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Genome size comparison in Colobanthus quitensis populations show differences in species ploidy

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Abstract

Colobanthus quitensis is the only native dicotyledoneae in the Antarctic; therefore, it is the object of ample research regarding tolerance mechanisms to its extreme habitat. This species also represents a wide geographical distribution, from 68°S to 17°N and from 0 m a.s.l. in the south to 4200 m a.s.l. in the north of its distribution area. As the described habitats for different populations coincide in their extreme abiotic characteristics, there has been increasing interest in studying different populations in recent years, as well as the existence of phenotypic or genetic variability among them. In contrast, very little is known about its genome; knowledge of genome size and ploidy levels allows the development of strategies to generate information in population studies related to structure, gene flow and genetic diversity in order to describe phenotypic characteristics. Several studies have related genome size to the ecological requirements of the species distributed through an ample environmental gradient. For several years now, flow cytometry has become a simple method to determine genome size in a wide variety of species. In this paper, we determine genome size for three C. quitensis populations. The populations of Arctowski and La Marisma (Punta Arenas) have 2C = 1.95 pg, while the Conguillio population reported 2C = 0.84 pg, approximately half as much. This may evidence different ploidy levels between the populations, creating new questions with regard to the number of chromosomes and the possible existence of endopoliploidy. This would be related to the distribution and the adaptive mechanisms of this species throughout its wide distribution.

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded with contributions by INACH (Chilean Antarctic Institute) INACH RG_02-13 project and by the Departamento de Ciencias y Tecnología Vegetal, Campus Los Ángeles, Universidad de Concepción. The authors wish to acknowledge the helpful suggestions made by D. Navarrete in order to achieve better accelerated growing conditions for A. thaliana. We would also like to thank International Journal Revisions (http://www.journalrevisions.com) for their English revision. Furthermore, we would like to acknowledge the reviewers for helping us to make this study a more robust work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio de Biotecnología y Estudios Ambientales, Escuela de Ciencias y Tecnología, Universidad de Concepción, Campus Los Ángeles. Juan Antonio Coloma, 0201, Los Ángeles, Chile

    Marely Cuba-Díaz, Claudia Rivera & Aníbal Gómez

  2. Centro de Microscopía Avanzada, CMA Bío-Bío, Universidad de Concepción, Barrio Universitario s/n, Edificio Ennio Vivaldi 2do piso, Concepción, Chile

    Gustavo Cerda

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  1. Marely Cuba-Díaz
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  2. Gustavo Cerda
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  4. Aníbal Gómez
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Correspondence to Marely Cuba-Díaz.

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Cuba-Díaz, M., Cerda, G., Rivera, C. et al. Genome size comparison in Colobanthus quitensis populations show differences in species ploidy. Polar Biol 40, 1475–1480 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-016-2058-z

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