Polymorphism of ITS sequences in 35S rRNA genes in Elymus dahuricus aggregate species: two cryptic species?

Nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences were sequenced for 23 species and subspecies of Elymus sensu lato collected in Russia. The Neighbor-Net analysis of ITS sequences suggested that there are four ribotypes called Core Northern St-rDNA, Core Southern St-rDNA, Northern dahuricus St-rDNA and Southern dahuricus St-rDNA. The Core Southern variant of St-rDNA is closely related to rDNA of diploid Pseudoroegneria stipifolia (PI 313960) and P. spicata (PI 547161). The Core Northern St-rDNA is closely related to rDNA of P. cognata (PI 531720), a diploid species of Kyrgyzstan carrying StY variant of the St genome. The Core Northern St-rDNA is widespread among the Elymus species of Siberia and the Far East, including Yakutia and Chukotka. The Core Southern St-ribotype is typical of southern Elymus and Pseudoroegneria of the South Caucasus, Primorye, Pakistan, and South Korea. The Northern dahuricus St-ribotype and Southern dahuricus St-ribotype are derivatives of the Core Northern and Core Southern St-ribotypes, correspondingly. Both of them were found in all four studied species of the E. dahuricus aggregate: E. dahuricus Turcz. ex Griseb., E. franchetii Kitag., E. excelsus Turcz. ex Griseb. and Himalayan E. tangutorum (Nevski) Hand.-Mazz. In other words, there are at least two population groups (two races) of the Elymus dahuricus aggregate species that consistently differ in their ITS-sequences in Siberia, the Far East and Northern China. Each contains all morphological forms, which taxonomists now attribute either to different species of E. dahuricus aggr. (E. dahuricus sensu stricto, E. franchetii, E. tangutorum, E. excelsus) or subspecies of Campeiostachys dahurica (Turcz. ex Griseb.) B.R. Baum, J.L. Yang et C.C. Yen. At the moment it is unknown if there are any morphological differences between plants carrying either Northern or Southern dahuricus rDNA. Probably, they are cryptic species, but it is certain that if differences in morphology between the two races exist, they are not associated with signs that are now considered taxonomically significant and are used to separate E. dahuricus s. s., E. franchetii, E. tangutorum, and E. excelsus

A KARYOLOGICAL STUDY OF GRASSES (POACEAE) OF ALTAI. I.

Results of the karyological studies of 17 species of grasses of Altai mountain country from genera Аgrostis, Alopecurus, Anthoxanthum, Arctopoa, Calamagrostis, Elymus, Eremopoa, Koeleria, Hordeum, Melica, Psathyrostachys, Pleuropogon, Ptilagrostis, Setaria, Stipa, and Trisetum are reported

Intragenomic Polymorphism of the ITS 1 Region of 35S rRNA Gene in the Group of Grasses with Two-Chromosome Species: Different Genome Composition in Closely Related Zingeria Species

Zingeria (Poaceae) is a small genus that includes Z. biebersteiniana, a diploid species with the lowest chromosome number known in plants (2n = 4) as well as hexaploid Z. kochii and tetraploid Z. pisidica, and/or Z. trichopoda species. The relationship between these species and the other low-chromosomes species Colpodium versicolor are unclear. To explore the intragenomic polymorphism and genome composition of these species we examined the sequences of the internal transcribed spacer 1 of the 35S rRNA gene via NGS approach. Our study revealed six groups of ribotypes in Zingeria species. Their distribution confirmed the allopolyploid nature of Z. kochii, whose probable ancestors were Colpodium versicolor and Z. pisidica. Z. pisidica has 98% of rDNA characteristic only for this species, and about 0.3% of rDNA related to that of Z. biebersteiniana. We assume that hexaploid Z. kochii is either an old allopolyploid or a homodiploid that has lost most of the rRNA genes obtained from Z. biebersteiniana. In Z. trichopoda about 81% of rDNA is related to rDNA of Z. biebersteiniana and 19% of rDNA is derived from Poa diaphora sensu lato. The composition of the ribotypes of the two plants determined by a taxonomy specialist as Z. pisidica and Z. trichopoda is very different. Two singleton species are proposed on this base with ribotypes as discriminative characters. So, in all four studied Zingeria species, even if the morphological difference among the studied species was modest, the genomic constitution was significantly different, which suggests that these are allopolyploids that obtained genomes from different ancestors

Origin of the Rare Hybrid Genus ×<i>Trisetokoeleria</i> Tzvelev (<i>Poaceae</i>) According to Molecular Phylogenetic Data

In our article, we analyzed new data on the origin of the hybrid genus ×Trisetokoeleria. According to the morphological criteria ×T. jurtzevii is a hybrid between Koeleria asiatica s. l. and Trisetum spicatum, ×T. taimyrica, and originated from Koeleria asiatica s. l. and Trisetum subalpestre, ×T. gorodkowii, a hybrid between Koeleria asiatica and Trisetum ruprechtianum. Later ×T. taimyrica was transferred to Koeleria. Parental taxa are prone to active hybridization themselves, thus, new methods of next-generation sequencing (NGS) were needed to clarify the relationships of these genera. For NGS we used the fragment 18S rDNA (part)–ITS1–5.8S rDNA (totally 441 accessions). We analyzed ITS1–5.8S rDNA–ITS2 region, trnL–trnF and trnK–rps16 from eight samples of the five species, using the Sanger method: ×Trisetokoeleria jurtzevii, ×T. taimyrica, Koeleria asiatica, Sibirotrisetum sibiricum (=Trisetum sibiricum), and Trisetum spicatum. We also studied the pollen fertility of ×Trisetokoeleria and its possible progenitors. Our data partly contradicted previous assumptions, based on morphological grounds, and showed us a picture of developed introgression within and between Koeleria and Trisetum. ×T. jurtzevii, a totally sterile hybrid formed rather recently. We can suppose that ×T. jurtzevii is a hybrid between K. asiatica and some Trisetum s. str. Species, but not T. spicatum. ×T. gorodkowii, a hybrid in the stage of primary stabilization; it has one unique ribotype related to T. spicatum s. l. The second parental species is unrelated to Trisetum ruprechtianum. ×T. taimyrica and is a stabilized hybrid species; it shares major ribotypes with the T. spicatum/T. wrangelense group and has a minor fraction of rDNA related to genus Deyeuxia s. l