Spontaneous hybrids between native and exotic Rubus in the Western United States produce offspring both by apomixis and by sexual recombination.

ABSTRACT: Facultative asexual reproduction is a trait commonly found in invasive species. With a combination of sexual and asexual reproductive modes, such species may adapt to new environments via sexual recombination during range expansion, while at the same time having the benefits of asexuality such as the maintenance of fitness effects that depend upon heterozygosity. In the Western United States, native species of Rubus (Rosaceae) reproduce sexually whereas exotic naturalized Rubus species reproduce by pseudogamous apomixis. We hypothesized that new asexual lineages of Rubus could arise from hybridization in this range. To detect hybridization between native and exotic Rubus, we genotyped 579 individuals collected across California, Oregon and Washington with eight nuclear microsatellites and

SUBMITTER: Clark LV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3477884 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature