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Speciation in the marine crop P yropia yezoensis ( B angiales, R hodophyta)
Author(s) -
Niwa Kyosuke,
Kobiyama Atsushi
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of phycology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.85
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1529-8817
pISSN - 0022-3646
DOI - 10.1111/jpy.12220
Subject(s) - biology , sympatric speciation , reproductive isolation , species complex , interspecific competition , genetic algorithm , botany , population , ploidy , zoology , ecology , gene , genetics , phylogenetic tree , demography , sociology
In the marine red alga P yropia yezoensis , commonly known in J apan as nori, sympatric occurrence of two cryptic species P yropia sp. 2 and P yropia sp. 3 on the same rock in a natural habitat has been confirmed by molecular analysis and detailed morphological observations. To confirm whether P yropia sp. 2 and P yropia sp. 3 were reproductively isolated in the sympatric population, 170 blades that had previously been studied using a maternally inherited plastid marker were examined with a nuclear gene marker. The results suggested that P yropia sp. 2 and P yropia sp. 3 with identical morphological features were reproductively isolated in the sympatric population and that they were different species based on the biological species concept. Although gametophytic blades of P yropia were usually assumed to be haploid, 18 of 170 blades possessed both of the two genotypes derived from P yropia sp. 2 and from P yropia sp. 3. These results inferred that allodiploid blades were generated from the interspecific hybridization between these two cryptic species. The present findings provide insights for future studies on the speciation mechanism in seaweeds, particularly for genera that contain numerous species.