ITS polymorphisms shed light on hybrid evolution in apomictic plants: a case study on the Ranunculus auricomus complex.

ABSTRACT: The reconstruction of reticulate evolutionary histories in plants is still a major methodological challenge. Sequences of the ITS nrDNA are a popular marker to analyze hybrid relationships, but variation of this multicopy spacer region is affected by concerted evolution, high intraindividual polymorphism, and shifts in mode of reproduction. The relevance of changes in secondary structure is still under dispute. We aim to shed light on the extent of polymorphism within and between sexual species and their putative natural as well as synthetic hybrid derivatives in the Ranunculus auricomus complex to test morphology-based hypotheses of hybrid origin and parentage of taxa. We employed direct sequencing of ITS nrDNA from 68 individuals representing three sexuals, their synthetic hybrids and on

SUBMITTER: Hodac L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4111349 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature