Brief description of the project
(2024-2026)
Project title: IRN AP23490860 «Biodiversity of wild species of the genus Allium in southern and southeastern Kazakhstan».
Relevance. Allium L. is one of the largest genera in the tribe Allieae Dumort., and includes more than 1000 species. The primary center of biodiversity of the genus is Central Asia, including Kazakhstan. There are at least 127 species of the Allium genus in Kazakhstan, at least 29 of which are endemic. The Red Book of Wild Flora of Kazakhstan lists 12 species growing in the south, southeast, and east of the country. Onions have vast economic importance, are food and medicinal plants, and are widely used in medicine, industry, and horticulture. At the same time, due to the large size of the genus, the complex genetic structure caused by different ploidy and different numbers of main chromosomes, and the difficulty in determining morphological characters, there are difficulties in the taxonomic identification of species. Also, the genus is constantly replenished with newly discovered species. For example, in 2021, 5 new endemic onion species were described for the flora of Kazakhstan. Consequently, there is a need to clarify the taxonomy of the genus growing in Kazakhstan using modern molecular genetic and genomic methods, including complete sequencing of plastid genomes. The most informative tools in the study of genetic diversity and molecular taxonomy of plants are highly polymorphic microsatellite DNA markers (SSR-simple sequence repeats), universal DNA barcodes, and relatively inexpensive methods for determining complete sequences of chloroplast genomes. Plant-derived secondary metabolites play an important role in adaptation to various stress conditions. Studying the biochemical diversity of widespread species of the genus Allium based on the analysis of secondary metabolites is important for scientific research.
Studying the genetic diversity of wild species of the genus Allium growing in southern and southeastern Kazakhstan is of great importance for the conservation of biological diversity, understanding the evolution and adaptation of plants to changing environmental conditions, and developing effective strategies for the management and conservation of natural resources.
The goal of the project: To study the genetic diversity of wild species of the genus Allium growing in the territory of southern and southeastern Kazakhstan.
Expected results:
- Plant populations of wild onion species will be collected and the collection of DNA collected in the territory of southern and south-eastern Kazakhstan will be replenished.
- A quantitative and qualitative analysis of secondary metabolites of widespread onion species collected in southern and southeastern Kazakhstan will be carried out.
- The population structure will be determined and the intra- and interspecific genetic diversity of Kazakhstan species of the genus Allium will be studied.
- The nucleotide sequences of DNA markers of the nuclear and chloroplast genome of Allium species will be determined, and the phylogenetic tree of the genus will be reconstructed.
- The complete nucleotide sequence of chloroplast genomes of certain species of the genus Allium collected in southern and southeastern Kazakhstan will be determined.
- The database “Biodiversity of flora in Kazakhstan” will be updated with information on the distribution and genetic diversity of species of the genus Allium.
Scientific Supervisor of the project: Saule Abugalieva, principal researcher, Doctor of Biological Sciences (genetics), Professor (biology). She has many years of experience in the field of molecular genetics. Co-author of more than 100 scientific articles were published, including 73 articles in peer-reviewed foreign scientific publications, indexed in Web of Science (H-index=12, https://www.webofscience.com/wos/author/record/450734) and/or Scopus (H-index=14, https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=6507029042&origin=recordpage), more than 25 articles in journals recommended by the Committee for Quality Assurance in Science and Higher Education (CQASHE) of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan . Co-author of 6 monographs, 5 scientific and methodological recommendations, 4 utility model patents. Co-author of 3 varieties of barley, 2 varieties of wheat, 1 variety of soybean. Awarded the badge “For merits in the development of science of the Republic of Kazakhstan” (2017). Prof. Abugalieva was awarded by the governmental scientific scholarship for scientists and specialists who have made an outstanding contribution to the development of science and technology of the Republic of Kazakhstan (2018). She was awarded the Science Leader Diploma from Thomson Reuters and JSC NCTI (2015). She was a Best Researcher 2022 (Competition of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan).
Research group:
Shyryn Almerekova, PhD (geobotany), associate professor, co-author of more than 40 scientific articles, including 25 articles in peer-reviewed publications indexed in Web of Science (https://www.webofscience.com/wos/author/record/2003633) and Scopus (H-index – 8, https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=57196952712), of which 20 articles are related to the study of wild flora of Kazakhstan. She has successfully completed internships in scientific centers in Germany, Spain, Hungary, and South Korea. She was awarded a certificate of honor from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education (2022) and the state scientific scholarship for talented young scientists (2021).
Akerke Amalova, PhD (biology), researcher, has 7 years of work experience in the field of molecular genetics. The master’s specialty is geobotany. Co-author of 22 articles, 9 of them in the Scopus/WoS database (H-index=3 in the Web of Science database (https://www.webofscience.com/wos/author/record/2003632) and H-index=4 Scopus (https ://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=57213623570), trained in scientific centers in England and Lithuania.
