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Genetic divergence and introgressive hybridization betweenAlnus sinuata andA. crispa (Betulaceae)

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Abstract

The actinorhizal genusAlnus contains numerous taxa that have been morphologically classified into different subgenera, species and subspecies. The genetic divergence has been evaluated within subg.Alnobetula between the parapatric taxaAlnus sinuata andA. crispa, using diversity of allozyme markers at 15 structural loci among 20 populations. Evidence for introgressive hybridization at the overlap of their ranges was noted in three populations. However, the width of the hybrid zone appeared tenuous. The average genetic distance derived from the comparisons of conspecific populations was much smaller than the interspecific distance (D = 0.047). This allelic divergence was also paralleled with larger amounts of allelic and genotypic diversity within and among populations ofA. sinuata, which are occupying a more heterogenous ecological niche. It is proposed that the repeated advances and retreats of the ice sheet during the Pleistocene may have promoted the divergence and allopatric evolution of these subspecies, and that secondary contact may have occurred repeatedly during the interglacial periods. The dynamic-equilibrium model would predict in such cases that narrow hybrid zones, formed at the contact of parapatric ranges, would impede gene exchange between parental taxa by selection against hybrids. The results obtained in this study seemed concordant with this hypothesis, as they were also in agreement with the existent taxonomical treatment of these taxa based on morphology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre de recherche en biologie forestière, Faculté de foresterie et de géomatique Université Laval, Ste-Foy, G1K 7P4, Québec, Canada

    J. Bousquet & M. Lalonde

  2. Petawawa National Forestry Institute, Agriculture Canada, Chalk River, Ontario, Canada

    W. M. Cheliak

  3. Department of Forest Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

    W. M. Cheliak

  4. Petawawa National Forestry Institute, Agriculture Canada, Chalk River, Ontario, Canada

    J. Wang

  5. Institute of Forestry and Soil Science, Academia Sinica, Shenyang, China

    J. Wang

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  1. J. Bousquet
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  2. W. M. Cheliak
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  3. J. Wang
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  4. M. Lalonde
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Bousquet, J., Cheliak, W.M., Wang, J. et al. Genetic divergence and introgressive hybridization betweenAlnus sinuata andA. crispa (Betulaceae). Pl Syst Evol 170, 107–124 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00937853

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00937853

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