Molecular Systematics of Bamboos in the

Eastern Himalayan Region of Northeast India

L.B. Singha, A.R. Barbhuiya, B.I. Choudhury,

M.L. Khan and S. Dayanandan

CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY

INTRODUCTION� BAMBOO-Perennial woody grass

� Family – Poaceae; Sub-family Bambusoideae

� Culm - branches, leaves, distinct nodes and internvodes

� Rhizome - below ground with adventitious roots

� Fast growing species - growth up to 1.2 m/day

LEAF

CULM

BRANCH

NODE INTERNODE

RHIZOME

ROOTA BAMBOO CLUMP

IMPORTANCE OF BAMBOO

WORLD-WIDE DISTRIBUTION & DIVERSITY OF BAMBOOS

�Sea level to 4500 m; All continents except Europe & Antarctica

�Genera: 111, Species:1575 (UNEP-WCMC 2003)

Classical Taxonomy of Bamboos

o Munro (1868): 3 Divisions (21 genera)

o Kurz (1876): Culm sheath

o Gamble (1881): 4 subtribes (14 genera)

o Bentham (1883): 4 subtribes (18 genera)o Bentham (1883): 4 subtribes (18 genera)

o Stapf (1897): 5 subtribes (24 genera)

o Hooker (1897): 4 subtribes (15 genera)

o Camus (1913): 4 subtribes (21 genera)

Recent bamboo classification

Subtribe (10) Clayton and

Renvoize (1986)

Soderstrom and

Ellis (1987)

Dransfield and

Widjaja (1995)

Stapleton

(1994, 1997)

Li (1999)

Arthrostylidiinae 11 genera,

NWT

13 genera,

NWT

13 genera,

NW

13 genera,

NW

Arundinariinae 20 genera,

PT

12 genera,

OW

14 genera,

OW

19 genera,

OW

14 genera,

OW

Bambusinae 25 genera,

PT

6 genera,

OWT

13 genera,

OWT

11 genera,

OW

9 genera,

OWT

Chusqueinae 1 genus,

NWT

2 genera,

NWT

2 genera,

NW

2 genera,

NWT

Guaduinae 5 genera,

NWT

5 genera,

NWT

5 genera,

NWT

5 genera,

NWTNWT NWT NWT NWT

Melocanninae 4 genera,

OWT

7 genera,

OWT

8 genera,

OW

10 genera,

OW

9 genera,

OWT

Nastinae 4 genera,

OWT+NWT

6 genera,

OW

6 genera,

OWT

6 genera,

OW+NWT

Neurolepidinae 1 genus,

NWH

Racemobambosinae 3 genera,

HIM

3 genera 1 genus,

OWT

Shibataeinae 7 genera,

HIM

5 genera,

OW

5 genera 7 genera,

OWT

Unclear placement 5 genera 3 genera 1 genus

Total 49 genera 59 genera 69 genera 77 genera 67 genera

NW-New World; NWT-New World Tropics; NWH- New World High elevation; OW-Old World; OWT-Old World Tropics; PT- Pan Tropics; HIM-Himalayas

DISTRIBUTION & DIVERSITY OF BAMBOOSIN INDIA

Phytogeographical

zones

Genera Species

Western Himalaya,

Eastern Himalaya 16 90

Peninsular India

including Western

Ghats6 35

Andaman &

Nicobar islands4 7

• Endemic bamboo species: 21

• Rare & endangered: 23

S. arunachalensis A.malingA. griffithiana

• Rare & endangered: 23

A. densifolia A. walkeriana O. beddomei

PROBLEMS

� Incongruencies between existing Phylogeny and

Classification of many bamboo species

�Limited availability of reproductive structures�Limited availability of reproductive structures

(flowering time 7-120 years)

�Morphological plasticity

�Morphologically intermediate traits

OBJECTIVES

�Reconstruct the Phylogeny of bamboos in the

Eastern Himalayas using molecular markers

�Assess the congruency between molecular

phylogeny and classical systematics of Bamboos phylogeny and classical systematics of Bamboos

in the Eastern Himalayas

MATERIALS AND METHODS

�25 bamboo species belonging to 11 genera

�PCR amplification and sequencing of psbA-trnH

inter genic region of the cpDNA and ITS2 of

nrDNA

�Sequence Alignment: Geneious, ClustalW

�Data analyses: MacClade/ PAUP

RESULTS

Parameters psbA-trnH (cpDNA) ITS2 (nrDNA)

Total characters

(nucleotides)

590 455

Parsimony informative

characters(nucleotides)

38 48

Equally parsimonious trees 137 211

BambusinaeBambusinae

Majority rule consensus trees based on cpDNA and nrDNA sequences

psbA-trnH ITS2

Outgroup

Shibataeinae+

Arundinariinae

Melocanninae

Racemobabosinae

Outgroup

Shibataeinae +

Arundinariinae

Melocanninae

Racemobabosinae

Bambusinae Bambusinae

Strict consensus trees based on cpDNA and nrDNA sequences

psbA-trnH ITS2

Outgroup

Shibataeinae +

Arundinariinae

Melocanninae

Racemobabosinae

Outgroup

Shibataeinae+

Arundinariinae

Melocanninae

Racemobabosinae

DISCUSSION

�Both cpDNA & nrDNA provided identical phylogeny

of bamboos in Eastern Himalayan region

� Placement of the Tropical bamboo genera under 3

Subtribes is consistent with recent bamboo Subtribes is consistent with recent bamboo

taxonomy

� Subtribe Arundinariinae and Shibataeinae is closely

related and incongruent (Triplett & Clark, 2010)

DISCUSSION

�Bambusa, Dendrocalamus and Thyrsostachys are

polyphyletic suggesting parallel evolution (Xia, 1994;

Mukherjee et al. 2010)

� Placement of Pseudosasa and Cephalostachyum

under Bambusinae is inconsistent with existing under Bambusinae is inconsistent with existing

classifications and needs detail study considering

large populations

� Close phylogenetic relationship of B. arundinacea -

a giant bamboo and B. variegata - a shrubby

bamboo needs in depth molecular study

CONCLUSION

�Phylogenetic relationships among the major bamboo

genera of Eastern Himalayan region of India

�Species delimitation up to subtribes

�Further studies:

� Include remaining bamboo species & considering � Include remaining bamboo species & considering

more nuclear & chloroplast marker

� Complete Phylogeny reconstruction for the bamboos

in the Eastern Himalayas may contribute ideas of

bamboo evolution on global perspective

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

• Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science

& Technology, Government of INDIA is duly

acknowledged for financial assistance

• CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY is duly acknowledged • CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY is duly acknowledged

for providing laboratory facilities to conduct the

study

THANK YOU