AOBPreview originally published online on January 24, 2009
Annals of Botany 2009 104(3):469-481; doi:10.1093/aob/mcp003
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This article appears in the following Annals of Botany issue: Special Issue: Orchid Biology [View the issue table of contents]
Genome size diversity in orchids: consequences and evolution
1 Jodrell Laboratory, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 3AB, UK
2 Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Benátská 2, CZ-128 01 Prague, Czech Republic and Institute of Botany, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Pr
honice 1, CZ-252 43, Czech Republic
3 School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HX, UK
* For correspondence. E-mail i.leitch{at}kew.org
Received: 22 October 2008 Returned for revision: 17 November 2008 Accepted: 1 December 2008 Published electronically: 24 January 2009
Background: The amount of DNA comprising the genome of an organism (its genome size) varies a remarkable 40 000-fold across eukaryotes, yet most groups are characterized by much narrower ranges (e.g. 14-fold in gymnosperms, 3- to 4-fold in mammals). Angiosperms stand out as one of the most variable groups with genome sizes varying nearly 2000-fold. Nevertheless within angiosperms the majority of families are characterized by genomes which are small and vary little. Species with large genomes are mostly restricted to a few monocots families including Orchidaceae.
Scope: A survey of the literature revealed that genome size data for Orchidaceae are comparatively rare representing just 327 species. Nevertheless they reveal that Orchidaceae are currently the most variable angiosperm family with genome sizes ranging 168-fold (1C = 0·33–55·4 pg). Analysing the data provided insights into the distribution, evolution and possible consequences to the plant of this genome size diversity.
Conclusions: Superimposing the data onto the increasingly robust phylogenetic tree of Orchidaceae revealed how different subfamilies were characterized by distinct genome size profiles. Epidendroideae possessed the greatest range of genome sizes, although the majority of species had small genomes. In contrast, the largest genomes were found in subfamilies Cypripedioideae and Vanilloideae. Genome size evolution within this subfamily was analysed as this is the only one with reasonable representation of data. This approach highlighted striking differences in genome size and karyotype evolution between the closely related Cypripedium, Paphiopedilum and Phragmipedium. As to the consequences of genome size diversity, various studies revealed that this has both practical (e.g. application of genetic fingerprinting techniques) and biological consequences (e.g. affecting where and when an orchid may grow) and emphasizes the importance of obtaining further genome size data given the considerable phylogenetic gaps which have been highlighted by the current study.
Key words: AFLP, C-value, chromosome, evolution, genome size, guard cell size, Orchidaceae, Robertsonian fission, Robertsonian fusion
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