Isolation and Characterization of Microsatellite Markers for Hypochaeris incana (Asteraceae) and Close Relatives

Premise of the study: We developed microsatellite markers to study clonal growth and interspecific hybridization in the Patagonian and subantarctic plant Hypochaeris incana (Asteraceae) and its closest relatives. Methods and Results: We developed primers for microsatellite loci from 454 sequence reads of genomic DNA of H. incana. We tested them on individuals of H. acaulis, H. hookeri, H. incana, H. palustris, and H. tenuifolia. We selected 15 polymorphic microsatellite loci, which delivered clearly scorable fragments in most or all species. With mean values between 0.7 and 0.8, the expected heterozygosity in populations of H. incana is high. Conclusions: Due to high levels of polymorphism, the developed markers make it possible to distinguish between genets and ramets in H. incana. In some markers, null alleles complicate the scoring of genotypes in tetraploids. All of the developed markers are suitable to study interspecific hybridization among this group of closely related species.Fil: Wang, Ping. University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences; AustriaFil: Tremetsberger, Karin. University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences; AustriaFil: Urtubey, Estrella. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. Academia Nacional de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Botánica Darwinion; ArgentinaFil: Bernhardt, Karl-Georg. University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences; Austri

Revision of the genus Helminthotheca Vaill. (Cichorieae, Compositae)

Se presenta la revisión taxonómica del género Helminthotheca Vaill., basada en el estudio morfol ógico de material en toda su área de distribución. El género, que se incluye en la subtribu Hypochaeridinae de la tribu Cichorieae, tiene una distribución centrada principalmente en el oeste de la Región Mediterránea, y se diferencia del resto de los géneros de la subtribu por la presencia de acúleos ± espinosos y setas gloquidiadas en los tallos, hojas y a veces en las brácteas del involucro, pero sobre todo por la presencia de 5 hojas involucrantes que rodean al verdadero involucro del capítulo. Sobre la base del ciclo de vida, la morfología de las hojas involucrantes y los tipos de frutos, las distintas especies del género se reagrupan en tres secciones: Helminthotheca, Vigineixia y Eliptica. Las secciones Helminthotheca y Vigineixia, ambas monotípicas, comprenden especies anuales, con hojas involucrantes cordiformes y los frutos del capítulo dimorfos. La sección Eliptica, con 5 especies reconocidas, se diferencia de las otras secciones por incluir especies perennes, con hojas involucrantes ovadas o elípticas y frutos del capítulo homomorfos. En este trabajo se efectúa una combinación nueva, Helminthotheca sect. Vigineixia (Pomel) Talavera, y se da un nombre nuevo a Picris subgen. Deckera sensu Battandier: Helminthotheca sect. Eliptica Talavera & Tremetsberger. La sección Eliptica es la más compleja debido, sobre todo, a la hibridación interespecífica cuando las especies conviven, habiéndose detectado zonas híbridas en el N del Guadalquivir al W de Sierra Morena (S de España), en el extremo más occidental de las montañas del Rif, cerca de la Península ingitana, en el E del Rif (NW of Marruecos), en las montañas del Atlas argelino y en las colinas arcillosas de Beni-Zenthis (Orán, Argelia

Phylogeny and biogeography of the Pleistocene Holarctic steppe and semidesert goosefoot plant Krascheninnikovia ceratoides

Krascheninnikovia ceratoides (Chenopodiaceae) is a steppe and semi-desert plant with two subspecies, K. ceratoides subsp. ceratoides, which is widespread in Eurasia, and K. ceratoides subsp. lanata, which grows in western and central North America. A few disjunct populations of K. ceratoides subsp. ceratoides are found in Anatolia, Europe and North Africa to the west of its otherwise continuous Eurasian distribution. To understand the evolutionary history of this characteristic steppe and semi-desert plant, we analysed its phylogeny and biogeography. We sequenced several loci including ITS, ETS and the chloroplast intergenic spacer regions atpB-rbcL, rpl32-trnL and trnL-trnF to establish a time-calibrated phylogeny and reconstruct intraspecific relationships. Furthermore, we identified the ploidy level of individuals. While diploid, tetraploid and hexaploid individuals have been reported in the literature, we were only able to find diploids and tetraploids. The diploids were found in the east of Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and the USA. The tetraploids were located in the west of Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Russia, and Europe. Populations were uniformly di- or tetraploid. Our results indicate that the species may have spread from the area of Mongolia, northern China and Middle Asia (i.e., the Altai Mountains region) in two opposite directions – on the one hand, diploids migrated to the east, to eastern Asia and North America, and on the other hand diploids and tetraploids migrated to the west, to western Asia and Europe. Fossil-calibrated gene trees were used to estimate the age of the species. Diversification within the species is probably of Pleistocene age. Our dated analysis indicates that the first split among extant lineages of the species took place in the Early Pleistocene (Gelasian). The spread of the main lineages is likely related to major phases of steppe and semi-desert expansions during glacial periods of the Pleistocene