Moldir Yermagambetova, PhD (geobotany), researcher, has 5 years of experience in botany and population genetics of wild plant species. Co-author of more than 20 scientific publications, including 14 articles indexed in Scopus H-index 5 (Scopus https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=57381827100), and Web of Science. Trained in scientific centers of China, Hungary, England, and South Korea.
List of publications of the project’s participants (2018-2023)
- Yermagambetova M., Almerekova S., Turginov O., Sultangaziev O., Abugalieva S., Turuspekov Y. Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Juniperus seravschanica collected in Central Asia // Plants (IF=4.8, Q1-Plant Sciences; SJR=0.790, percentile: 83 – Plant Sciences). – 2023. – Vol. 12. – N. 16. – P. 2961. doi: 10.3390/plants12162961
- Yermagambetova M., Abugalieva S., Turuspekov Y., Almerekova S. Illumina sequencing data of the complete chloroplast genome of rare species Juniperus seravschanica (Cupressaceae) from Kazakhstan // Data in Brief (IF= 1, Q3- Multidisciplinary Sciences, SJR= 0.258, percentile: 72 – Multidisciplinary). – 2023. – Vol. 46. – P. 108866.
- Abugalieva S., Volkova L., Genievskaya Y., Ivaschenko A., Kotukhov Y., Sakauova G., Turuspekov Y. Taxonomic assessment of Allium species from Kazakhstan based on ITS and matK markers // BMC Plant Biology (IF=5.9, Q1 – Plant sciences; SJR=1.159, percentile: 92-Plant Science). – 2017. – Vol.17 (2). – Р.51-60. DOI: 10.1186/s12870-017-1194-0
- Almerekova S., Yermagambetova M., Abugalieva S., Turuspekov Y. The complete chloroplast genome sequencing data of Juniperus sabina (Cupressaceae Bartl.) from Kazakhstan. Data in Brief (IF= 1.1, Q3 Multidisciplinary sciences; SJR= 0.131, percentile: 72- Multidisciplinary). – 2022. – Vol.45. – P.108644. DOI: 10.1016/j.dib.2022.108644
- Ермагамбетова М.М., Абугалиева С.И., Туруспеков Е.К., Альмерекова Ш.С. Конспект рода Juniperus L., произрастающего в Казахстане. Proceedings on Applied Botany, Genetics and Breeding (Труды по прикладной ботанике, генетике и селекции) (SJR= 0.160, percentile: 6 — Plant Science, Agricultural and Biological Sciences). – 2022. – T. – №3. – С. 161-170. https://doi.org/10.30901/2227-8834-2022-3-161-170
- Yermagambetova M.M., Almerekova S.S., Krekova Y., Abugalieva S.I., Turuspekov Y.K. Genetic variation in populations of Picea schrenkiana et CA Mey. based on simple sequence repeat markers. Moscow University Biological Sciences Bulletin (SJR= 0.189, percentile: 42 — General Agricultural and Biological Sciences, Agricultural and Biological Sciences). – 2022. – Vol. 77(2). – P. 76-83. DOI : 10.3103/S0096392522020134
- Özek, G., Schepetkin I.A., Yermagambetova, M., Özek T., Kirpotina, L.N., Almerekova, S.S., Abugalieva, S.I., Khlebnikov A.I., Quinn M.T. Innate Immunomodulatory Activity of Cedrol, a Component of Essential Oils Isolated from Juniperus Species // Molecules (IF= 4.9, Q2 Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; SJR= 0.705, percentile: 83- Chemistry (miscellaneous), Chemistry) – 2021. – Vol. 26. – P. 7644. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26247644
- Sumbembayev, A. A., Abugalieva, S. I., Danilova, A. N., Matveyeva, E. V., & Szlachetko, D. L. A flower morphometry of members of the genus Dactylorhiza Necker ex Nevski (Orchidaceae) from the Altai Mountains of Kazakhstan // Biodiversitas (SJR= 0.327, percentile: 51 — Plant Science). – 2021. – Vol. 22(8). – P. 3545-3555 DOI: 10.13057/biodiv/d220855
- Almerekova, S., Shchegoleva, N., Abugalieva, S., & Turuspekov, Y. The molecular taxonomy of three endemic Central Asian species of Ranunculus (Ranunculaceae) // PLoS ONE (IF=3.8, Q2 – Multidisciplinary sciences; SJR=0.885, percentile: 87 – Multidisciplinary). – 2020. – Vol.15(10). – P. e0240121 doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0240121
- Almerekova S., Favarisova N., Turuspekov Y., Abugalieva S. * Cross-genera transferability of microsatellite markers and phylogenetic assessment of three Salsola species from Western Kazakhstan // Proceedings of the Latvian Academy of Sciences, Section B (SJR=0.143, percentile: 29-Multidisciplinary). – 2020. – Vol. 74. – No. 5. – P. 325-334. doi: 10.2478/prolas-2020-0049
- Genievskaya Y., Karelova D., Abugalieva S., Zhao P., Chen G., Turuspekov Y. SSR-based evaluation of genetic diversity in populations of Agriophyllum squarrosum and Agriophyllum minus Fisch. & Mey. collected in South-East Kazakhstan // Vavilovskii Zhurnal Genetiki i Selektsii=Vavilov Journal of genetics and Breeding (IF=0.9, Q3 – Agriculture,Multidisciplinary sciences; SJR=0.223, percentile: 46 –General Agricultural and Biological Sciences). – 2020. – Vol. 24. – No. 7. – P. 697-704. DOI: 10.18699/VJ20.664.
