Plant Diversity最新文献

{"title":"The SLOSS debate in fragmented grasslands: A multi-dimensional biodiversity perspective.","authors":"Jia-Wei Yu, Yong-Zhi Yan, Qing Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.pld.2025.10.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pld.2025.10.006","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Conservationists have long debated whether fragmented habitats are best conserved by protecting a single large patch (SL) or several small patches (SS), i.e., the SLOSS debate. Although this SLOSS debate has provided important insights into biodiversity conservation, research has predominantly focused on only one dimension of diversity (i.e., taxonomic), failing to consider how phylogenetic and functional diversity might inform conservation strategies. In this study, we determined whether grasslands in the agro-pastoral ecotone of the Tabu River Basin, Inner Mongolia should be conserved by protecting a single large patch or several small patches. For this purpose, we quantified the relationships between three dimensions of biodiversity (taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional diversity) and grassland patch area. We found species richness and the standardized effect size of phylogenetic diversity increased with patch area, whereas the standardized effect size of functional diversity decreased. Taxonomic measures of diversity indicated that the best strategy for conserving Tabu River Basin grasslands is to protect several small habitat patches; in contrast, phylogenetic and functional measures of diversity indicated that conserving a single large habitat patch was best. Our study emphasizes the necessity of considering multiple dimensions of diversity when designing conservation strategies for fragmented landscapes to achieve comprehensive biodiversity conservation.</p>","PeriodicalId":20224,"journal":{"name":"Plant Diversity","volume":"48 1","pages":"84-91"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-11-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12919241/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147271791","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The mitochondrial DnaJA protein LMA1 regulates reactive oxygen species homeostasis and anthocyanin biosynthesis in <i>Medicago truncatula</i>.","authors":"Qing Wu, Ruoruo Wang, Yawen Mao, Liling Yang, Weiyue Zhao, Liangliang He, Shaoli Zhou, Jia Luo, Hailong Zhang, Hanyan Feng, Yuqi Fang, Mingli Liu, Yu Liu, Jianghua Chen, Baolin Zhao","doi":"10.1016/j.pld.2025.10.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pld.2025.10.004","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play an important role as a key signal in plant adaptation to environment stresses, and the stress-induced anthocyanins accumulation are also critical for plant adaptation; however, molecular mechanisms coordinating these processes remain poorly understood in legumes. Here, we identified a novel player in the ROS-anthocyanin crosstalk signal in the model plant <i>Medicago truncatula</i>. Using the forward-genetic approach, we isolated a <i>leaves with more ROS and anthocyanin1</i> (<i>lma1</i>) mutant, which exhibits ROS hyperaccumulation in its leaves. The <i>LMA1</i> gene was then cloned by a whole genome resequencing assay and was found to encode a conserved mitochondria-localized type A DnaJ (DnaJA) protein. Loss of <i>LMA1</i> function additionally induced ectopic anthocyanin accumulation in their small leaves, supported by upregulation of genes involved in the anthocyanin biosynthesis. The transcriptomic analysis also uncovered the mitochondrial dysfunction in <i>lma1-1</i>, as evidenced by further ultrastructural and physiological analyses showing severe mitochondrial defects and reduced activity of mitochondrial respiratory chain complex I in <i>lma1</i>. Treatment with exogenous H₂O₂ and the ROS scavenger N, N'-dimethylthiourea (DMTU) significantly exacerbated and inhibited ROS as well as anthocyanin accumulation in <i>lma1</i> mutants, respectively, correlating with the expression dynamics of anthocyanin biosynthetic genes. Overall, we establish that LMA1 maintains mitochondrial integrity to influence ROS and anthocyanin accumulation, revealing a potential mechanism by which DnaJA proteins orchestrate the ROS-driven anthocyanin homeostasis in plants.</p>","PeriodicalId":20224,"journal":{"name":"Plant Diversity","volume":"48 3","pages":"529-543"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13250313/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148227531","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Dissecting mitogenomic conflict to illuminate angiosperm deep phylogeny: Sequence and architectural evidence.","authors":"Liyun Nie, Jie Wang, Lei Huang, Jiali Kong, Bao Nie, Luke R Tembrock, Shanshan Dong, Ravi Tiwari, Hui Wang, Shenglong Kan, Xinhui Zou, Zhiqiang Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.pld.2025.10.