DNA techniques reveal new and unusual tulip species - Tulipa toktogulica – from Kyrgyzstan
Taxonomists in the Department of Plant Sciences and the University Botanic Garden, in partnership with colleagues from the National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic in Kyrgyzstan, have discovered a new and unusual tulip species from the mountainous Jalal-Abad Region in the west of the country.
Tulipa toktogulica (T. sect. Kolpakowskianae; Liliaceae) is known only from four populations northeast of Toktogul reservoir. The slightly scented species has broad stamens and a prolonged tunic, and grows in shrubland on stony soil at 1000 – 1500m altitude in areas in which Tulipa biflora, T. greigii and T. heterophylla are also found and which were used as references in the research. The new taxon is named after the Toktogul region in which it was discovered specifically to draw attention to the floral diversity of the area and to help raise awareness of the need for its conservation.
Unusually, the authors used DNA analysis to investigate and define the new species. Many of the new tulips discovered over the past few years have been identified using their visible physical and morphological characteristics in the time-honoured taxonomic tradition. DNA analysis enables a deeper understanding of the interrelations between and among tulip populations, and helps provide new insight into characteristics and hereditary traits that remain undiscovered using traditional techniques.
‘The morphology, identification and therefore taxonomy of wild tulip species is notoriously complex. DNA opens the door to a more reliable and comprehensive understanding of wild tulips’, said Brett Wilson, lead author of the study. ’Our work begins the process of adding a new genetic layer to tulip taxonomy, which we hope will support future research and improve the conservation of this group’.
Discovery of the new species is just one of many results of an integrated analysis of Central Asia tulip populations that Cambridge University and the National Academy of Sciences are conducting with a range of partners to help understand and define needs and opportunities for conservation and management. In-situ and ex-situ conservation work is led by Flora and Fauna International and a range of local partners, and a regional tulip conservation plan is in the early stages of implementation.
Read the paper here: Wilson, B., Lazkov, G.A, Shalpykov K.T., Brockington, S. 2022. Tulipa toktogulica (Liliaceae), a cryptic, endangered new species from the western Tien-Shan, Kyrgyzstan. Phytotaxa 566 (1): 001–012. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.566.1.1
Read Brett's story of the discovery of Tulipa toktogulica -https://tulipconservation.wordpress.com/2022/09/16/tulipa-toktogulica-the-story-of-a-new-tulip-species/
Read more on the botanic garden website - https://www.botanic.cam.ac.uk/dna-techniques-reveal-new-tulip-species/
Useful links:
Evolution and Diversity Research Group, Department of Plant Sciences - https://www.plantsci.cam.ac.uk/research/groups/evolution-and-diversity
Dr Samuel Brockington - https://www.plantsci.cam.ac.uk/directory/samuel-brockington
Brett Wilson - https://www.plantsci.cam.ac.uk/directory/brett-wilson
Cambridge University Botanic Garden – https://www.botanic.cam.ac.uk/
Darwin Initiative - https://www.darwininitiative.org.uk/
Securing wild tulips and montane grasslands in Kyrgyzstan project, Flora and Fauna International - https://www.fauna-flora.org/projects/securing-wild-tulips-montane-grasslands-kyrgyzstan/