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Allelic Sequence Divergence in the Apomictic Boechera holboellii Complex

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Lost Sex

Abstract

It has been suggested that the absence of meiosis in asexual lineages should lead to higher interallelic divergence at any given locus within an individual (i.e., allelic sequence divergence – ASD) compared to sexual populations (i.e., Meselson effect; Mark Welch and Meselson 2000). In the present study, ASD was investigated in 2 diploid sexual, 3 diploid apomictic and 3 triploid apomictic Boechera (Brassicaceae) using 8 microsatellite loci considering both repeat and flanking region polymorphism. A trend of higher ASD in apomictic versus sexual individuals, both in DNA sequence and repeat motif polymorphisms, was identified, although the pattern of polymorphism is complex and has likely resulted from a combination of mutation accumulation, gene duplication and hybridization. These data demonstrate that caution must be taken when using population genetic models to compare microsatellite variation between sexual and asexual taxa.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by funding to TFS from a “Pakt für Forschung und Innovation 2007” grant from the Leibniz Association. TFS would like to warmly thank Tom Mitchell-Olds for his foresight, encouragement, and access to seed material. We would also like to thank all members of the apomixis research group for their support, ideas and friendship throughout this project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Apomixis Research Group, Department of Cytogenetics and Genome Analysis, Institut für Pflanzengenetik und Kulturpflanzenforschung (IPK), D-06466, Gatersleben, Germany

    Jose M. Corral & Tim F. Sharbel

  2. Department of Plant Taxonomy and Geography, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Gagarina 9, PL-87-100, Torun, Poland

    Marcin Piwczynski

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  1. Jose M. Corral
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  2. Marcin Piwczynski
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  3. Tim F. Sharbel
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Correspondence to Jose M. Corral .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Natural Sciences, Royal Belgian Institute of, Vautierstraat 29, Bruxelles, 1000, Belgium

    Isa Schön

  2. Sciences Department of Freshwater, Royal Belgian Inst. of Natural, Vautierstraat 29, Bruxelles, 1000, Belgium

    Koen Martens

  3. Keygene N.V., Agro Business Park 90, Wageningen, 6708 PW, Netherlands

    Peter Dijk

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Corral, J.M., Piwczynski, M., Sharbel, T.F. (2009). Allelic Sequence Divergence in the Apomictic Boechera holboellii Complex. In: Schön, I., Martens, K., Dijk, P. (eds) Lost Sex. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2770-2_23

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