Clonal structure and hybrid susceptibility to a smut pathogen in microscale hybrid zones of northern wetland Carex (Cyperaceae)

• Published in: American journal of botany 2002-04, Vol.89 (4), p.642-654
• Main Authors: McIntire, Eliot J. B, Waterway, Marcia J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: allozymes; Anthracoidea limosa; Botany; Carex limosa; Carex rariflora; clonal growth; Ecological genetics; Ecology; environmental heterogeneity; Fens; Flowers & plants; Genotypes; Hybridity; hybridization; Infections; Pathogens; Plants; spatial autocorrelation; Taxa; Water depth; Wetland ecology
• ISSN: 0002-9122; 1537-2197
• DOI: 10.3732/ajb.89.4.642

Interspecific hybrid taxa, especially those with the potential for clonal spread, may play important roles in community dynamics and plant-pathogen interactions. This study combines the mapping of clonal structure for two rhizomatous sedges (Carex limosa, C. rariflora) and their nearly sterile interspecific hybrid with an investigation of the relationship between these taxa and a nonsystemic floral smut pathogen (Anthracoidea limosa) in six subarctic fens in$Nouveau-Qu\acute{e}bec$, Canada. We used allozyme polymorphisms in 14 of 18 putative loci to confirm hybrid identification and to distinguish among genotypes for mapping. The incidence of A. limosa was 5-20 times greater on hybrids than on parental taxa across all sites at two spatial scales (intensive extent =$10.5 m^2$, extensive extent = entire fens). Spatial autocorrelation was detected in smut incidence; however, its statistical removal did not alter the strong association between hybrids and smut infection. Smut incidence on both C. limosa and hybrids was greater when they were growing in areas of high hybrid density. Our study provides evidence that disease can help maintain boundaries between species. We suggest explanations for hybrid susceptibility and provide evidence for a model in which hybrids act as a source for reinfection for all three taxa during subsequent years.