Abstract Detail

Molecular Ecology and Evolution

Tomasello, Salvatore [1], Oberprieler, Christoph [2].

Phylogeography of the polyploid complex of Leucanthemopsis alpina (L.) Heywood (Compositae, Anthemideae).

Leucanthemopsis alpina (Compositae, Anthemideae) is a little caespitose, scapose perennial herb linked to alpine environments (c. 1800-3600 m above sea-level) and distributed throughout the Alps, Apennines, Carpathians, Balkans, and Pyrenees. It is a polyploid complex, being represented by diploid, tetraploid, and hexaploid populations throughout its distribution range. In order to reconstruct the phylogeography of this polymorphic species, chloroplast markers (psbA-trnH, trnC-petN) for more than 80 populations from the Alps and further 10 populations from central Spain, the Pyrenees, Appennines, the Tatra Mountains, and from the southern Carpathian Mountains were sequenced. Using specimens belonging to two other species of the genus Leucanthemopsis as an outgroup, the phylogeographical reconstruction obtained shows a high diversity of haplotypes in the western Alps (where diploids are present), while the populations in the eastern Alps display a lower genetic differentiation. This may indicate the survival of the species in the western Alps during glacial cycles. One specimen from the ´Sierra de Urbion´ (central Spain) belonging to L. alpina subsp. cuneata is characterised by a chloroplast haplotype that is very deviating from the other accessions of the species, and very similar to the haplotypes of the outgroup, leading to the necessity of a better taxonomical placement of the taxon. While haplotypes from the western Pyrenees (where also the hexaploid populations of the species are distributed) occupy an intermediate position between the outgroup and the rest of the haplotypes of L. alpina, the populations sampled in the eastern Pyrenees are more closely related to the accessions from the Alps. It could witness for a Spanish origin of the species (in the W Pyrenees) and subsequent more recent migration from the Alps to the E Pyrenees.

Broader Impacts:

1 - University of Regensburg, Institute of Botany, Universitätsstr. 31, Regensburg, 93053, Germany
2 - Institute Of Botany, University Of Regensburg, Universitätsstr. 31, Regensburg, N/A, D-93040, Germany

Keywords:
Phylogeography
alpine plants.

Presentation Type: Poster:Posters for Topics
Session: P
Location: Grand Salon A - D/Riverside Hilton
Date: Monday, July 29th, 2013
Time: 5:30 PM
Number: PME001
Abstract ID:296
Candidate for Awards:Genetics Section Poster Award