Chromosome numbers and karyotypes of South American species and populations of Hypochaeris (Asteraceae)

One hundred and thirty-seven new chromosome counts are reported from 104 populations of 26 native South American taxa of Hypochaeris (Asteraceae, Lactuceae), together with two invasive Mediterranean species: H. glabra and H. radicata. First reports are provided for seven taxa (H. alba, H. cf. eremophila, H. caespitosa, H. hookeri, H. parodii, H. patagonica and H. pinnatifida) and one new ploidy level is reported (diploid for H. incana, so far known only as a tetraploid). Including the results of this study, the chromosomes of 39 of the c. 50 Hypochaeris species known from the New World have now been counted. Most species are diploid with 2n = 2x = 8 and have bimodal, asymmetrical karyotypes. Tetraploidy (2n = 4x = 16) is reported here for the first time in H. caespitosa. Infra-specific polyploidy (probably autopolyploidy) is reported in H. incana and H. taraxacoides, both cases including infra-populational cytotype mixtures (2x and 4x). Polyploidy is now known from eight South American Hypochaeris species (c. 16%). Basic karyotype analyses allow the placement of the newly counted taxa into previously proposed but slightly modified groupings and provide the framework for further molecular cytogenetic analyses. The reported findings suggest that chromosomal change in South American Hypochaeris, in contrast to Old World species, has not involved aneuploidy, but polyploidy and/or more subtle changes in chromosome length, perhaps via satellite DNA amplification/deletion or activity of retroelements, and rDNA reorganization.Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Muse

Phylogeography above the species level for perennial species in a composite genus

In phylogeography, DNA sequence and fingerprint data at the population level are used to infer evolutionary histories of species. Phylogeography above the species level is concerned with the genealogical aspects of divergent lineages. Here, we provide a phylogeographic study to examine the evolutionary history of a western Mediterranean composite, focusing on the perennial species of Helminthotheca (Asteraceae, Cichorieae). We used molecular markers (AFLP; ITS and plastid DNA sequences) to infer relationships among populations throughout the distributional range of the group. Interpretation is aided by biogeographic and molecular clock analyses. Four coherent entities are revealed by Bayesian mixture clustering of AFLP data, which correspond to taxa previously recognized at the rank of subspecies. The origin of the group was in western North Africa, from where it expanded across the Strait of Gibraltar to the Iberian Peninsula and across the Strait of Sicily to Sicily. Pleistocene lineage divergence is inferred within western North Africa as well as within the western Iberian region. The existence of the four entities as discrete evolutionary lineages suggests that they should be elevated to the rank of species, yielding H. aculeata, H. comosa, H. maroccana and H. spinosa, whereby the latter two necessitate new combinations

Revisión del género Helminthotheca Vaill. (Cichorieae, Compositae)

