Kuo-Fang Chung

Academia Sinica · Biodiversity Research Center

Begonia aptera was recently found during expeditions in the Matutum and Melibengoy mountains in South Cotabato province, southern Mindanao island, Philippines. The identification of the species was affirmed by the morphological similarities of the samples to specimens from the neighbouring island of Sulawesi in Indonesia. Begonia aptera is a member...

A new vittarioid fern species, Haplopteris palustris , is here described from the swamp forests in western Malesia based on both morphological and molecular phylogenetic evidence. This species is unique among all recognized congeners with its strongly raised midrib on the adaxial lamina. Through phylogenetic analysis, it is resolved as the sister g...

Begonia tanauanensis is a newly described endemic species in B. sect. Baryandra from Tanauan City, Batangas, southern Luzon, Philippines. Morphological data shows this species resembles B. chingipengii, a species from eastern Luzon as both species have light pink flowers, fleshy green lamina, and boat-shaped bracts. However, B. tanauanensis does no...

The Ryukyu Islands of Japan are a biodiversity hotspot due to geographical and historical factors. Tricyrtis formosana is a perennial herbaceous plant that commonly found in Taiwan. But only a few populations have been identified in a limited habitat on Iriomote Island, while populations of unknown origin occur near human settlements in an area on...

The previous chromosome information for 2n=24 and 2n=26 is limited to nine species in the Asian Begonia sections Diploclinium and Platycentrum. In this study, we report the first-ever chromosome counts for two species with 2n=24 and new chromosome counts for two species with 2n=26. Consequently, the total number of species with 2n=24 and 2n=26 has...

Many checklist databases encounter common challenges. While they may fulfill the requirements of scientific name collection and species inquiries successfully, they often fall short in recording and presenting diverse opinions on scientific name usage over time and among different scholars. Moreover, due to the rapidity of classification changes an...

Previous chromosome information for 2n=34 and 2n=38 is restricted to one species in the Asian Begonia sect. Jackia with 2n=34, and six species in sect. Platycentrum with 2n=38, respectively. We present here the first chromosome counts of two species B. sublobata and B. emeiensis with 2n=34 in respective sections of Jackia and Platycentrum and one s...

We reported nine fern species: Amblovenatum opulentum , Athyrium erythropodum , Haplopteris angustifolia , Hymenophyllum acanthoides , Hymenophyllum pachydermicum , Huperzia liangshanica , Microlepia smithii , Selaginella bisulcata , and Selaginella reticulata as indigenous to Vietnam based on our new collections and study of type materials and rel...

Situated in the southern end of the Annamite Mountain Range, Langbiang Plateau is a major biodiversity hotspot of southern Vietnam known for high species diversity and endemicity. To achieve effective conservation, parts of the plateau were designated as the Langbiang Biosphere Reserve, an UNESCO World Network aiming to improve relationships betwee...

https://twsps.wordpress.com/category/2023%e5%b9%b4%e6%9c%83%e6%9a%a8%e7%a0%94%e8%a8%8e%e6%9c%83/ Earlier systematic studies have accumulated abundant knowledge of Onagraceae plants, making this family a model group for understanding plant evolution. In the present study, we applied next-generation sequencing techniques and comparative analyses to...

Antrophyum is one of the largest genera of vittarioid ferns (Pteridaceae) and is most diverse in tropical Asia and the Pacific Islands, but also occurs in temperate Asia, Australia, tropical Africa and the Malagasy region. The only monographic study of Antrophyum was published more than a century ago and a modern assessment of its diversity is lack...

Broussonetia papyrifera (L.) L.’ Hér. ex Vent. o morera de papel es la especie menos común y la más desconocida de la familia de las Moráceas en Chile. En tres parques de la capital, Santiago, existen algunos ejemplares cultivados como ornamentales. Se trata de una especie originaria del este y del sureste de Asia que fue dispersada por acción antr...

Previous chromosome information for 2n=28 is restricted to 17 species in four Asian Begonia sections Baryandra, Diploclinium, Petermannia and Reichenheimia. Here we report the first chromosome counts and karyotype analyses of 2n=28 for three species in two Asian sections Flocciferae and Parvibegonia, as well as those for 2n=56 of B. baliensis in se...

Antrophyum kinabaluense, a rare fern from Kinabalu Park, Sahah, was described as new to science in early 2023 but very little is known about this species, including its phylogenetic relationship. In May, we made an expedition to Kinabalu Park to collect new specimens and then conducted a phylogenetic analysis based on four chloroplast loci. Antroph...

Previous chromosome information for the lower chromosome numbers 2n=14, 16, 18, and 20 in Asian Begonia are restricted to nine species in two sections Diploclinium and Platycentrum. Here we report the first chromosome counts of four species as well as reconfirmed chromosome numbers of four species in sect. Platycentrum. We found 2n=12 in B. cathcar...

