Dispersal and local persistence shape the genetic structure of a widespread Neotropical plant species with a patchy distribution.

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

Isolated populations constitute an ideal laboratory to study the consequences of intraspecific divergence, because intrinsic incompatibilities are more likely to accumulate under reduced gene flow. Here, we use a widespread bromeliad with a patchy distribution, Pitcairnia lanuginosa, as a model to infer processes driving Neotropical diversification and, thus, to improve our understanding of the origin and evolutionary dynamics of biodiversity in this highly speciose region.

Methods

We assessed the timing of lineage divergence, genetic structural patterns and historical demography of P. lanuginosa, based on microsatellites, and plastid and nuclear sequence data sets using coalescent analyses and an Approximate Bayesian Computation framework. Additionally,

SUBMITTER: Leal BSS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6798837 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature