Jumaat Haji Adam

RNA-seq data from different developmental stages of Rafflesia cantleyi floral buds

Rafflesia cantleyi, known as one of the worlds largest flowers, is a specialised holoparasite due to dramatic morphological modifications. It possesses highly reduced vegetative structure and only appears as a flower for sexual reproduction. Moreover, it has an unusual life cycle in that its floral bud development takes up to nine months. In order to fully understand the highly modified floral organ structure and long life cycle of R. cantleyi, we used Illumina sequencing technology (HiSeq) for sequence generation followed by de novo assembly of sequence reads. We obtained the RNA-seq data from three different stages of floral bud, representing the early, mid and advanced developmental stages. These data are available via BioProject accession number PRJNA378435. More than 10.3 Gb raw sequence data were generated, corresponding to 102,203,042 raw reads. Following removal of low-quality reads and trimming of adapter sequences, a total of 91,638,836 reads were obtained. De novo assembly of these sequences using Trinity resulted in 89,690 unique transcripts with an N50 of 1653 bp. The obtained transcriptomic data will be useful for further study to understand the molecular interactions that result in R. cantleyi floral development.

Perigone Lobe Transcriptome Analysis Provides Insights into Rafflesia cantleyi Flower Development

Rafflesia is a biologically enigmatic species that is very rare in occurrence and possesses an extraordinary morphology. This parasitic plant produces a gigantic flower up to one metre in diameter with no leaves, stem or roots. However, little is known about the floral biology of this species especially at the molecular level. In an effort to address this issue, we have generated and characterised the transcriptome of the Rafflesia cantleyi flower, and performed a comparison with the transcriptome of its floral bud to predict genes that are expressed and regulated during flower development. Approximately 40 million sequencing reads were generated and assembled de novo into 18,053 transcripts with an average length of 641 bp. Of these, more than 79% of the transcripts had significant matches to annotated sequences in the public protein database. A total of 11,756 and 7,891 transcripts were assigned to Gene Ontology categories and clusters of orthologous groups respectively. In addition, 6,019 transcripts could be mapped to 129 pathways in Kyoto Encyclopaedia of Genes and Genomes Pathway database. Digital abundance analysis identified 52 transcripts with very high expression in the flower transcriptome of R. cantleyi. Subsequently, analysis of differential expression between developing flower and the floral bud revealed a set of 105 transcripts with potential role in flower development. Our work presents a deep transcriptome resource analysis for the developing flower of R. cantleyi. Genes potentially involved in the growth and development of the R. cantleyi flower were identified and provide insights into biological processes that occur during flower development.

A new variety of Nepenthes reindwardtiana Miquel from Kalimantan, Borneo

A detailed description of Nepenthes reindwardtiana Miquel is provided, and its distribution is reviewed. One new variety, N. reindwardtiana var. samarindaiensis Adam & Wilcock, from Kalimantan in Borneo is described.

Distribution and taxonomy of Rafflesia R. Br. (Rafflesiaceae) in Peninsular Malaysia

Distribution of Rafflesia spesies are only endemic to tropical rainforest in Southeast Asia. Malaysia is among the country that is blessed with Rafflesia species and reported can be found in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak. Not all state in Peninsular Malaysia are reported to have this magnificent flower. Only states of Perak, Pahang, Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah that are reported to have the distribution of Rafflesia species in Peninsular Malaysia. There are seven species of Rafflesia that have been reported and daescribed in Peninsular Malaysia, which namely R. cantleyi, R. kerrii, R. azlanii, R. su-meiae, R. sharifah-hapsahiae, R. parvimaculata and R. tuanku-halimii.Distribution of Rafflesia spesies are only endemic to tropical rainforest in Southeast Asia. Malaysia is among the country that is blessed with Rafflesia species and reported can be found in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak. Not all state in Peninsular Malaysia are reported to have this magnificent flower. Only states of Perak, Pahang, Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah that are reported to have the distribution of Rafflesia species in Peninsular Malaysia. There are seven species of Rafflesia that have been reported and daescribed in Peninsular Malaysia, which namely R. cantleyi, R. kerrii, R. azlanii, R. su-meiae, R. sharifah-hapsahiae, R. parvimaculata and R. tuanku-halimii.

A premilinary survey of tree species in the habitat of Rafflesia at Sungai Kenau, Raub, Pahang, Malaysia

A study was conducted to determine the floristic composition of the Sungai Kenau, Raub, Pahang. The study area was located in the lowland dipterocarp forest where logging and forest opening were common in Malaysia and the area have a population of Rafflesia. The method used was plotting with size of 100 m ×10 m for each plot. Each plot was then divided into 10 subplots measuring 10 m ×10 m. All trees with diameter at breast height (DBH) of 5 cm and above was measured and recorded. Results showed that there were 623 individual trees in an area of 0.5 hectares which includes 50 families, 98 genera and 140 species. Annonaceae was the most dominant family in the study area, while the dominant species in the entire study area was Saraca cauliflora (Leguminosae). The contribution of this study were the presence of tree species from Macaranga which can be used as biological indicator to detect the presence of an open area in the forest while Saraca cauliflora can also be a biological indicator that indicated the...

Study on the Floristic Composition and Forest Structure of Heath Forest at Dungun Area in Terengganu

A study to determine floristic composition and forest structure has been carried out at eight different localities in Rantau Abang area in Dungun, Terengganu. Each plot with an area of 10 m × 100 m was subdivided into 10 subplots of 10 m × 10 m. This subdivision is necessary in order to calculate the relative frequency (Rf) of the tree species in each plot. A total of 505 trees with a diameter at breast height (dbh) ≥5 cm were enumerated in 0.8 ha sampling area and thus give an estimated density of 631 trees/ha−1. The importance value (IV) showed that these forest stands can be classified into eight different associations, namely, Melaleuca cajuputi -Acacia auriculiformis association, Acacia auriculiformis-Melaleuca cajuputi association, Acacia auriculiformis-Syzygium grande association, Casuarina equisetifolia-Acacia auriculiformis association, Melaleuca cajuputi-Fagraea fragrans association, Melaleuca cajuputi-Syzygium grande association, Melaleuca cajuputi-Acacia auriculiformis association, and Melaleuca cajuputi-Pandanus sp. association. These associations were shown to have a low forest stature with a maximum height of 12 m, one-layered canopy, small tree size with maximum dbh of 26 cm, and lower values in species diversity indices, that is, Menhinick’s Richness Index (R) (0.56–2.20), Shannon-Weiner Diversity Index (H’) (0.27–1.04), and Evenness Species Index (E) (0.35–0.86).