Revisión del género Helminthotheca Vaill. (Cichorieae, Compositae). Se presenta la revisión taxonómica del género Helminthotheca Vaill., basada en el estudio morfológico de material en toda su área de distribución. El género, que se incluye en la subtribu Hypochaeridinae de la tribu Cichorieae, tiene una distribución centrada principalmente en el oeste de la Región Mediterránea, y se diferencia del resto de los géneros de la subtribu por la presencia de acúleos ± espinosos y setas gloquidiadas en los tallos, hojas y a veces en las brácteas del involucro, pero sobre todo por la presencia de 5 hojas involucrantes que rodean al verdadero involucro del capítulo. Sobre la base del ciclo de vida, la morfología de las hojas involucrantes y los tipos de frutos, las distintas especies del género se reagrupan en tres secciones: Helminthotheca, Vigineixia y Eliptica. Las secciones Helminthotheca y Vigineixia, ambas monotípicas, comprenden especies anuales, con hojas involucrantes cordiformes y los frutos del capítulo dimorfos. La sección Eliptica, con 5 especies reconocidas, se diferencia de las otras secciones por incluir especies perennes, con hojas involucrantes ovadas o elípticas y frutos del capítulo homomorfos. En este trabajo se efectúa una combinación nueva, Helminthotheca sect. Vigineixia (Pomel) Talavera, y se da un nombre nuevo a Picris subgen. Deckera sensu Battandier: Helminthotheca sect. Eliptica Talavera & Tremetsberger. La sección Eliptica es la más compleja debido, sobre todo, a la hibridación interespecífica cuando las especies conviven, habiéndose detectado zonas híbridas en el N del Guadalquivir al W de Sierra Morena (S de España), en el extremo más occidental de las montañas del Rif, cerca de la Península Tingitana, en el E del Rif (NW of Marruecos), en las montañas del Atlas argelino y en las colinas arcillosas de Beni-Zenthis (Orán, Argelia).Revision of the genus Helminthotheca Vaill. (Cichorieae, Compositae). Based on a morphological study, we present the revision of the genus Helminthotheca Vaill., a small member of the subtribe Hypochaeridinae of the tribe Cichorieae, which is mainly distributed in the western part of the Mediterranean region. Helminthotheca is differentiated from the remaining genera of the subtribe by thepresence of ± spiny prickles and glochid-like bristles in stems, leaves and, sometimes, involucral bracts. The main distinguishing character, however, is the presence of 5 outer involucral leaves, which surround the proper involucre of the head. Based on the life cycle, the morphology of the outer involucral leaves and the fruit types found in the head, species of Helminthotheca are rearranged in three sections: Helminthotheca, Vigineixia and Eliptica. The sections Helminthotheca and Vigineixia, both monotypic, are annuals with cordate outer involucral leaves and dimorphic fruits in the head. The section Eliptica, with five recognized species, is differentiated from the other sections by its perennial habit, ovate or elliptic outer involucral leaves and homomorphic fruits in the head. Here, we make a new combination, Helminthotheca sect. Vigineixia (Pomel) Talavera, and give a new name to Picris subgen. Deckera sensu Battandier, Helminthotheca sect. Eliptica Talavera & Tremetsberger. The section Eliptica is the most complex section, due mainly to interspecific hybridization between all species, when they co-occur, with hybrid zones having been detected in the N of the Guadalquivir River in the W of the Sierra Morena (S Spain), in the westernmost part of the Rif Mountains, near the Tangier Peninsula, in the E Rif and Middle Atlas (NW Morocco), in the Algerian Atlas Mountains and in the argillaceous hills of Beni-Zenthis (Oran, Algeria).Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia de España /Fondos FEDER (Unión Europea) "Flora ibérica" CGL2009-08178, CGL2012-32914, CGL2008-02486-E y CGL2008-02531-

Chromosome numbers and karyotypes of South American species and populations of Hypochaeris (Asteraceae)

One hundred and thirty-seven new chromosome counts are reported from 104 populations of 26 native South American taxa of Hypochaeris (Asteraceae, Lactuceae), together with two invasive Mediterranean species: H. glabra and H. radicata. First reports are provided for seven taxa (H. alba, H. cf. eremophila, H. caespitosa, H. hookeri, H. parodii, H. patagonica and H. pinnatifida) and one new ploidy level is reported (diploid for H. incana, so far known only as a tetraploid). Including the results of this study, the chromosomes of 39 of the c. 50 Hypochaeris species known from the New World have now been counted. Most species are diploid with 2n = 2x = 8 and have bimodal, asymmetrical karyotypes. Tetraploidy (2n = 4x = 16) is reported here for the first time in H. caespitosa. Infra-specific polyploidy (probably autopolyploidy) is reported in H. incana and H. taraxacoides, both cases including infra-populational cytotype mixtures (2x and 4x). Polyploidy is now known from eight South American Hypochaeris species (c. 16%). Basic karyotype analyses allow the placement of the newly counted taxa into previously proposed but slightly modified groupings and provide the framework for further molecular cytogenetic analyses. The reported findings suggest that chromosomal change in South American Hypochaeris, in contrast to Old World species, has not involved aneuploidy, but polyploidy and/or more subtle changes in chromosome length, perhaps via satellite DNA amplification/deletion or activity of retroelements, and rDNA reorganization.Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Muse

Dos especies naturalizadas en el NW de Marruecos

Two naturalized species in NW Morocco.Palabras clave. Flora, corología, especies alóctonas, Marruecos.Key Words. Flora, chorology, exotic species, Morocco