Hybridization boosts dispersal of two contrasted ecotypes in a grass species.

ABSTRACT: Genetic exchanges between closely related groups of organisms with different adaptations have well-documented beneficial and detrimental consequences. In plants, pollen-mediated exchanges affect the sorting of alleles across physical landscapes and influence rates of hybridization. How these dynamics affect the emergence and spread of novel phenotypes remains only partially understood. Here, we use phylogenomics and population genomics to retrace the origin and spread of two geographically overlapping ecotypes of the African grass Alloteropsis angusta. In addition to an ecotype inhabiting wetlands, we report the existence of a previously undescribed ecotype inhabiting Miombo woodlands and grasslands. The two ecotypes are consistently associated with different nuclear groups, which r

SUBMITTER: Curran EV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8790336 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature