Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Conservation unit status inferred for plants by combining interspecific crosses and AFLP

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Conservation Genetics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Hybridization and introgression are common in plants and lead to morphological similarity between species and taxonomic confusion. This gene flow with closely related species can complicate efforts to determine whether an endangered taxon is evolutionarily distinctive and should be identified as a separate conservation unit. Potentilla delphinensis is a rare and threatened endemic species of the Southern French Alps. Two common related taxa (P. grandiflora and P. thuringiaca) are morphologically similar and occur in the same geographical locations. Thus, whether P. delphinensis represents a reliable conservation unit remained unclear. Our evaluation procedure based on a combination of molecular biology and interspecific crosses was used to define taxa within these plants. Plants were sampled from a total of 23 single and mixed localities for the three supposed taxa and were genotyped with 68 polymorphic Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) loci. Fourty-one seedlings from interspecific crosses were obtained and genotyped. Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism markers identified four genetically distinct units (P. delphinensis, P. grandiflora and two distinct groups of P. thuringiaca). All individuals of P. delphinensis formed a homogeneous and distinct taxon. This taxon was most probably an old allopolyploid from P. grandiflora and the related group of P. thuringiaca. Interspecific crosses gave low seed set and low germination rate. Furthermore, assignment test indicated that seedlings obtained from interspecific crosses were essentially apomictic rather than hybrids. These results suggest that a reproductive barrier exists between the different taxa. In conclusion, all results supported P. delphinensis as a true biological species and justified its conservation unit status. A surprising outcome of this work was the evidence of a potential new cryptic species. This study demonstrated the need to combine a molecular marker-based approach and pollination experiments for an accurate evaluation of plant taxa.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

Reference

  • Acharya Goswami D, Matfield B (1975) Cytogenetic studies in the genus Potentilla L. New Phytol 75:135–146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aldrich P, Parker G, Michler C, Romero-Severson J. (2003) Whole-tree silvic identifications and the microsatellite genetic structure of a red oak species complex in an Indiana old-growth forest. Can J For Res 33:2228–2237

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allendorf F, Leary R, Spruell P, Wenburg J (2001) The problems with hybrids: setting conservation guidelines. Trends Ecol Evol 16(11):613–622

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barton NH (2001) The role of hybridization in evolution. Mol Ecol 10:551–568

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Beismann H, Barker JHA, Karp A, Speck T (1997) AFLP analysis sheds light on distribution of two Salix species and their hybrid along a natural gradient. Mol Ecol 6:989–993

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Caille C (2001) La Potentille du Dauphiné (Potentilla delphinensis Gren. et Godron), approfondissement des connaissances et état de conservation. University of Metz, Metz, France, 25 pp

  • Duchesne P, Bernatchez L (2002) AFLPOP: a computer program for simulated and real population allocation based on AFLP data. Mol Ecol Notes 3:380–383

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eriksson T, Hibbs MS, Yoder AD, Delwiche CF, Donoghue MJ (2003) The phylogeny of Rosoideae (Rosaceae) based on sequences of the internal transcribed spacers (ITS) of nuclear ribosomal DNA and the TRNL/F region of chloroplast DNA. Int J Plant Sci 164:197–211

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Evanno G, Regnaut S, Goudet J (2005) Detecting the number of clusters of individuals using the software STRUCTURE: a simulation study. Mol Ecol 14(8):2611–2620

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Felsenstein J (1985) Confidence limits on phylogenetics: an approach using the bootstrap. Evolution 39:783–791

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fraser D, Bernatchez L (2001) Adaptative evolutionary conservation: towards a unified concept for defining conservation units. Mol Ecol 10(12):2741–2752

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gaudeul M, Till-Bottraud I, Taberlet P (2000) Genetic diversity in an endangered alpine plant, Eryngium alpinum L. (Apiaceae), inferred from AFLP markers. Mol Ecol 9:1625–1637

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Grant V (1981) Plant speciation, 2nd edn. Columbia University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Grenier C, Godron DA (1848) Flore de France ou description des plantes qui croissent naturellement en France et en Corse – Tome1 I. Renonculacées – LVIII Ombellifères. J.B. Baillière, Paris, 766 pp

  • Han T-H, De Jeu M, Van Eck H, Jacobsen E (2000) Genetic diversity of Chilean and Brazilian Alstroemeria species assessed by AFLP analysis. Heredity 84:564–569

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hansen KT, Elven R, Brochmann C (2000) Molecules and morphology in concert: tests of some hypotheses in arctic Potentilla (Rosaceae). Am J Bot 87:1466–1479

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Holm S, Ghatnekar L (1996) Sexuality and no apomixis found in crossing experiments with diploid Potentilla argentea. Hereditas 125:77–82

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kardolus JP, Van Eck HJ, Van den Berg RG (1998) The potential of AFLPs in biosystematics: a first application in Solanum taxonomy (Solanaceae). Plant Syst Evol 210:87–103

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keller LF, Waller DM (2002) Inbreeding effects in wild populations. Trends Ecol Evol 17:230–241