- Альмерекова Ш.С., Абугалиева С.И., * Мухитдинов Н.М. Taxonomic assessment of the Oxytropis species from South-East of Kazakhstan // Vavilov Journal of Genetics and Breeding (Вавиловский журнал генетики и селекции) (IF=0.9, Q3 – Agriculture,Multidisciplinary sciences; SJR=0.223, percentile: 46 –General Agricultural and Biological Sciences) – 2018. – Т. 22(2). – С.285-290. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18699/VJ18.362
- Turuspekov , Genievskaya Y., Baibulatova A., Zatybekov A., Kotuhov Y., Imanbayeva A., Abugalieva S.* Phylogenetic taxonomy of Artemisia L. species from Kazakhstan based on matK analyses // Proceedings of the Latvian Academy of Sciences. Section B. (SJR=0.127, percentile: 19-Multidisciplinary). – 2018. – Vol. 72, Issue 1, P. 29-37, ISSN (Online) 1407-009X, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/prolas-2017-0068.
- Genievskaya Y., Abugalieva S., Zhubanysheva A., Turuspekov Y. Morphological description and DNA barcoding study of sand rice (Aqriophyllum squarrosum, Chenopodiaceae) collected in Kazakhstan // BMC Plant Biology (IF=5.761, Q1 – Plant sciences; SJR=1.159, percentile: 92-Plant Science). – 2017. – Vol.17 (S.1). – Р. 1-8. doi: 10.1186/s12870-017-1132-1
- Almerekova Sh., Mukhitdinov N., Abugalieva S. Phylogenetic study of the endemic species Oxytropis almaatensis (Fabaceae) based on nuclear ribosomal DNA ITS sequences // BMC Plant biology (IF=5.9 Q1 – Plant sciences; SJR=1.159, percentile: 92-Plant Science). – 2017. – Vol.17 (Suppl.1). – Р. 19-27. doi.org/10.1186/s12870-017-1128-x;
- Туруспеков Е.К., Абугалиева С.И., Альмерекова Ш.С. Авторское свидетельство о внесении сведений в госреестр прав на объекты, охраняемые авторским правом –на базу данных «Биоразнообразие флоры Казахстана» (№20035 от 01.09.2021), http://www.kazflora.kz/.
- Амалова А., Курманбаева М., Туруспеков Е., Иващенко А.,
Абидкулова, К. (2018). Онтогенетическая структура ценопопуляций Tulipa оstrowskiana Regel в Заилийском Алатау. Вестник КазНУ. Серия экологическая, 56(3), 101-114
Results for 2024:
- Collection of plants of Allium species populations and replenishment of the DNA collection collected in the territory of southern and southeastern Kazakhstan has begun. As a result of expeditionary trips to the regions of southern and southeastern Kazakhstan, leaf material of 79 samples of 6 species (7 populations) of Allium was collected. The designed and scanned herbarium material was deposited in the database on the biodiversity of the wild flora of Kazakhstan IPBB KazFlora.
- Determination of the population structure and study of intra- and interspecific genetic diversity of Kazakhstani species of the genus Allium have begun. The study of intra- and interspecific genetic diversity of species of the genus Allium collected in the territory of southern and southeastern Kazakhstan was carried out using SSR markers. Work was carried out on DNA extraction, optimization of PCR conditions and analysis of samples of collected onion populations using SSR markers.
- Determination of nucleotide sequences of DNA markers of the nuclear and chloroplast genome of Allium species and reconstruction of the phylogenetic tree of the genus have been started. Determination of nucleotide sequences of DNA markers of the nuclear and chloroplast genome of Allium species has been started. The ITS marker was chosen for the nuclear genome, and the matK and rbcL markers were chosen for the chloroplast genome. The study of 2 species by ITS, matK and rbcL markers was carried out.