DNA barcoding the vascular plant flora of the Canadian Arctic

Jeffery M. Saarela, Lynn J. Gillespie, Laurie L. Consaul, Roger D. Bull, Brianna N. Chouinard, Paul Abraham, Julian R. Starr

Creative Commons: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike licence

Field Work SupportPolar Continental Shelf Program, Natural Resources Canada

Parks CanadaCanadian Museum of NatureNSERCInuvialuit people of the western Canadian Arctic

Barcode Data Paul Hebert, Guelph University, OntarioaMaria Kuzmina & staff at the Canadian Center

for DNA Barcoding (CCDB), Guelph, OntarioGenome CanadaCanadian Museum of Nature

The Canadian Arcticca. 800 vascular plant species

Projected changes in the Arctic climate, 2090

Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA), 2005

Climate change and Arctic vegetationVegetation communities are changing

e.g., shrubs are getting bigger, more densePredicted that some species ranges are likely to expand,

others are likely to contract

Treeline is likely to change, and some plant species are expected to migrate N as temperature increases

A.E. Porsild –1955, 1957, 1980 (w/ Cody)

Plant Species Diversity and Distribution

Floras of the Canadian Arctic

Aiken et al. 2007

Flora of Northern Quebec and Labrador

(in progress – forthcoming 2011?)

We are now in the initial planning stages for a new:

Vascular Plant Flora of the Canadian Arctic

Gillespie, Saarela & collaborators

Prince Patrick I

Baffin I

Banks IMelville I

Cambridge Bay

Victoria Island

20082009

2010

Poster -Consaul et al.

Barcoding the Arctic Flora

Option OnerbcL + matK + trnH-psbA

Option TworbcL + matK

Consortium for the Barcode of Life

Two proposals for an official plant barcode were made

“The Executive Committee therefore concludes that only rbcL and matK areapproved and required barcode regions for land plants. ”

“However, the Executive Committee accepted the review panel's recommendation to reassess the situation in 18 months. The current inability of the proposed plant barcode to resolve more than ~70% of species indicates that improvement in the approach is needed, along with more rbcL and matK data. A reassessment in 18 months would evaluate progress being made on matK primers and sequence assembly techniques for non-coding regions such astrnH-psbA.”

And now ITS2 is contending for barcode status (!)Chen et al. 2010 PLoS ONE

Sedges are everywhere in the Arctic

C. atrofusca C. aquatilis var. minor C. bicolor C. bigelowii subsp. lugens

C. glareosa C. glacialis C. maritima C. garberi

C. nardina C. petricosaC. membranacea C. scirpoidea

C. ursina

Arctic island sedge diversity . . . 40%

Barcoding Arctic Island Sedges (Carex & Kobresia) A Regional Approach to DNA Barcoding

SW Victoria Island, 2008

matK

20 spp.95% success

Le Clerc-Blain et al. 2010, Mol. Ecol. Res.Tested seven plastid regions

- matK was the best

Carex membranacea

Carex saxatalis

Barcoding works for Arctic sedges -- some taxa differ by only a single nucleotide

“As plot moisture continues to increase . . . graminoids (i.e., Eriophorum spp. and Carex spp.) or bryophytes (i.e., Sphagnum spp.) or both become dominant “

- Laidler et al. 2008, Arctic Remote sensing of Arctic vegetation

Applications for Arctic plant barcode data

Added precision in ecological studies…at least for some taxa

Boothia Peninsula, Nunavut

Barcoding can help!

?

Moving forward with barcoding the entire Canadian Arctic flora….

571 specimens & 262 species as of early June, 2010

n t a x = 1 9 4 n c h a r = 1 4 3 1 ;

matK + rbcLindividuals = 194 nucleotides =1431

Barcoding the Arctic Flora

Saxifragaceae

Brassicaceae

Onagraceae

Fabaceae

Salicaceae

Rosaceae

Ericaceae

RanunculaceaePolygonaceae

Asteraceae

Caryophyllaceae

Papaveraceae

Scrophulariaceae

Primulaceae

Poaceae

Cyperaceae

Parnassiaceae

Salix niphoclada

Salix arctica Salix hastata

There is no plastid variation in Salix

matK + rbcL

Salix richardsonii

Cardamine pratensis

Draba cinerea

Draba corymbosa

Parrya arctica

Brassicaceae- mustard family -

Eutrema edwardsii

Descurainia sophioides

Genus-level resolution

Antennaria mediaSymphiotrichum pygmaeum

Taraxacum hyperboreum Taraxacum phymatocarpum

Askellia nana

Artemisia borealis

Asteraceae- sunflower family -

Genus-level resolution

Rhododendron lapponicum

Vaccinium vitis-idaea

Rhododendron tomentosum

Cassiope tetragona

Empetrum nigrum

Arctous rubra

Ericaceae- heath family -

Andromeda polifolia

Genus-level resolution

Caryophyllaceae- pink family -

Genus and some species-level resolution

Orobanchaceae, Plantaginaceae,Lentibulariaceae

Genus and some species-level resolution

ITS variation in Arctic Puccinellia

diploids & polyploids

In most Arctic plant families, current plastid barcode data can clearly and reliably distinguish most genera. Species-level resolution varies.

**BUT – many Arctic genera have only one or a few species, so at a regional level (Arctic) barcoding performs fairly well.

Preliminary Conclusion

Plant DNA barcoding is one more tool for the botanical toolkit.

Usually you need more than one tool to do a job properly.

And it’s always nice to have access to all the tools!