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koontz JA, Soltis PS, Brunsfeld SJ (2001) Genetic diversity and tests of the hybrid origin of the endangered yellow larkspur. Conserv Biol 15:1608–1618

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lauber K, Wagner G (1998) Flora helvetica, 2nd edn. Verlag Paul haupt, Berne

    Google Scholar 

  • Levin DA, Francisco-Ortega J, Jansen RK (1996) Hybridization and the extinction of rare plant species. Conserv Biol 10:10–16

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayr E (1982) The growth of biological thought – Diversity, evolution and inheritance. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Harvard

    Google Scholar 

  • MINITAB version 12.2 (1998) Minitab Inc. http://www.minitab.com

  • Morrell PL, Rieseberg LH (1998) Molecular tests of the proposed diploid hybrid origin of Gilia achilleifolia (Polemoniaceae). Am J Bot 85:1439–1453

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nei M, Li WH (1979) Mathematical model for studying genetic variation in terms of restriction endonucleases. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 76(10):5269–5273.

  • Nylehn J, Hamre E, Nordal I (2003) Facultative apomixis and hybridization in arctic Potentilla section Niveae (Rosaceae) from Svalbard. Bot J Linn Soc 142:373–381

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O′hanlon PC, Peakall R, Briese DT (1999) Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) reveals introgression in weedy Onopordum thistles: hybridization and invasion. Mol Ecol 8:1239–1246

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Page, RDM (1998) TreeView 1.5.2. Computer software and documentation distributed by the author at website, http://taxonomy.zoology.gla.ac.uk/rod/rod.html

  • Peakall R, Smouse PE (2001) GenAlex V5: Genetic Analysis in excel. Population genetic software for teaching and research. Australian National University, Canberra

    Google Scholar 

  • Petit RJ, Bodenes C, Ducousso A, Roussel G, Kremer A (2004) Hybridization as a mechanism of invasion in oaks. New Phytol 161:151–164

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pritchard JK, Stephens M, Donnelly PJ (2000) Inference of population structure using multilocus genotype data. Genetics 155:945–959

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rajakaruna N, Baldwin BG, Chan R, Desrochers AM, Bohm BA, Whitton J (2003) Edaphic races and phylogenetic taxa in the Lasthenia californica complex (Asteraceae: Heliantheae): an hypothesis of parallel evolution. Mol Ecol 12:1675–1679

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Richards AJ (2003) Apomixis in flowering plants: an overview. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 358(1434):1085–1093

    Google Scholar 

  • Rieseberg L (2001) Chromosomal rearrangements and speciation. Trends Ecol Evol 16(7):351–358

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rieseberg L, Wood TE, Baack EJ (2006) The nature of plant species. Nature 440:524–527

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shaw AJ (2000) Molecular phylogeography and cryptic speciation in the mosses, Mielichhoferia elongata and M. mielichhoferiana (Bryaceae). Mol Ecol 9:595–608

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Soltis PS, Gitzendanner MA (1999) Molecular systematics and the conservation of rare species. Conserv Biol 13:471–483

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swofford DL (2003) PAUP*: phylogenetic analysis using parsimony (*and other methods), version 4.0b10. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Vos P, Hogers R, Bleeker M, Reijans M, van de Lee T, Hornes M, Frijters A, Pot J, Peleman J, Kuiper M, Zabeau M (1995) AFLP: a new technique for DNA fingerprinting. Nucleic Acids Res 23:4407–4414

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Waples RS (1991) Pacific salmon, Oncorhynchus spp., and the definition of “species” under the Endangered Species Act. Mar Fish Rev 53:11–22

    Google Scholar 

  • Waples R (1995) Evolutionarily significant units and the conservation of biological diversity under the Endangered Species Act. In: Nielsen J, Powers G (Eds) Evolution and the aquatic ecosystem: defining unique units in population conservation. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, MD

    Google Scholar 

  • Whittall JB, Hellquist CB, Schneider EL, Hodges SA (2004) Cryptic species in an endangered pondweed community (Potamogeton, Potamogetonaceae) revealed by AFLP markers. Am J Bot 91:2022–2029

    CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank members of the Conservatoire Botanique National Alpin and Jean-François Lopez for sampling, Laurent Vinciguerra and Luc Garraud for their implication on this project, Christian Miquel, Ludovic Gielly and Delphine Rioux for technical support, and Robin Waples, Guy Lempérière, Aurélie Bonin, Myriam Gaudeul and an anonymous reviewer for useful comments on the manuscript . The project was funded by the region Rhône-Alpes.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire d’Ecologie Alpine, CNRS-UMR 5553, Université Joseph Fourier, BP 53, 38041, Grenoble cedex 09, France

    Florence Nicolè, Florence Tellier, Agnès Vivat & Irène Till-Bottraud

Authors
  1. Florence Nicolè
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Florence Tellier
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Agnès Vivat
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Irène Till-Bottraud
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Florence Nicolè.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Nicolè, F., Tellier, F., Vivat, A. et al. Conservation unit status inferred for plants by combining interspecific crosses and AFLP. Conserv Genet 8, 1273–1285 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-006-9277-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-006-9277-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation