Case Study
Submitted By
| Name: | Zafar Siddiq |
| Institution: | GC University, Katchery Road, Lahore. |
| Country: | Pakistan |
| Email: | gcubotanicgarden@yahoo.com |
Title & Categories
| Case Study Title: | “A Taxonomic study of Solanum nigrum L. complex using DNA Barcoding and identification of their specific niches in different regions of Pakistan”. |
| Focus Theme: | Adding barcodes to a large survey of a taxonomic group |
| Geographic Region: | Southern Asia |
| Habitat Type: | Terrestrial - Other |
| Taxonomic Group: | c: PLANTS |
Scope
The main taxonomic group to be studied will be Solanum nigrum L. (Solanaceae) and related plant species of this genus. This study will involve the survey of whole Pakistan at different niches. The samples (leaves, seeds and soils) will be collected from these habitats. Some samples have already been collected from Lahore. About one hundred samples will be collected through surveys. Samples collection will be completed with in six months time. Which will cost about 3000/- US Dollars. The project will be completed with in three years (six months for sampling, six months for soil samples analysis, transplantation experiments and morphological studies, one year for DNA Barcoding studies and six months for compilation) as it will be taken as a split PhD project between GC University Lahore under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Amin U Khan (Chairperson, Department of Botany and Environmental science)and the research institute or organization where the analytical work of DNA Barcoding will be carried out. Based upon the results the sampling can also be carried out again from Pakistan for more exploratory work if required. The cost of DNA Barcoding can be better estimated for about hundred samples by the laboratories where the DNA Barcoding will be carried out. There will also be the boarding and lodging expenditures of (PhD candidate, Mr. Zafar Siddiq) during the DNA Barcoding study.
Purpose
Solanum nigrum is taxonomically known as “Solanum nigurm complex” because of its morphological variations and taxonomic complexities. The literature / floras of Pakistan do not describe all the species and the variations in this group. It is also very difficult to identify the Solanum nigrum plant species on morphological bases. The DNA Barcoding will be an effective tool to identify the species and clarification of its taxonomic complexity. It will also help to find out that how many species of this group occur in Pakistan.
Background
This project will be started first time in Pakistan with special reference to the samples collection from different habitats and the use of DNA Barcoding technique for Solanum species and it will be taken as a continuation of project carried out by GC University research group. Our research group in 2005-06, at GC University Lahore Botanic Garden has studied Solanum nigrum and its related species, and we have identified five species of Solanum on morphological bases with the help of available literature. But their confirmation still requires some modern techniques. It can be achieved by the use of DNA Barcoding technique.
The research article titled:
“Variability of Solanum nigrum at GC University Lahore Botanic Garden”
By Roheena Muneer, Zafar Siddiq and Amin U Khan
Botany Department, GC University Lahore.
has been accepted for publication in proceedings of Pakistan Botanic Gardens Conference on “Action Plan for Botanic Gardens network in Pakistan” held at GC University Lahore on 24-25 March 2006.
The other research article titled:
“A study on the differences in morphological characters in Solanum nigrum complex” at GC University Lahore Pakistan”.By Zafar Siddiq, Roheena Muneer and Amin U Khan
Has also been submitted in an international journal for publication.
Logistics
The samples will be collected from different habitats of Pakistan and they will be preserved for the analysis. The morphological studies will be carried out at GC University Lahore, Botanic Garden and the complete analysis of soil samples will be carried out at Environmental Science Research laboratory GC University Lahore. The collected seeds will also be germinated under the same conditions at Botanic Garden GC University Lahore for transplantation experiments. DNA Barcoding / sequencing will be carried out for both the samples collected from wild habitats and the plants germinated from the seeds at “Royal Botanic Garden Kew under the leadership of Dr. Robyn Cowan, on the behalf of Plant working group”(with his kind permission and willingness), or at “National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington” as currently there is lack of this facility at GC University, Lahore. DNA Barcoding for Solanum nigrum has not done in this region so far. But a work on the “Evaluation of taxonomic status of medicinal species of the Genus Solanum and Capsicum based on Poly Acrylamide Gel Electrophoresis” was carried out by Yousaf Z et al, at Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad. Which is published in Pakistan Journal of Botany; 38(1):99-106, 2006. Their study is not based upon the habitat characters of Solanum neither they have analyzed the species based on DNA Barcoding studies. And except that any other reference related to the use of DNA Barcoding specifically for Solanum is not seen in literature to date.