Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38468197›Full record

ArticleBMC plant biology2024

Species delimitation of tea plants (Camellia sect. Thea) based on super-barcodes.

Yinzi Jiang, Junbo Yang, Ryan A Folk, Jianli Zhao, Jie Liu, Zhengshan He, Hua Peng, Shixiong Yang, Chunlei Xiang, Xiangqin Yu

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMC plant biology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

10 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. ddRAD sequencing of 1076Plant diversity · 2026
    Article
  2. The complete chloroplast genome sequence ofMitochondrial DNA. Part B, Resources · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Two New Species ofEcology and evolution · 2025
    Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Review
  10. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Yinzi Jiang *CAS Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650201, Yunnan, China.
Junbo Yang *Germplasm Bank of Wild Species, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650201, Yunnan, China.
Ryan A FolkDepartment of Biological Sciences, Mississippi State University, Starkville, 39762, MS, USA.
Jianli ZhaoYunnan Key Laboratory of Plant Reproductive Adaptation and Evolutionary Ecology, Laboratory of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, School of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650500, Yunnan, China.
Jie LiuCAS Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650201, Yunnan, China.
Zhengshan HeGermplasm Bank of Wild Species, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650201, Yunnan, China.
Hua PengCAS Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650201, Yunnan, China.
Shixiong YangCAS Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650201, Yunnan, China. shxyang@mail.kib.ac.cn.
Chunlei XiangCAS Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650201, Yunnan, China. xiangchunlei@mail.kib.ac.cn.
Xiangqin YuCAS Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650201, Yunnan, China. yuxiangqin@mail.kib.ac.cn.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe era of high throughput sequencing offers new paths to identifying species boundaries that are complementary to traditional morphology-based delimitations. De novo species delimitation using traditional or DNA super-barcodes serve as efficient approaches to recognizing putative species (molecular operational taxonomic units, MOTUs). Tea plants (Camellia sect. Thea) form a group of morphologically similar species with significant economic value, providing the raw material for tea, which is the most popular nonalcoholic caffeine-containing beverage in the world. Taxonomic challenges have arisen from vague species boundaries in this group.

resultsBased on the most comprehensive sampling of C. sect. Thea by far (165 individuals of 39 morphospecies), we applied three de novo species delimitation methods (ASAP, PTP, and mPTP) using plastome data to provide an independent evaluation of morphology-based species boundaries in tea plants. Comparing MOTU partitions with morphospecies, we particularly tested the congruence of MOTUs resulting from different methods. We recognized 28 consensus MOTUs within C. sect. Thea, while tentatively suggesting that 11 morphospecies be discarded. Ten of the 28 consensus MOTUs were uncovered as morphospecies complexes in need of further study integrating other evidence. Our results also showed a strong imbalance among the analyzed MOTUs in terms of the number of molecular diagnostic characters.

conclusionThis study serves as a solid step forward for recognizing the underlying species boundaries of tea plants, providing a needed evidence-based framework for the utilization and conservation of this economically important plant group.

Indexed as

CamelliaCamellia sinensisDNADNA Barcoding, TaxonomicHumansPhylogenyTeaDNATeaDe novo species delimitationPlastomeSuper-barcodeTea plants

Identifiers

PMID38468197
PMCPMC10926627

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.