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pld.2025.10.003","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Deep relationships in the angiosperm tree of life remain highly controversial. To address this, we first assembled the complete mitochondrial genomes for <i>Ceratophyllum demersum</i> and <i>Chloranthus sessilifolius</i>, confirming a well-supported sister relationship that starkly conflicts with nuclear and plastid data. To dissect this classic cyto-nuclear conflict, we developed the 'PhyloForensics' framework, a novel diagnostic approach to systematically identify sources of phylogenetic instability. This framework revealed that signal heterogeneity (topological entropy variance) and information content (the proportion of informative sites) are the primary drivers of gene-tree conflict. Empirically validating this, we show that removing a small subset of \"loudly conflicted\" genes resolves deep-level incongruence, yielding a single, highly-supported topology previously obscured by noise. Finally, complementing this sequence-based resolution, we demonstrate that mitogenome architecture provides powerful phylogenetic signals, revealing predictable, mitogenome-wide evolutionary patterns, such as a significant negative correlation between branch length and both GC content and RNA editing sites. By integrating a validated conflict-resolution framework with architectural genomics, our study provides a comprehensive strategy for navigating the complexities of deep evolutionary histories.</p>","PeriodicalId":20224,"journal":{"name":"Plant Diversity","volume":"48 1","pages":"41-58"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-10-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12918175/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147271787","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Integrative analysis of plastome, single-copy nuclear gene <i>Pgk1</i> and SLAF-seq data uncovers multiple-origin and introgression history in polyploid <i>Agropyron cristatum</i>.","authors":"Hao Yan, Yihao Zhang, Hailun Shi, Xuande Xu, Shuangbing Yu, Lijun Yan, Yan Zhao, Dandan Wu, Yue Zhang, Yiran Cheng, Yi Wang, Houyang Kang, Xiao Ma, Haiqin Zhang, Yonghong Zhou, Wenjie Chen, Lina Sha, Xing Fan","doi":"10.1016/j.pld.2025.10.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pld.2025.10.002","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Elucidating the origins and mechanisms of polyploidization requires tracing the evolutionary history of polyploid species, particularly those with complex origins. <i>Agropyron cristatum</i>, traditionally regarded as an autopolyploid, exhibits characteristics indicative of a segmental allopolyploid. Here, we used phylogenetic analysis based on a low-copy nuclear gene (i.e., <i>Pgk1</i>), SLAF-seq, and plastome data from 20 diploid and 120 tetraploid <i>Agropyron</i> individuals to determine whether tetraploid <i>A. cristatum</i> arose from an allopolyploid or autopolyploid event. Phylogenetic analyses based on <i>Pgk1</i> and SLAF-seq data identified two distinct <i>A. cristatum</i> lineages that corresponded to the two main <i>Agropyron</i> habitats in Central Asia-Europe and East Asia-Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. These findings, taken together with molecular dating and gene flow analyses, suggest that the East Asian tetraploid <i>A. cristatum</i> originated via both autopolyploidy from <i>A. cristatum</i> and hybridization between diploid <i>A. cristatum</i> and <i>A. mongolicum</i>, with each diploid cytotype acting as a maternal donor. Furthermore, the Central Asia-Europe tetraploid <i>A. cristatum</i> originated solely via autopolyploidy of diploid <i>A. cristatum</i>. Our findings also indicate that rapid diversification of <i>Agropyron</i> was likely driven by climate oscillations, geographic isolation, introgressive hybridization, and chloroplast capture. These findings challenge simplistic views of autopolyploids and underscore substantial potential for achieving high levels of genetic and adaptive diversity through recurrent hybridization and reticulate evolution.