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Limited effective gene flow between two interfertile red oak species

Trees volume 29, pages 1135–1148 (2015)Cite this article

Abstract

Key message

Highly elevated differentiation in different life stages between two interfertile oak species at a CONSTANS -like gene suggests a role of this gene in pre-zygotic isolation and adaptive divergence between species.

Abstract

Genome-wide differentiation patterns among oak species suggest that divergent selection can maintain species-specific adaptations and morphological integrity by reducing effective interspecific gene flow. While there is evidence for both pre- and post-zygotic isolation mechanisms in oaks (e.g., differences in flowering time, selection against hybrids), these mechanisms are rarely studied at each life stage from acorns to adult trees within the same forest. To assess the reproductive isolation mechanisms between two ecologically divergent species, we (1) quantified the number of hybrids in different life stages in Quercus rubra and Quercus ellipsoidalis, two interfertile red oaks with different adaptations to drought, and (2) assessed the timing of bud burst in both natural populations and in a seedling common garden trial. The low number of hybrids in all life stages suggested pre-zygotic isolation between species or selection in very early life stages that have not been sampled (e.g., early seed abortion). Significant differences in bud burst were found in two consecutive years between species in a common garden seedling trial but not in natural populations of the same provenance. In addition, we found evidence for divergent selection on several gene loci between species in each life stage. In particular, an SSR repeat located within the coding sequence of a CONSTANS-like gene, a locus involved in the photoperiodic regulation of flowering time and development, showed very high interspecific differentiation between species in all life stages (mean F ST = 0.83), compared to the average neutral differentiation of 3.7 %.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Michigan Technological University (MTU) for the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship to Emily Collins. The lab work was funded partly by MTU’s Ecosystem Science Center undergraduate research grant. Additional support was provided by the Hanes Trust, the USDA McIntire Stennis Fund (130951), the National Science Foundation Plant Genome Research Project (NSF 1025974) and MTU’s Biotech Research Center. Alexis Sullivan was supported by the United States Department of Education and the European Commission’s Directorate General for Education and Culture States’ Atlantis Program, the Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science (USDA Forest Service) and the USDA McIntire Stennis Fund (130951).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Michigan Technological University, 1400 Townsend Drive, Houghton, MI, 49931-1295, USA

    Emily Collins, Alexis R. Sullivan & Oliver Gailing

  2. Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden

    Alexis R. Sullivan

Authors
  1. Emily Collins
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  2. Alexis R. Sullivan
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  3. Oliver Gailing
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Correspondence to Oliver Gailing.

Additional information

Communicated by F. Canovas.

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468_2015_1194_MOESM3_ESM.pdf

Suppl. Fig. 1 Julian days until bud stage 5 (all leaves completely unfolded) scored in 40 trees each of the neighboring Q. rubra and Q. ellipsoidalis adult stands in spring 2013 (PDF 8 kb)

468_2015_1194_MOESM4_ESM.pptx

Suppl. Fig. 2 Julian days until bud stage 5 (all leaves completely unfolded) in the Q. rubra and Q. ellipsoidalis seedling common garden trial in spring 2013 (PPTX 49 kb)

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Collins, E., Sullivan, A.R. & Gailing, O. Limited effective gene flow between two interfertile red oak species. Trees 29, 1135–1148 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-015-1194-3

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Keywords

  • Quercus rubra
  • Quercus ellipsoidalis
  • Hybridization
  • EST-SSRs
  • Microsatellites

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