidermal cells were straight and sinuous, and only three species had epidermal hairs. Shape of long cells varies, ranging from quadrangular to irregular. HCA revealed that the 14 species could be divided into two groups. Group A was arranged into three subgroups (A1, A2 and A3), based on the Euclidean distance of 6.96. Subgroup A1 consisted of three species with indumentum; subgroup A2 had four species with sinuous type anticlinal walls; and subgroup A3 comprised of two species with a fistulose basal leaf. Group B included five species with short cells.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Leaf morphology and epidermal characters did not differ significantly among populations of the same species in Gagea, whereas they differ significantly among species. Thus, leaf morphology and epidermal characters provide diagnostic information for differentiating G. nigra and G. filiformis; G. altaica, G. jensii and G. alberti, which are morphologically similar species.</p>","PeriodicalId":9185,"journal":{"name":"Botanical Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.4000,"publicationDate":"2023-11-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10684841/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Botanical Studies","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40529-023-00405-9","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"Agricultural and Biological Sciences","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Leaf morphology and epidermal characters are important for phylogenetic and taxonomic studies of many plants, but there is currently insufficient data to use them to help distinguish species of Gagea, which is a taxonomically difficult genus mainly due to polyploidy and hybridization. Therefore, leaf morphology and epidermal characters of Gagea were studied to assess the characters that can be used to elucidate the taxonomy and systematics of 14 species of Gagea collected in Xinjiang, China. Using light microscopy (LM), six qualitative and three quantitative leaf epidermal anatomical characters were examined for both the adaxial and abaxial surfaces. Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) was employed to reveal the similarities based on leaf morphology and epidermal characters of the investigated species.
Results: Basal leaf of these species can be terete or flat, and it is triangle, flat, or circular in transverse section. Anticlinal wall patterns of the leaf epidermal cells were straight and sinuous, and only three species had epidermal hairs. Shape of long cells varies, ranging from quadrangular to irregular. HCA revealed that the 14 species could be divided into two groups. Group A was arranged into three subgroups (A1, A2 and A3), based on the Euclidean distance of 6.96. Subgroup A1 consisted of three species with indumentum; subgroup A2 had four species with sinuous type anticlinal walls; and subgroup A3 comprised of two species with a fistulose basal leaf. Group B included five species with short cells.
Conclusions: Leaf morphology and epidermal characters did not differ significantly among populations of the same species in Gagea, whereas they differ significantly among species. Thus, leaf morphology and epidermal characters provide diagnostic information for differentiating G. nigra and G. filiformis; G. altaica, G. jensii and G. alberti, which are morphologically similar species.
背景:叶片形态和表皮特征对许多植物的系统发育和分类研究具有重要意义,但目前没有足够的数据来利用它们来帮助区分Gagea属,这是一个分类困难的属,主要是由于多倍体和杂交。为此,本文对新疆地区14种盖亚属植物的叶片形态和表皮特征进行了研究,以确定其分类和系统特征。利用光镜(LM)对叶片正面和背面的6个定性解剖特征和3个定量解剖特征进行了研究。采用层次聚类分析(HCA)揭示了不同树种叶片形态和表皮特征的相似性。结果:基叶呈圆柱状或扁平状,横切面呈三角形、扁平或圆形。叶表皮细胞背斜壁型直而弯曲,仅有3种有表皮毛。长细胞的形状各异,从四边形到不规则。HCA显示,这14个物种可以分为两类。根据欧几里得距离为6.96,将A组分为A1、A2、A3三个亚组。A1亚群有3种具被毛;A2亚群有4种弯曲型背斜壁;A3亚群由两个种组成,具有具纤维的基叶。B组包括5种短细胞。结论:盖亚属同一种居群间叶片形态和表皮性状差异不显著,但种间差异显著。因此,叶片形态和表皮特征为区分黑毛茅和丝状毛茅提供了诊断信息;G. altaica, G. jensii和G. alberti是形态相似的物种。
期刊介绍:
Botanical Studies is an open access journal that encompasses all aspects of botany, including but not limited to taxonomy, morphology, development, genetics, evolution, reproduction, systematics, and biodiversity of all plant groups, algae, and fungi. The journal is affiliated with the Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology, Academia Sinica, Taiwan.