Leaf morphological differentiation between Quercus robur and Quercus petraea is stable across western European mixed oak stands

© INRA, EDP Sciences 2002Leaf morphology was assessed in nine mixed oak stands (Quercus petraea and Q. robur ) located in eight European countries. Exhaustive sampling was used in an area of each stand where the two species coexisted in approximately equal proportions (about 170 trees/species/stand). Fourteen leaf characters were assessed on each of 5 to10 leaves collected from the upper part of each tree. Three multivariate statistical techniques (CDA, canonical discriminant analysis; PCA, principal component analysis; MCA, multiple correspondence analysis) were used in two different ways: first on the total set of leaves over all stands (global analysis) and second, separately within each stand (local analysis). There was a general agreement of the results among the statistical methods used and between the analyses conducted (global and local). The first synthetic variable derived by each multivariate analysis exhibited a clear and sharp bimodal distribution, with overlapping in the central part. The two modes were interpreted as the two species, and the overlapping region was interpreted as an area where the within-species variations were superimposed. There was no discontinuity in the distribution or no visible evidence of a third mode which would have indicated the existence of a third population composed of trees with intermediate morphologies. Based on petiole length and number of intercalary veins, an "easy to use" discriminant function applicable to a major part of the natural distribution of the species was constructed. Validation on an independent set of trees provided a 98% rate of correct identification. The results were interpreted in the light of earlier reports about extensive hybridization occurring in mixed oak stands. Maternal effects on morphological characters, as well as a lower frequency or fitness of hybrids in comparison with parent species could explain the maintenance of two modes, which might be composed of either pure species or pure species and introgressed forms.Antoine Kremer, Jean Luc Dupouey, J. Douglas Deans, Joan Cottrell, Ulrike Csaikl, Reiner Finkeldey, Santiago Espinel, Jan Jensen, Jochen Kleinschmit, Barbara Van Dam, Alexis Ducousso, Ian Forrest, U. Lopez de Heredia, Andrew J. Lowe, Marcela Tutkova, Robert C. Munro, Sabine Steinhoff and Vincent Badea

The Cotton Centromere Contains a Ty3-gypsy-like LTR Retroelement

The centromere is a repeat-rich structure essential for chromosome segregation; with the long-term aim of understanding centromere structure and function, we set out to identify cotton centromere sequences. To isolate centromere-associated sequences from cotton, (Gossypium hirsutum) we surveyed tandem and dispersed repetitive DNA in the genus. Centromere-associated elements in other plants include tandem repeats and, in some cases, centromere-specific retroelements. Examination of cotton genomic survey sequences for tandem repeats yielded sequences that did not localize to the centromere. However, among the repetitive sequences we also identified a gypsy-like LTR retrotransposon (Centromere Retroelement Gossypium, CRG) that localizes to the centromere region of all chromosomes in domestic upland cotton, Gossypium hirsutum, the major commercially grown cotton. The location of the functional centromere was confirmed by immunostaining with antiserum to the centromere-specific histone CENH3, which co-localizes with CRG hybridization on metaphase mitotic chromosomes. G. hirsutum is an allotetraploid composed of A and D genomes and CRG is also present in the centromere regions of other AD cotton species. Furthermore, FISH and genomic dot blot hybridization revealed that CRG is found in D-genome diploid cotton species, but not in A-genome diploid species, indicating that this retroelement may have invaded the A-genome centromeres during allopolyploid formation and amplified during evolutionary history. CRG is also found in other diploid Gossypium species, including B and E2 genome species, but not in the C, E1, F, and G genome species tested. Isolation of this centromere-specific retrotransposon from Gossypium provides a probe for further understanding of centromere structure, and a tool for future engineering of centromere mini-chromosomes in this important crop species

A comparative restriction endonuclease analysis of nuclear DNA from Austrian Apodemus species: Intraspecific variability in middle repetitive DNA families contrasts isoenzyme data

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Chloroplast DNA variation within the Nordic countries

Chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) variation was studied in the white oak species, Quercus robur and Quercus petraea, from Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland. A total of 474 trees from 91 populations were screened within the region for a set of previously characterised cpDNA haplotypes. Within the sample, haplotype 1, known to have originated from an Italian Pleistocene forest refugium, was the most common (55%), and was well-distributed across all Scandinavian countries and dominated in Sweden. We propose that material of Italian origin was part of the first wave of post-glacial migration of oak into Scandinavia, and that the Italian haplotype migrated into Finland from Sweden across the Baltic Sea. In Finland, a sharply defined transition zone between the haplotype of Italian origin and haplotype 5, originating from an eastern European refugium in the Balkans, was observed in southern Finland, and confirms the findings of a previous study [Heredity 80 (1998) 584]. Evidence from the study of Csaikl et al. [For. Ecol. Manage., this issue] confirms that this haplotype migrated into Finland via an eastern route through the Baltic States. Another haplotype of Balkan origin (haplotype 7) was only common in southern Denmark and known to be present throughout the native German forests [For. Ecol. Manage., this issue], from where we believe it migrated into Denmark. It appears probable that this haplotype reached Denmark later than the Italian lineage as its progress towards north appears to have been hindered by a bottlenecking in central Denmark. Finally, three haplotypes originally of Iberian origin (haplotypes 10-12) were also found at intermediate frequency throughout the Nordic countries sampled, except Finland. This pattern of distribution suggests that migration occurred concurrently or just behind that of the Italian lineage. One of the Iberian haplotypes (haplotype 12) is rare in autochthonous stands, but found at a frequency of 24% in planted non-autochthonous stands in Denmark. Overall, the proportion of populations fixed for a single haplotype was high in natural, autochthonous stands (77%) and lower in artificial stands (54%). In addition, population subdivision was higher (GsT = 0.87) and diversity lower (hs = 0.075 and hT = 0.6) in autochthonous stands than in artificial stands (GST = 0.69, hs = 0.22, hT = 0.72). The pattern of haplotype distribution across Scandinavia and Finland appears fairly clumped and is discussed in relation to natural gene flow, leptokurtic post-glacial dispersal and human influences. Finally, no relation between cpDNA haplotype and six quantitative traits measured on autochthonous stands in Denmark was found. The potential for cpDNA haplotype screening for setting gene conservation and seed certification priorities is discussed. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.Jan Svejgaard Jensen, Amanda Gillies, Ulrike Csaikl, Robert Munro, Søren Flemming Madsen, Hans Roulund and Andy Low