</p>","PeriodicalId":20224,"journal":{"name":"Plant Diversity","volume":"48 1","pages":"59-74"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-10-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12918207/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147271830","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Unravelling tree diversity patterns and responses to environmental gradients in a tropical forest landscape of the Western Ghats.","authors":"Naveen Babu Kanda, Ashaq Ahmad Dar, Kurian Ayushi, Ayyappan Narayanan, Narayanaswamy Parthasarathy","doi":"10.1016/j.pld.2025.09.009","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pld.2025.09.009","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Understanding spatial patterns of plant species diversity and the factors (e.g., climate and human) that drive these patterns is essential for biodiversity conservation. We used data from 170 0.1-ha forest plots in the Shettihalli tropical forest landscape of the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot, India, to analyse tree community composition and the drivers of α-diversity (Shannon) and β-diversity (LCBD). Compositional patterns were visualized using Non-Metric Multidimensional Scaling (NMDS), and hybrid feature selection with structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to evaluate the direct and indirect effects of environmental variables on diversity. NMDS identified four distinct forest types in the Shettihalli landscape: semi-evergreen, dry deciduous, moist deciduous, and plantation forests, each with distinct plant composition. Shannon diversity and ecological uniqueness was significantly higher in semi-evergreen forest than in deciduous forest plots. The SEMs explained about 79% and 39-45% of the variation in α-diversity and β-diversity. Our analysis indicated that current diversity patterns result from multiple processes, with structure, disturbance, and edaphic parameters exerting the strongest direct and indirect effects on α-diversity. β-diversity, in contrast, was largely influenced by climate, topography, stand structure, and edaphic factors. Overall, our findings indicate that various factors (e.g., climate, topography, and human disturbance) interact to shape tree diversity patterns in tropical forests. These findings will help develop unique conservation and management strategies for distinct forest types in tropical forest ecosystems.</p>","PeriodicalId":20224,"journal":{"name":"Plant Diversity","volume":"48 1","pages":"92-106"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-10-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12919276/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147271839","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The first haplotype-resolved genome assembly of <i>Prunus</i> s.l. subgenus <i>Laurocerasus</i> (<i>Prunus spinulosa</i>).","authors":"Sining Zhang, Jun Chen, Pan Li","doi":"10.1016/j.pld.2025.09.007","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pld.2025.09.007","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><i>Prunus spinulosa</i> (2n = 4x = 32) is an evergreen species of significant medicinal usage and ecological value. However, the lacking of a high-quality genome of <i>P. spinulosa</i> has obstructed further exploration of its ecological study and phylogenetic relationship of <i>Prunus</i>. In this study, we present the first haplotype-resolved genome assembly of <i>Prunus</i> s.l. subgenus <i>Laurocerasus</i>, the tetraploid genome of <i>P. spinulosa</i> was phased into 32 pseudochromosomes with 4 haplotypes, the genome size of each haplotype ranged from 249.82 Mb to 259.69 Mb, and N50 fluctuated from 31.35 Mb to 33.25 Mb, the protein-coding genes vary from 21,272 to 22,668. Different evaluation methods showed that the <i>P. spinulosa</i> genome assembly has high quality of completeness, continuity and accuracy. Being the first complete genome of <i>P. spinulosa</i>, it provides a valuable genetic resource for the <i>Prunus</i> tetraploid species database and supports further functional genomic study of this species.</p>","PeriodicalId":20224,"journal":{"name":"Plant Diversity","volume":"47 6","pages":"991-994"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12800748/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145990185","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"High species discrimination in <i>Pedicularis</i> (Orobanchaceae): Plastid genomes and traditional barcodes equally effective via parsimony-informative sites.","authors":"You Wu, Rong Liu, Wei-Jia Wang, De-Zhu Li, Kevin S Burgess, Wen-Bin Yu, Hong Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.pld.2025.09.005","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pld.2025.09.005","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Complete plastid genomes have been proposed as potential \"super-barcodes\" for plant identification and delineation, particularly in cases where standard DNA barcodes may be insufficient. However, few