‘Breadfruit’ is a common tree species in Taiwan. In the indigenous Austronesian Amis culture of eastern Taiwan, ‘breadfruit’ is known as Pacilo, and its fruits are consumed as food. On Lanyu (Botel Tobago) where the indigenous Yami people live, ‘breadfruit’ is called Cipoho and used for constructing houses and plank-boats. Elsewhere in Taiwan, ‘bre...

Previous chromosome information for Asian Begonia sect. Platycentrum with 2n=22 is restricted to 28 taxa. Here we add another 23 species to the list and reconfirm this chromosome number for nine species of sect. Platycentrum. The number of species of sect. Platycentrum with 2n=22 reported is increased to 51 taxa, covering ca. 70.8% of the 72 taxa w...

Petrocodon and Primulina are two characteristic genera of Gesneriaceae that exhibit remarkable species and floral diversity, and high endemism across the Sino-Vietnamese Limestone Karsts. To better understand the evolution of limestone gesneriad plastomes, we report nine complete plastomes of seven Primulina and two Petrocodon which have never been...

'Breadfruit' is a common tree species in Taiwan. In the indigenous Austronesian Amis culture of eastern Taiwan, 'breadfruit' is known as Pacilo, and its fruits are consumed as food. On Lanyu (Botel Tobago) where the indigenous Yami people live, 'breadfruit' is called Cipoho and used for constructing houses and plank-boats. Elsewhere in Taiwan, 'bre...

Abstract Stomata are a pivotal adaptation of land plants and control gas exchange. While most plants present solitary stomata, some plant species experiencing chronic water deficiency display clustered stomata on their epidermis; for instance, limestone‐grown begonias. Moreover, the membrane receptor TOO MANY MOUTHS (TMM) plays a major role in spac...

The ecology and genetic diversity of model yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae prior to human domestication remain poorly understood. Taiwan is regarded as part of this yeast's geographic birthplace where the most divergent natural lineage was discovered. Here, we extensively sampled the broad-leaf forests across this continental island to probe the anc...

Begonia normaaguilariae, a new Philippine Begonia species from the section Baryandra is described and illustrated herewith. It bears a superficial resemblance to B. biliranensis with a repand leaf margin, and obovoid anther shape. However, the new species is unique in reference to its conduplicate stipule, longer capsule pedicel length, and complet...

Species of Broussonetia have been essential in the development of papermaking technology. In Japan and Korea, a hybrid between B. monoica and B. papyrifera (= B. × kazinoki) known as kōzo and daknamu is still the major source of raw materials for making traditional paper washi and hanji, respectively. Despite their cultural and practical significan...

The early-diverging eudicot family Berberidaceae is composed of a morphologically diverse assemblage of disjunctly distributed genera long praised for their great horticultural and medicinal values. However, despite century-long studies, generic delimitation of Berberidaceae remains controversial and its tribal classification has never been formall...

Previous chromosome information is restricted to 13 species in the Asian Begonia sect. Diploclinium. Here we present the first chromosome counts of three species, as well as confirmed their chromosome numbers of five species. Among three species investigated for the first time, the chromosome number of 2n=18 and 2n=32 are new counts in the section....

The papilionoid legume genus Ormosia (Fabaceae) comprises about 150 species of trees and exhibits a striking disjunct geographical distribution between the New World- and Asian and Australasian wet tropics and subtropics. Modern classifications of Ormosia are not grounded on a well-substantiated phylogenetic hypothesis and have been limited to just...

Begonia sect. Baryandra is distributed mainly in the Philippines with a few species in Borneo and New Guinea. Previous chromosome information of sect. Baryandra has restricted to ca. 16 species and their karyotypes have never been investigated. Here we report the cytological investigations of 26 species of sect. Baryandra, including five karyotype...

Here we describe a natural hybrid of Philippine Begonia from Bulabog Puti-an National Park in Dingle, Iloilo, Panay Island. The hybrid, named Begonia ×dinglensis after its place of origin, grows on moist, coralline-rock slopes at 200 m elevation. Morphological, molecular, and cytological evidence support its origin from natural hybridization betwee...

Begonia sect. Coelocentrum is a characteristic plant group in the limestone karsts of southern China and northern Vietnam and yet previous chromosome information is restricted to ca. 50 species and their karyotypes have never been investigated. Here we report the cytological investigations of 15 species of sect. Coelocentrum, including four karyoty...

