Global ploidy levels of Phragmites australis
Data files
Jun 03, 2025 version files 277.57 KB
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Paustralis_Ploidy.csv
271.58 KB
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README.md
5.99 KB
Abstract
Phragmites australis is one of the most widely distributed macrophytes in the world and a model system for biological invasions, as both native and introduced lineages grow sympatrically across North America. Decades of research on this tall grass and its biotic and abiotic interactions have advanced our understanding of plant ecology and plant invasions, including evidence for the relationship between distribution and specific traits to particular ploidy levels within the species. Phragmites australis is characterized by its allopolyploid origins with a base chromosome number of x = 12, with tetraploids and octoploids dominating worldwide. While aneuploids of tetraploid plants have been documented with a total chromosome count around 48 modern high-resolution imaging has found only euploids in all samples. As P. australis chromosomes have large heterochromatin terminal knobs that break easily, earlier evidence of aneuploidy could be the result of artefactual aneuploid counts. The data published here represents samples the authors collected from the field and analyzed using flow cytometry and by extracting data from the published literature. Based on our own data and data extracted from the literature, we found that tetraploids of this species are the most widely distributed globally and are the dominant invasive ploidy level in North America. Higher ploidy levels are more restricted, particularly those greater than 8x.
Access this dataset on Dryad:https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3bk3j9kxj)
Brief summary of dataset contents
This data sets consists of two types of ploidy data, observed samples from our common gardens either in Kingston, RI, USA or in Průhonice, Czechia which consisted of plants were collected from all over the world and grown in either garden and data extracted from published and unpublished literature. The method used to determine ploidy level is included for all ploidy values reported. All data are georeferenced.
Observed samples from our collection were freshly collected tissue samples from independent P. australis clones representing distinct populations obtained from the living collections curated at the University of Rhode Island, Kingston and the Institute of Botany, Czech Academy of Sciences, Průhonice, CZ. We also included some fresh tissue samples from field collections from plants not grown in our garden. These were transported to our lab in Průhonice, CZ on ice and analyzed immediately. All fresh samples were analyzed using flow cytometry and verified using chromosome counts.
For the ploidy data extracted from the literature, we carefully searched the Phragmites literature (Web of Science, Google Scholar, Scopus, extensive web search and cross-checked all published ploidy levels against populations in our own collection) for reported data on ploidy levels on P. australis using the following combination of key words: Phragmites australis, Phragmites communis, common reed, ploidy, polyploidy, chromosome, karyotype, and cytotype. We also searched the Chromosome Counts Database (http://ccdb.tau.ac.il/) to compile a comprehensive database of reported ploidy levels in *P. australis *and the location of their collections.
This data set represents a comprehensive global compilation of reported ploidy levels for P. australis ploidy levels.
Description of the data and file structure
We have submitted a .csv file of all of the ploidy data from our common garden samples Paustralis_ploidy.csv.
Variables
- Source: Indicates whether tissue samples collected from common garden (USA or CZ) or ploidy values were extracted from the literature.
- Continent: Indicates the continent from which the plant sample was collected.
- Country: Indicates the country from which the plant sample was collected.
- ID: Indicates the nearest named geographic reference, if known. Otherwise, blank.
- Latitude: Latitude where plant sample was collected.
- Longitude: Longitude of where plant sample was collected.
- Ploidy: Ploidy level as measured in our lab in CZ by flow cytometry or extracted from the literature.
- Method: Method used to determine ploidy level
- Reference: Published literature source where the data is published.
Sharing/Access information
Full references from data extracted from the literature:
Clevering OA, Lissner J. 1999. Taxonomy, chromosome numbers, clonal diversity and population dynamics of Phragmites australis. Aquat. Bot. 64:185–208.
Connor, H. E., Dawson, M. I., Keating, R. D., & Gill, L. S. (1998). Chromosome numbers of Phragmites australis (Arundineae: Gramineae) in New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany, 36(3), 465–469. https://doi.org/10.1080/0028825X.1998.9512584.
