Implications of hybridisation and cytotypic differentiation in speciation assessed by AFLP and plastid haplotypes : a case study of Potentilla alpicola La Soie

  • Background: Hybridisation is presumed to be an important mechanism in plant speciation and a creative evolutionary force often accompanied by polyploidisation and in some cases by apomixis. The Potentilla collina group constitutes a particularly suitable model system to study these phenomena as it is morphologically extensively variable, exclusively polyploid and expresses apomixis. In the present study, the alpine taxon Potentilla alpicola has been chosen in order to study its presumed hybrid origin, identify underlying evolutionary processes and infer the discreteness or taxonomic value of hybrid forms. Results: Combined analysis of AFLP, cpDNA sequences and ploidy level variation revealed a hybrid origin of the P. alpicola populations from South Tyrol (Italy) resulting from crosses between P. pusilla and two cytotypes of P. argentea. Hybrids were locally sympatric with at least one of the parental forms. Three lineages of different evolutionary origin comprising two ploidy levels were identified within P. alpicola. The lineages differed in parentage and the complexity of the evolutionary process. A geographically wide-spread lineage thus contrasted with locally distributed lineages of different origins. Populations of P. collina studied in addition, have been regarded rather as recent derivatives of the hexaploid P. argentea. The observation of clones within both P. alpicola and P. collina suggested a possible apomictic mode of reproduction. Conclusions: Different hybridisation scenarios taking place on geographically small scales resulted in viable progeny presumably stabilised by apomixis. The case study of P. alpicola supports that these processes played a significant role in the creation of polymorphism in the genus Potentilla. However, multiple origin of hybrids and backcrossing are considered to produce a variety of evolutionary spontaneous forms existing aside of reproductively stabilised, established lineages.

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Metadaten
Author:Juraj PauleORCiDGND, Antonia Scherbantin, Christoph Dobeš
URN:urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-257766
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2148-12-132
ISSN:1471-2148
Pubmed Id:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22852761
Parent Title (English):BMC evolutionary biology
Publisher:BioMed Central
Place of publication:London
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Date of Publication (online):2012/08/01
Date of first Publication:2012/08/01
Publishing Institution:Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg
Release Date:2012/11/05
Tag:AFLP; Apomixis; Hybridisation; Introgression; Polyploidy; Potentilla; Reproduction mode; Rosaceae; cpDNA
Volume:12
Issue:132
Page Number:12
Note:
© 2012 Paule et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
HeBIS-PPN:35794481X
Institutes:Angeschlossene und kooperierende Institutionen / Senckenbergische Naturforschende Gesellschaft
Biowissenschaften / Institut für Ökologie, Evolution und Diversität
Dewey Decimal Classification:5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 58 Pflanzen (Botanik) / 580 Pflanzen (Botanik)
Sammlungen:Universitätspublikationen
Sammlung Biologie / Sondersammelgebiets-Volltexte
Licence (German):License LogoCreative Commons - Namensnennung 3.0