Background: With currently 1980 described species, the mega-diverse Begonia is now perhaps the 5th largest flowering plant genus, expanding rapidly from ca. 900 species in 1997 to its current size in merely two decades. In continuation of our studies of Asian Begonia, we report six additional new species from Guangxi, the region/province harboring...

https://www.facebook.com/TSPS2006/ Voyage of Time: Plant Systematics, Herbaria, and Botanical Gardens. Symposium and Annual Meeting of Taiwan Society of Plant Systematics 2020

While it is known that whole genome duplication (WGD) and reticulate evolution play important roles in plant evolution, the origins and evolutionary histories of most polyploid and reticulate groups are still poorly known. The North Temperate haplostemonous (NTH) Ludwigia L. (sections Isnardia (L.) W. L. Wagner & Hoch, Ludwigia, Microcarpium Munz,...

Background: The Gesneriaceae genus Chiritopsis, confined almost exclusively to cave or cave-like microhabitats of limestone karsts of southern China, was described to distinguish it from Chirita by much smaller flowers and generally miniature plant sizes in the former genus. However, molecular phylogenetic analyses showed that Chiritopsis is polyp...

Over the past 300 years of plant collecting for herbaria, the basic method of preservation has remained remarkably consistent—a plant press with absorbent paper. However, the difficulty of drying plant specimens in the humid tropics has led to a variety of additions to this basic technique, primarily to prevent the specimens succumbing to fungal an...

Background: Sino-Vietnamese limestone karsts (SVLK) are a biodiversity hotspot rich in endemic plant species associated with caves and cave-like microhabitats. Based on phylogenetic studies of Begonia sect. Coelocentrum, a species-rich and characteristic SVLK clade, geographic isolation caused by extensive and continuous karstification was propose...

The pantropically distributed Begonia (Begoniaceae) is one of the most species-rich genera. Philippines is one of the diversity centers of Southeast Asian Begonia. In our 2012 field survey, three species of Begonia section Petermannia were collected in Barangay Sagubo, Municipality of Kapangan, Province of Benguet in the northern Luzon Island, Phil...

Paper mulberry, Broussonetia papyrifera (L.) L’Hér. ex Vent. (Moraceae), a dioecious species, was transported by humans from Taiwan to the islands of Remote Oceania. Its introduction and cultivation in Remote Oceania was intentional due to its cultural importance as a fiber source for barkcloth textiles. The aim of this study was to explore the gen...

Paper mulberry, Broussonetia papyrifera (L.) L'Hé r. ex Vent. (Moraceae), a dioecious species , was transported by humans from Taiwan to the islands of Remote Oceania. Its introduction and cultivation in Remote Oceania was intentional due to its cultural importance as a fiber source for barkcloth textiles. The aim of this study was to explore the g...

The pantropical genus Begonia (Begoniaceae) is one of the most species-rich genera, which currently includes more than 1,900 species. Experimental studies on both wild species and horticultural varieties have suggested that Begonia plants have weak reproductive barriers and low genetic incompatibility. An increasing number of natural hybrids in Beg...

The next-generation sequencing (NGS) techniques have offer pioneering opportunities for research in non-model organisms, particularly in evolutionary biology. Targeted capture methods using baits with NGS techniques have allowed biologists to successfully explore thousands of interested regions/genes with relatively lower costs. In this workshop,...

Molecular phylogenetic analyses using ITS sequences were used to reconsider the taxonomic validity of Bredia okinawensis, B. yaeyamensis, and B. sinensis as an independent genus Tashiroea. The result showed that the three species formed a different phylogenetic lineage from other species of Bredia including its type species. We suggest that B. okin...

In a revision of Berberis Sect. Wallichianae in Taiwan and Luzon, the Philippines, two of the authors recognized 11 species from Taiwan, including three new species. This article recognizes a further new species, Berberis morii, and places it in the same clade with other species from Taiwan. Rather than reproduce all the observations that were made...

The pantropical genus Begonia is the sixth-largest genus of flowering plants, including 1870 species. The sections of Begonia are used frequently as analogues to genera in other families but, despite their taxonomic utility, few of the current sections have been examined in the light of molecular phylogenetic analyses. We present herein the largest...

As has long been known Berberis Sect. Wallichianae in Taiwan evidence a high species diversity all of which are endemic to the island. Though cytological data has been used to understand adaptive speciation for certain Berberis species elsewhere, little is still known about the chromosome numbers of Taiwanese Berberis. In this study, the chromosome...

The Philippine island of Palawan is highly biodiverse. During fieldwork there in 2011 & 2014 we found five unknown species in the large genus Begonia. The species are similar in their rhizomatous stems, four-tepaled flowers, inferior two- or three-locular ovaries with bilamellate placentas, and are assignable to Begonia sect. Baryandra. Our observa...

