Use of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) for systematic investigation of Sida sect. Malacroideae (Malvoideae, Malvaceae)

• Grant number: 23/14312-6
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: July 01, 2024
• End date: June 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Botany - Plant Taxonomy
• Principal Investigator: Marília Cristina Duarte
• Grantee: Marília Cristina Duarte
• Host Institution: Pró-Reitoria Acadêmica. Universidade de Mogi das Cruzes (UMC). Campus da Sede Mogi das Cruzes. Mogi das Cruzes , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Alexandre Wagner Silva Hilsdorf ; Flavia Fonseca Pezzini ; Rafaela Passos Camargo

Abstract

Sida L. has a complex taxonomic history, with several changes in species composition over the decades to make it more homogeneous and natural, since the range of initial characters allowed more than 1,000 taxa to be included in this group over time. Despite these changes, the genus remains one of the largest of the Malvoideae, with about 200 species, and is considered problematic and complex due to the large number of synonyms, morphological similarities, uncertain boundaries between species, and a high degree of polymorphism. The genus is divided into 11 sections, including the section Malacroideae, which is characterized by the presence of congested flowers and fruits in the apical region of the branches, surrounded by foliaceous bracts and stipules resembling a casing, the pedicels being shortened and adnate to the petiole, the presence of 5-7 mericarps, usually muricate. At present, Sida sect. Malacroideae has 23 species in South America, of which 19 occur in Brazil and 6 in Africa, India and Sri Lanka. Few taxonomic studies focus exclusively on this section, besides being poorly sampled in molecular analyses, it was included in phylogenetic studies of the genus in 2003 with ITS marker of Sida ciliaris L. and in 2022 with ITS, psbA-trnH, rpl16, ndhF and matK markers, adding 5 species to the analysis: Sida albiflora (Chodat & Hassl.) Krapov, Sida dureana Krapov., Sida monteiroi Krapov., Sida paradoxa Rodrigo and Sida tenuicarpa Vollese. The present work aims to clarify the position of Sida sect. Malacroideae among other sections of the genus and to understand the relationship of the species present in it. For this purpose, we will use the Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) for the first time in Brazil for the Malvaceae family, using the Target Capture technique with Angiosperm 353 probes, for a systematic study of the genus combined with taxonomic study of the species of sect, Malacroideae based on collections and materials from reference herbaria for Sida, and the analysis of biotic elements, in order to understand the processes of origin and diversification of the section and its relationship with African species. (AU)