Population genetic structure of the S outh A merican species Hypochaeris lutea ( A steraceae)

• Published in: Plant species biology 2016-01, Vol.31 (1), p.55-64
• Main Authors: Rodrigues, Luana Alves, Ruas, Eduardo Augusto, Ruas, Paulo Maurício, Reck, Maikel, Fiorin, Fernando Gianetti, Ortiz, María Ángeles, Urtubey, Estrella, Matzenbacher, Nelson Ivo, Ruas, Claudete Fátima
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0913-557X; 1442-1984
• DOI: 10.1111/1442-1984.12084

The genus Hypochaeris has a recent evolutionary history caused by long‐distance dispersal in conjunction with adaptive radiation in the S outh A merican continent. Hypochaeris lutea is a perennial herb that grows mostly at altitudes of around 1000 m in cold swamps of the southern regions of B razil. We investigated the amplified fragment length polymorphism ( AFLP ) in 270 individuals representing 11 B razilian populations of H. lutea to elucidate the population genetic structure of this species. The frequencies of polymorphic loci and gene diversity ranged from 83.42% to 91.66% and from 0.26 to 0.34, respectively. Analysis of molecular variance revealed that most of the genetic variability was found within (76.67%) rather than among (23.3%) populations, agreeing with the pattern of genetic distribution within and among populations observed in other allogamous species of Hypochaeris . A Mantel test showed no correlation between genetic and geographic distances when all populations were considered. Simulations performed using a B ayesian approach consistently identified two clusters with different admixture proportions of individuals, as also revealed by a UPGMA dendrogram of populations. The pattern of genetic structure observed in H. lutea is consistent with a process of successive colonization events by long‐distance dispersal resembling the rapid and recent radiation that has been proposed to explain the origin of the South American species of Hypochaeris .