Open AccessEvolutionary History of a Desert Shrub Ephedra przewalskii (Ephedraceae): Allopatric Divergence and Range Shifts in Northwestern China
Author(s) -
Zhihao Su,
Mingli Zhang
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0158284
Subject(s) - range (aeronautics) , allopatric speciation , shrub , ecology , phylogeography , glacial period , biology , last glacial maximum , refugium (fishkeeping) , analysis of molecular variance , geography , interglacial , physical geography , genetic structure , population , paleontology , genetic variation , phylogenetic tree , demography , biochemistry , materials science , sociology , habitat , gene , composite material
Based on two chloroplast DNA sequences, psb A -trn H and trn T -trn F, phylogeographical patterns of a desert shrub, Ephedra przewalskii , were examined across most of its geographic range in northwestern China. A total of sixteen haplotypes were detected. There was a common haplotype in each basin, that was haplotype A in Tarim Basin, haplotype G in Junggar Basin, and haplotype M in Qaidam Basin. Genetic variance mainly occurred among populations, geographic regions, and eleven geographic groups subdivided by SAMOVA analysis. E . przewalskii likely had a smaller and more fragmented geographic range during the Last Glacial Maximum, which was determined based on ecological niche modelling. Three groups of E . przewalskii populations were detected to have experience range expansion, and this was based on significant values of Fu’s F S , Tajima’s D, and unimodel mismatch distributions. The cold and dry climate during the glacial period of the Quaternary is postulated to have been a driver for significant genetic isolation and divergence among populations or groups in E . przewalskii , whereas the warmer and wetter climate during the interglacial period is speculated to have provided favourable conditions for range expansion of the species.