Contrasting Reproductive Strategies of Two Species Affect Existing Natural Genetic Diversity as Assessed by Microsatellite Markers: Implications for Conservation and Wetlands Restoration.

, commonly known as water lily, is the largest and most widely distributed genus in the order Nymphaeales. The importance of in wetland ecosystems and their increased vulnerability make them a great choice for conservation and management. In this work, we studied genetic diversity in a collection of 90 and 92 individuals from six different states of India, i.e., Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Maharashtra, Goa, and Kerala, using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers developed by low throughput Illumina sequencing (10X coverage of genome) of . is native to India, whereas is suggested to be introduced to the country for its aesthetic and cultural values. The study revealed extensive polymorphism in , while in , no apparent genetic divergence was detected prompting us to investigate the reason(s) by studying the reproductive biology of the two species. The study revealed that predominantly reproduces asexually which has impacted the genetic diversity of the species to a great extent. This observation is of immense importance for a successful re-establishment of species during restoration programs of wetlands. The information generated on reproductive behaviors and their association with genotypic richness can help in strategizing genetic resource conservation, especially for species with limited distribution. The study has also generated 22,268 non-redundant microsatellite loci, out of which, 143 microsatellites were tested for polymorphism and polymorphic markers were tested for transferability in five other species, providing genomic resources for further studies on this important genus.