studies have systematically addressed how taxonomic complexity, especially in rapidly radiating lineages with intricate evolutionary histories, might influence the efficacy of plastome-scale barcodes. <i>Pedicularis</i> is a hyperdiverse genus in the Himalaya-Hengduan Mountains, and previous studies have demonstrated high discriminatory power of the standard barcodes within this genus. Therefore, <i>Pedicularis</i> serves as a model for investigating the key plastome-sequence characteristics and biological phenomena that determine species-discrimination capacity. In this study, we evaluated 292 plastomes representing 96 <i>Pedicularis</i> species to compare the discriminatory power of complete plastid genomes with of standard DNA barcodes. Our results revealed that the traditional standard barcode combination (nrITS + <i>matK</i> + <i>rbcL</i> + <i>trnH-psbA</i>) achieved the highest discrimination rates (81.25%), closely followed by the plastid large single copy (LSC) region (80.21%), then by full plastome, the supermatrix of protein-coding genes, and hypervariable regions (79.17%). Notably, the <i>matK</i> and <i>ycf1</i> gene alone could discriminate 78.13% of species. Key determinants of species discrimination by integrating alignment length (AL) and the proportion of parsimony-informative sites (PPIS), as well as conserved genes under relaxed selection exhibiting stronger discriminatory capacity. Unlike previous studies that demonstrated superior discrimination rates of plastome-scale barcodes, this study reveals a notable exception of minimal differences between traditional DNA and plastome-scale barcodes that appearing linked to <i>Pedicularis</i>' specific biological habits and potentially reflecting unique evolutionary patterns in the plastid genome.</p>","PeriodicalId":20224,"journal":{"name":"Plant Diversity","volume":"47 6","pages":"920-930"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12800757/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145989782","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of neighborhood diversity on herbivory in early-stage forests in southern China.","authors":"Zhi-Qiang Shen, Xian-Hui Zhu, Ming-Qiang Wang, Ming Ni, Wen-Da Cheng, Wei Lin, Cheng-Jin Chu, You-Shi Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.pld.2025.09.008","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pld.2025.09.008","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Herbivory plays important roles in forest ecosystems and is thought to be influenced by tree diversity. However, it is unclear whether, and if so how, tree diversity confers associational resistance or associational susceptibility to neighboring trees. In this study, our overall aim is to test whether biodiversity confers associational resistance or associational susceptibility to herbivores in tree species during the early stages of forest development. For this purpose, we examined whether tree species diversity affects herbivore damage in the early stages of forest development and what factors mediate the interaction between tree diversity and herbivory. We found that in some cases herbivory was related to species identity, e.g., <i>Erythrophleum fordii</i> was more susceptible to leaf chewers when surrounded by diverse neighbors. In other cases (i.e., <i>Castanopsis carlesii</i> and <i>Elaeocarpus sylvestris</i>), herbivory was positively associated with tree apparency. Additionally, we found that early-stage damage constrains growth in several species (e.g., <i>C. carlesii</i> and <i>E. sylvestris</i>), highlighting a previously underappreciated pathway through which diversity can shape long-term stand dynamics. Thus, herbivore damage in young subtropical plantations is not only governed by diversity but also by a three-way interplay between the identity of focal tree species, neighborhood diversity, and focal tree apparency, showing signs of associational susceptibility. Our finding that reduced tree apparency contributes to associational resistance in young trees can inform more effective forest management strategies.</p>","PeriodicalId":20224,"journal":{"name":"Plant Diversity","volume":"48 2","pages":"381-388"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13071431/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147691872","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Speciation, endangerment and adaptation in limestone rocky environment of <i>Urophysa</i> (Ranunculaceae).","authors":"Deng-Feng Xie, Yi-Yang Zhang, Jing Cai, Rui-Yu Cheng, Yuan Wang, Jin-Bo Tan, Yan Yu, Xing-Jin He, Song-Dong Zhou","doi":"10.1016/j.pld.2025.09.