Authors:Anoja Kurian, Sreekumar V.B., Suma Arun Dev, Muralidharan E. M
Abstract:Rattans, spiny climbing palms belonging to the subfamily Calamoideae, are an ecologically and economically important group of palms. The taxonomic complexities such as, homoplasies, lookalike species, environmental plasticity and species complexes, impede the traditional identification and classification in this group. DNA barcoding and molecular phylogeny can lend a hand in better understanding systematics of these taxa. The slow rate of evolution of palm DNA restricts the use of plastid as well as nuclear gene regions in molecular systematics of palms. Recently, the introduction of low copy nuclear regions has facilitated to resolve these issues to some extent. Introduction of super barcodes as well as whole genome sequencing could act as a promising platform to strengthen the aspects of species discrimination in palms, in the near future. Molecular phylogeny teamed with biogeography can provide a wider insight into the distribution pattern of extant species as well as their origin of ancestral area. The deterioration of natural populations of rattans due to their extensive extraction has brought to the fore the importance of their conservation. Early sex determination of the dioecious plants using highthroughput molecular methods can lead to viable conservation programmes. Population genetic studies in this group will provide a better understanding the diverse genotypes existing within and among populations.
Keywords:Species identification, DNA barcoding, phylogeny, sex determination, population genetics