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Towards a better understanding of the Taraxacum evolution (Compositae–Cichorieae) on the basis of nrDNA of sexually reproducing species

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Abstract

The genus Taraxacum is characterized by prevailing complex multiple hybridity, frequent polyploidy and widespread agamospermous reproduction, which makes the phylogenetic analysis difficult. On the basis of the previous analysis of the variation of nrDNA in Taraxacum taxa with different ploidy levels and modes of reproduction, to mitigate consequences of the reticulate complexity of the genus, a phylogenetic study of 52 samples of sexually reproducing dandelions of 26 sections (and another 13 agamospermous representatives of other sections known to include sexuals) was carried out. Both sexual and agamospermous samples were analysed using maximum parsimony and neighbour network. Exclusively sexual dandelions were analysed using the same approaches. In spite of the general agreement among various types of analyses, there is a limited overall congruence between results of nrDNA analyses and the established taxonomic system of the genus Taraxacum. The analyses shed light on the relationships among the most primitive groups. A stable clade is formed by representatives of the sections Primigenia, Orientalia, Sonchidium, Piesis and T. cylleneum. Another case of stable relationships is that of the members of the sect. Dioszegia. Relationships between the sects. Erythrosperma and Erythrocarpa were supported, and the relatedness of the members of sect. Australasica was confirmed. Rather unexpectedly, the agamospermous samples of the sect. Oligantha (T. minutilobum) are shown to be closely related with the sect. Macrocornuta. The latter section is generally considered to be close to sect. Ceratoidea (T. koksaghyz) on morphological grounds but this presumption is not corroborated by the results of nrDNA analyses. Analyses of 72 samples of sexual dandelions were also performed using the trnL–trnF region of the chloroplast DNA. The maximum parsimony analysis of this region reveals intraspecific variation in a number of ancestral diploid sexual species, all present in the two main branches of the cladogram. This phenomenon is attributed to the ancient gene flow and possibly to the persistence of ancestral cpDNA polymorphism. The strict consensus cpDNA tree information content and interpretability is quite low. The maximum parsimony analysis of combined nrDNA and cpDNA data sets was also performed with expectably low interpretability of the results.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks are due to T. Černý who determined diploidy in selected samples by means of flow cytometry. The study was supported a long-term research development project of Institute of Botany ASCR, no. RVO 67985939 and by the Ministry of Education grant no. ME10143 of the KONTAKT scheme; the support was also provided by the Czech National Grant Agency grant, no. GA13–13368S and by an FP7 grant for the project DRIVE4EU, no 613697.

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  1. Institute of Botany, Academy of Sciences, Zámek 1, 252 43 Průhonice, 25243, Prague, Czech Republic

    Jan Kirschner, Lenka Záveská Drábková & Jan Štěpánek

  2. Teichstraße 61, 01778, Liebenau, Germany

    Ingo Uhlemann

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  1. Jan Kirschner
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Kirschner, J., Záveská Drábková, L., Štěpánek, J. et al. Towards a better understanding of the Taraxacum evolution (Compositae–Cichorieae) on the basis of nrDNA of sexually reproducing species. Plant Syst Evol 301, 1135–1156 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-014-1139-0

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