J Syst Evol

• Research Article • Previous Articles    

Generation of genomic resources and phylogenetic contributions in Oxalis from desert fog oases in Peru

Leonardo Gaspar1,*, Feng Song2, Ning Fu2, Lu Jin2, Frank Guzmán3, Asunción Cano1, Mónica Arakaki1, Xue-Jun Ge2   

  1. 1División Botánica, Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Avenida Arenales 1256, Lima 11, Perú
    2Key Laboratory of Plant Resources Conservation and Sustainable Utilization, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China
    3Grupo de Investigación en Epidemiología y Diseminación de la Resistencia a Antimicrobianos ‐ “One Health”, Universidad Científica del Sur, Lima, Perú
    *Author for correspondence. E‐mail: leonardo.gaspar@unmsm.edu.pe
  • Received:2024-03-12 Accepted:2024-08-13 Online:2024-11-05
  • Supported by:
    This study was financially supported by the International Partnership Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. 151853KYSB20190027) and the CAS President's International Fellowship Initiative (Grant No. 2022VBA0003).

Abstract: Several species in the genus Oxalis occupy Peruvian fog oases (Lomas) with a significant habitat-adapted and endemic diversity. Acknowledging this aspect, the genus Oxalis is a conceivable group for evolutionary and biogeographic hypothesis testing; however, molecular resources for the genus still need improvement. We conducted a genome skimming approach to assemble new plastomes from 18 accessions (six species) of Oxalis collected in Lomas locations in Peru. These complete plastomes of Oxalis species (several reported for the first time) present a highly conserved composition. Our phylogenetic results were congruent with previous section-based backbone phylogenies of Oxalis; however, a closer look at the phylogeny of sect. Carnosae revealed nonmonophyletic arrangements involving Oxalis megalorrhiza and Oxalis bulbocastanum individuals. We also propose a set of three hypervariable plastid regions as potential molecular markers. Likewise, an array of primers for nuclear simple sequence repeat markers based on the most widely distributed species, O. megalorrhiza, were listed and evaluated for their transferability to the other species under examination. These new genomic resources represent a significant development for future population, phylogenetic, and biogeographic studies in Oxalis.

Key words: Lomas, nSSR, Oxalidaceae, phylogeny, plastome variation.