Open AccessTesting hypotheses of hybrid origins for two seashore species ofCarexsectionPhacocystis(Cyperaceae)
Author(s) -
Michael Nowak,
A. Tiril M. Pedersen,
Anne K. Brysting,
Audun SchrøderNielsen,
Reidar Elven,
Charlotte Sletten Bjorå
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
botanical journal of the linnean society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.872
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1095-8339
pISSN - 0024-4074
DOI - 10.1093/botlinnean/boaa030
Subject(s) - biology , evolutionary biology , carex , hybrid zone , introgression , hybrid , range (aeronautics) , genetic diversity , gene flow , ecology , genetics , botany , genetic variation , population , gene , materials science , demography , sociology , composite material
Taxonomists have proposed numerous hybrid species in plants, but to gain a better understanding of the role that hybridization may play in plant diversification, such taxonomic hypotheses must be tested using genomic data. In this study, we employ ddRAD sequence data to test taxonomic hypotheses of hybrid origins in Carex salina and C. ramenskii (Carex section Phacocystis). Sequence data from multiple Norwegian and Icelandic populations of the putative hybrid and parental species were generated for hundreds of ddRAD loci. These data were used to estimate geographical structuring of genetic diversity and admixture and to explicitly test for hybrid origins using several analytical approaches. Our results indicate recurrent hybrid origins for the populations of C. salina and C. ramenskii sampled in our study and show that these populations are characterized by high interspecific heterozygosity. Our results support the idea that hybridization may indeed play an important role in the diversification of lineages of Carex and highlight the important role that clonal propagation might play in maintaining hybrid populations. Future studies focusing on a broader geographical sampling would be needed to assess if the genetic structuring in these Nordic populations reflects range-wide patterns in these hybrid lineages.