Djebrouni, M. Variabilité morphologique, caryologique et enzymatique chez quelques populations dePhragmites australis (Cav.)Trin. exSteud.. Folia geobot. phytotax. 27, 49–59 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02854653.
Gaudreault, S.M., White, D.A. and Hauber, D.P., 1989. Phragmites australis: an analysis of reproductive differences in two adjacent populations in the Mississippi River delta. American Journal of Botany, 76(6).
Gervais, C., R. Trahan, D. Moreno, and A.-M. Drolet. 1993. Le Phragmites australis au Québec: distribution géographique, nombres chromosomiques et reproduction. Canadian Journal of Botany. 71(10): 1386-1393. https://doi.org/10.1139/b93-166.
Gorenflot, R. (1976). Le complexe polyploïde du Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steud. (= P. communis Trin.). Bulletin de La Société Botanique de France, 123(5–6), 261–271. https://doi.org/10.1080/00378941.1976.10835694.
Keller, BE. 2000. Genetic variation among and within populations of Phragmites australis in the Charles River watershed. Aquatic Botany 66: 195-208.
Löve, A., 1981. Chromosome number reports LXXI. Taxon 30, 508–519.
Meyerson, LA, JT Cronin, J Packer, P Pyšek, K Saltonstall. (2025, In Press). Ecology and Evolution of Phragmites australis, One of the World’s Most Successful Plant Species. Annual Reviews of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics.
Nakagawa, M., Ohkawa, T. And Kaneko, Y. (2013), Flow cytometric assessment of cytotype distributions within local populations of Phragmites australis (Poaceae) around Lake Biwa, the largest lake in Japan. Plant Species Biology, 28: 94-100. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1442-1984.2012.00370.x
Paucã-Comãnescu, Mihaela , Olga A Clevering, Jenicã Hanganu, Mihai Gridin. 1999. Phenotypic differences among ploidy levels of Phragmites australis growing in Romania. Aquatic Botany 64: 223-234.
Pellegrin, Dana and Donald P Hauber. 1999. Isozyme variation among populations of the clonal species, Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steudel. Aquatic Botany 63: 241-259.
Raicu P, Staicus S, Stoian V, Roman T. 1972. The Phragmites australis Trin. chromosome complement in the Danube delta. Hydrobiologia 39: 83-89.
Saltonstall K, Glennon K, Burnett A, Hunter RB, Hunter KL. 2007. Comparison of morphological variation indicative of ploidy level in Phragmites australis (POACEAE) from Eastern North America. Rhodora, 109: 415–429.
Tateoka,T., 19571601225, Undetermined, Annual report, (4), Annual Report of the National Institute of Genetics, Japan 1953., (45–47 pp.), Karyotaxonomic studies in Poaceae I., (1954)
This data sets consists of two types of ploidy data, observed samples from our common gardens either in Kingston, RI, USA or in Průhonice, Czechia which consisted of plants were collected from all over the world and grown in either garden and data extracted from published and unpublished literature. The method used to determine ploidy level is included for all ploidy values reported. All data are georeferenced.
Observed samples from our collection were freshly collected tissue samples from independent P. australis clones representing distinct populations obtained from the living collections curated at the University of Rhode Island, Kingston and the Institute of Botany, Czech Academy of Sciences, Průhonice, CZ. We also included some fresh tissue samples from field collections from plants not grown in our garden. These were transported to our lab in Průhonice, CZ on ice and analyzed immediately. All fresh samples were analyzed using flow cytometry and verified using chromosome counts.
For the ploidy data extracted from the literature, we carefully searched the Phragmites literature (Web of Science, Google Scholar, Scopus, extensive web search and cross-checked all published ploidy levels against populations in our own collection) for reported data on ploidy levels on P. australis using the following combination of key words: Phragmites australis, Phragmites communis, common reed, ploidy, polyploidy, chromosome, karyotype, and cytotype. We also searched the Chromosome Counts Database (http://ccdb.tau.ac.il/) to compile a comprehensive database of reported ploidy levels in P. australis and the location of their collections.
This data set represents a comprehensive global compilation of reported ploidy levels for P. australis ploidy levels.