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pld.2025.09.006","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><i>Urophysa</i> (Ranunculaceae) are plants endemic to the limestone regions of southern China, representing an attractive model for studying species differentiation, endangerment, and adaptive evolution in karst environments. Here, we assembled a chromosome-level genome of <i>U. rockii</i>, and re-sequenced 97 individuals of two <i>Urophysa</i> species. The final genome size was 303.21 Mb with a heterozygosity level of approximately 0.26%. Demographic analyses revealed that <i>U. rockii</i> diverged from <i>U. henryi</i> around 5.95 million years ago, dramatic orogenies and climatic shifts in the Hengduan Mountain (HDM) during the Late Miocene to Pleistocene enhanced population divergence and accelerated allopatric speciation. Extremely low genetic diversity was detected in <i>U. rockii</i>, particularly in the populations CXS and PZ (8.7 × 10^-5 and 9.6 × 10^-5). Long-term bottleneck effects, limited gene flow, habitat specialization and severe inbreeding collectively contributed to its endangerment status. Genomic scan (top 5% <i>F</i> _ST and <i>π</i> ratio) of <i>Urophysa</i> species identified 257 selected genes linked to karst adaptation. Complementary physiological experiments and transcriptome analyses further detected multiple candidate genes under positive selection and expansion (e.g., <i>TPC1</i>, <i>PTR/POT</i>, and <i>CAX3</i>). Maintaining cell wall integrity, regulating ion absorption and excretion, and sequestering excess ions into organelles (e.g., vacuole and mitochondrion) are key survival strategies for <i>Urophysa</i> species in harsh limestone rocky environments. Our findings elucidate the evolutionary patterns and mechanisms underlying species adaptation to karst ecosystems, and identify key drivers of endangerment within such ecologically specialized habitats.</p>","PeriodicalId":20224,"journal":{"name":"Plant Diversity","volume":"48 2","pages":"231-245"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13071450/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147691643","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"ddRAD sequencing of 1076 <i>Camellia</i> accessions reveals the genetic diversity and population introgression of the tea plant in China.","authors":"Xiao-Yan Tong, Jian-Bing Hu, Hui-Lin Wen, Chun-Lin Chen, Ling-Ling Tao, Jun Wu, Yi-Ping Tian, Hui-Ping Jiang, Lin-Bo Chen, Da-He Qiao, Ming-Tao Shu, En-Hua Xia, Kun Dong, Yue Fei, Sheng-Rui Liu, Chao-Ling Wei, Jun-Yan Zhu","doi":"10.1016/j.pld.2025.09.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pld.2025.09.002","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The tea plant (<i>Camellia sinensis</i>) is a widely cultivated and economically significant crop that originated from southwestern China. Owing to its high heterozygosity and complex genetic diversity, the evolutionary history of the tea plant and its domestication remain unclear. In this study, we used 1076 <i>Camellia</i> accessions to elucidate the phylogenetic relationships and population structure of <i>Camellia</i> accessions across 16 major tea-producing provinces in China. Six species-specific populations were classified based on these SNPs through phylogenetic trees and population structure. We found that <i>C. taliensis</i> populations have undergone divergent evolution compared to other wild relatives, such as <i>C. kwangsiensis</i> and <i>C. crassicoluma</i>. Population structure and introgression analyses further revealed frequent interspecific genetic exchanges between <i>C. sinensis</i> and its wild relatives. Thus, a transitional <i>C. sinensis</i> population that shared a genetic background with <i>C. taliensis</i> was characterized. Distinct genetic divergence was observed within the two main varieties of <i>C. sinensis</i>. Contrary to the relatively exclusive genetic background within the <i>C. sinensis</i> var. <i>assamica</i> population in southwestern China, extensive regional introgression and gene flow were observed in the <i>C. sinensis</i> var. <i>sinensis</i> population between southwestern and eastern China. Finally, we developed a core collection comprising 160 accessions based on our genetic diversity analyses. Our findings not only provide insights into the evolutionary history and genetic diversity of the tea plant but may facilitate the development of the conservation and utilization of tea plant resources.</p>","PeriodicalId":20224,"journal":{"name":"Plant Diversity","volume":"48 3","pages":"451-459"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13250315/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148227473","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}