Molecular genetic and quantitative trait divergence associated with recent homoploid hybrid speciation: a study of Senecio squalidus (Asteraceae).

ABSTRACT: Hybridization is increasingly seen as a trigger for rapid evolution and speciation. To quantify and qualify divergence associated with recent homoploid hybrid speciation, we compared quantitative trait (QT) and molecular genetic variation between the homoploid hybrid species Senecio squalidus and its parental species, S. aethnensis and S. chrysanthemifolius, and also their naturally occurring Sicilian hybrids. S. squalidus originated and became invasive in the United Kingdom following the introduction of hybrid plants from Mount Etna, Sicily, about 300 years ago. We recorded considerable molecular genetic differentiation between S. squalidus and its parents and their Sicilian hybrids in terms of both reduced genetic diversity and altered allele frequencies, potentially due to the genetic b

SUBMITTER: Brennan AC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3262868 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature