Hybridization of Bornean Melastoma: implications for conservation of endemic plants in Southeast Asia

ABSTRACT

Hybridization has been found as a prevalent circumstance in nature, and it plays important roles in organismal evolution, speciation and even extinction. In this study, we focus on two species of the plant genus Melastoma, which has gone through a rapid species radiation during the last one million years. We successfully detected the hybridization signal between M. malabathricum and M. laevifolium in a suspected hybrid zone in Borneo, Malaysia, by sequencing five nuclear genes and two chloroplast fragments. Most individuals of the suspected hybrids were considered as first generation hybrids, while five individuals corresponded to advanced, early generations of hybrids. Although we did not find any introgression signal between M. malabathricum and M. laevifolium, it is necessary to pay more attention to assess the extinction risk of the species with restricted distribution, here M. laevifolium. This study is the first case of natural hybridization between Melastoma species in Southeast Asia, and more cases are waiting to be found in the field.

KEYWORDS:

• Conservation implication
• endemic species
• hybridization
• Melastoma
• Melastomataceae
• wide-spread species

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31670210 and 31811530297), Science and Technology Program of Guangzhou (201707010090), and Chang Hungta Science Foundation of Sun Yat-sen University. We thank the editor for comments and language editing on our manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [31670210 and 31811530297]; Science and Technology Program of Guangzhou [201707010090]; Guangdong Natural Science Foundation [2015A030302011] and Chang Hungta Science Foundation of Sun Yat-senUniversity.

Notes on contributors

Yacheng Cai

Yacheng Cai is a postgraduate in Sun Yat-sen University and his research focuses on natural hybridization in Melastoma.

Fei Wang

Fei Wang is a senior undergradate and he is working on molecular documentation of natural hybridization between Melastoma species.

Guangwen Tan

Guangwen Tan is a senior engineer in Pubang Landscape Architecture Co., Ltd, and his research focuses on applications of landscape plants.

Zhenyang Hu

Zhenyang Hu an engineer in Pubang Landscape Architecture Co., Ltd, and his research focuses on applications of landscape plants.

Yongqi Wang

Yongqi Wang an engineer in Pubang Landscape Architecture Co., Ltd, and his research focuses on applications of landscape plants.

Wei Lun Ng

Wei Lun Ng is a postdoctoral researcher in Sun Yat-sen University and his research focuses on ecology and evolution of tropical organisms.

Wei Wu

Wei Wu is a research scientist in Sun Yat-sen University and his research focuses on genomic evolution of plants.

Ying Liu

Ying Liu is an associate professor in Sun Yat-sen University and her research focuses on phylogeny and evolution of Melastomataceae.

Renchao Zhou

Renchao Zhou is an associate professor in Sun Yat-sen University and his research focuses on natural hybridization and speciation of tropical plants.