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Molecular systematics of the Asplenium nidus complex from Mt. Halimun National Park, Indonesia: evidence for reproductive isolation among three sympatric rbc L sequence types
Author(s) -
Yatabe Yoko,
Masuyama Shigeo,
Darnaedi Dedy,
Murakami Noriaki
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
american journal of botany
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.218
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1537-2197
pISSN - 0002-9122
DOI - 10.2307/3558459
Subject(s) - biology , species complex , sympatric speciation , reproductive isolation , fern , systematics , botany , taxonomy (biology) , genus , hybrid , evolutionary biology , zoology , genetics , population , phylogenetic tree , demography , sociology , gene
Asplenium nidus is an epiphytic fern with large simple leaves. Because A. nidus lacks the good taxonomic characters available for species recognition, multiple cryptic species may exist within A. nidus. In Mt. Halimun National Park, West Java, Indonesia, three rbcL sequence types of A. nidus were recorded. All plants regardless of rbcL sequence were 2 n = 144. Crossing experiments among these rbcL types were conducted, and it was observed that the molecularly distinct types were reproductively isolated because hybrids failed to form between at least two pairs of rbcL types. These results suggest that these rbcL types are cryptic species because they are reproductively isolated but they are difficult to distinguish morphologically. Thus, the characters of DNA sequences information are useful in the discovery of cryptic species in ferns.