A majority rule consensus tree based on both nuclear and plastid phylogenies. The consensus combines all the post burn-in trees resulting from both the Bayesian phylogenetic analyses (chloroplast and ITS data). The nodes are labelled with internode certainty (IC) values. (TIF)

Genbank accession numbers and voucher information for the DNA sequences used in the phylogenetic analyses. Samples newly sequenced for this study are highlighted with an asterisk. (PDF)

Luzon is the largest island of the Philippines, and because of its isolation from other landmasses it has developed a unique diversity of flora and fauna. Included in this rich biodiversity of flora are members of genus Begonia of the family Begoniaceae. In a joint expedition to the island, botanists from Taiwan and the Philippines found three unkn...

http://nas2.biodiv.tw/EGB2018/

Whether Mahonia should be recognized as a distinct genus or subsumed under Berberis has long been debated since its publication in 1818. Although recent molecular phylogenetic studies showed the paraphyly of Mahonia and some advocated a broadly defined Berberis to include Mahonia, the acceptance of Berberis s.l. is far from universal. Due to insuff...

Background Despite being a relatively small genus, the taxonomy of the paper mulberry genus Broussonetia remains problematic. Much of the controversy is related to the identity and taxonomic status of Broussonetia kaempferi var. australis, a name treated as a synonym in the floras of Taiwan and yet accepted in the floras of China. At the generic le...

Background The flora of Panay Island is under-collected compared with the other islands of the Philippines. In a joint expedition to the island, botanists from Taiwan and the Philippines found three unknown Begonia species and compared them with potentially allied species. Results The three species are clearly assignable to Begonia sect. Baryandra...

Background: Biological classification, the hierarchical arrangement of scientific names of organisms, constitutes the core infrastructure of biological databases. For an efficient management of biological databases, adopting a stable and universal biological classification system is crucial. Currently in Taiwan Biodiversity Information Facility (T...

Background The limestone karsts of Southeast Asia and South China are a major biodiversity hotspot of global terrestrial biomes. With more than 130 described species, Paraboea has become one of the most characteristic plant groups in the Southeast Asian limestone flora. During the course of extensive field work on the limestone formations of southe...

Premise of the study: Broussonetia papyrifera (Moraceae) is native to Asia and is used as a medicinal plant and as a source of fiber for making paper. It was dispersed into the Pacific region as a fiber source for making nonwoven textiles (barkcloth). Microsatellites were developed to trace the human-mediated dispersal of this species into the Paci...

Background and Aims Paper mulberry or Broussonetia papyrifera (L.) L’Hér. ex Vent. (Moraceae) is a dioecious species native to continental South-east Asia and East Asia, including Taiwan, that was introduced to the Pacific by pre-historic voyagers and transported intentionally and propagated asexually across the full range of Austronesian expansion...

The deciduous habit of northern temperate trees and shrubs provides one of the most obvious examples of convergent evolution, but how did it evolve? Hypotheses based on the fossil record posit that deciduousness evolved first in response to drought or darkness and preadapted certain lineages as cold climates spread. An alternative is that evergreen...

Premise of the study: Microsatellite primers were developed for Begonia luzhaiensis (Begoniaceae) to assess genetic diversity and population genetic structure. Methods and results: Based on the transcriptome data of B. luzhaiensis, 60 primer pairs were selected for initial validation, of which 16 yielded polymorphic microsatellite loci in 57 ind...

We explored the temporal and spatial diversification of the plant genus Sedum L. (Crassulaceae) in Taiwan based on molecular analysis of nrITS and cpDNA sequences from East Asian Sedum members. Our phylogenetic and ancestral area reconstruction analysis showed that Taiwanese Sedum comprised two lineages that independently migrated from Japan and Ea...

BackgroundA new species, Begonia myanmarica, was discovered from Myanmar and herein documented. Characterized by a single developed wing in the ovary/fruit, this species would be assigned to sect. Monopteron (sensu Doorenbos et al. in The sections of Begonia including descriptions, keys and species lists: studies in Begoniaceae VI. Wageningen Agric...

The classification of the legume family proposed here addresses the long-known non-monophyly of the traditionally recognised subfamily Caesalpinioideae, by recognising six robustly supported monophyletic subfamilies. This new classification uses as its framework the most comprehensive phylogenetic analyses of legumes to date, based on plastid matK...

The classification of the legume family proposed here addresses the long-known non-monophyly of the traditionally recognised subfamily Caesalpinioideae, by recognising six robustly supported monophyletic subfamilies. This new classification uses as its framework the most comprehensive phylogenetic analyses of legumes to date, based on plastid matK...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0161148.].

Background Paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera (L.) L'Hér. ex Vent) is a dioecious tree native to East Asia and mainland Southeast-Asia, introduced prehistorically to Polynesia as a source of bark fiber by Austronesian-speaking voyagers. In Oceania, trees are coppiced and harvested for production of bark-cloth, so flowering is generally unknown...

Sequence of the male marker region. Bold and italics: primers designed for this study; underlined: primers designed by Wang et al. (30). (TIF)

List of herbarium samples used in the present study. (DOCX)

List of contemporary plant material used in the present study. (DOCX)