Chloroplast microsatellites and mitochondrial nad1 intron 2 sequences indicate congruent phylogenetic relationships among Swiss stone pine (Pinus cembra), Siberian stone pine (Pinus sibirica), and Siberian dwarf pine (Pinus pumila)

Geographic isolation and climatic variability contribute to genetic differentiation in fragmented populations of the long-lived subalpine conifer Pinus cembra L. in the western Alps

Background

Genetic processes shape the modern-day distribution of genetic variation within and between populations and can provide important insights into the underlying mechanisms of evolution. The resulting genetic variation is often unequally partitioned within species’ distribution range and especially large differences can manifest at the range limit, where population fragmentation and isolation play a crucial role in species survival. Despite several molecular studies investigating the genetic diversity and differentiation of European Alpine mountain forests, the climatic and demographic constrains which influence the genetic processes are often unknown. Here, we apply non-coding microsatellite markers to evaluate the sporadic peripheral and continuous populations of cembra pine (Pinus cembra L.), a long-lived conifer species that inhabits the subalpine treeline ecotone in the western Alps to investigate how the genetic processes contribute to the modern-day spatial distribution. Moreover, we corroborate our findings with paleoecological records, micro and macro-remains, to infer the species’ possible glacial refugia and expansion scenarios.

Results

Four genetically distinct groups were identified, with Bayesian and F_ST based approaches, across the range of the species, situated in the northern, inner and south-western Alps. We found that genetic differentiation is substantially higher in marginal populations than at the center of the range, and marginal stands are characterized by geographic and genetic isolation due to spatial segregation and restricted gene flow. Moreover, multiple matrix regression approaches revealed effects of climatic heterogeneity in species’ spatial genetic pattern. Also, population stability tests indicated that all populations had experienced a severe historical bottleneck, no heterozygosity excess was detected, suggesting that more recently population sizes have remained relatively stable.

Conclusions

Our study demonstrated that cembra pine might have survived in multiple glacial refugia and subsequently recolonized the Alps by different routes. Modern-day marginal populations, at the edge of the species’ range, could maintain stable sizes over long periods without inbreeding depression and preserve high amounts of genetic variation. Moreover, our analyses indicate that climatic variability has played a major role in shaping differentiation, in addition to past historical events such as migration and demographic changes.

A protocol for targeted enrichment of intron-containing sequence markers for recent radiations: A phylogenomic example from Heuchera (Saxifragaceae)

PREMISE OF THE STUDY

Phylogenetic inference is moving to large multilocus data sets, yet there remains uncertainty in the choice of marker and sequencing method at low taxonomic levels. To address this gap, we present a method for enriching long loci spanning intron-exon boundaries in the genus Heuchera.

METHODS

Two hundred seventy-eight loci were designed using a splice-site prediction method combining transcriptomic and genomic data. Biotinylated probes were designed for enrichment of these loci. Reference-based assembly was performed using genomic references; additionally, chloroplast and mitochondrial genomes were used as references for off-target reads. The data were aligned and subjected to coalescent and concatenated phylogenetic analyses to demonstrate support for major relationships.

RESULTS

Complete or nearly complete (>99%) sequences were assembled from essentially all loci from all taxa. Aligned introns showed a fourfold increase in divergence as opposed to exons. Concatenated analysis gave decisive support to all nodes, and support was also high and relationships mostly similar in the coalescent analysis. Organellar phylogenies were also well-supported and conflicted with the nuclear signal.

DISCUSSION

Our approach shows promise for resolving a recent radiation. Enrichment for introns is highly successful with little or no sequencing dropout at low taxonomic levels despite higher substitution and indel frequencies, and should be exploited in studies of species complexes.

A review of the prevalence, utility, and caveats of using chloroplast simple sequence repeats for studies of plant biology

Microsatellites occur in all plant genomes and provide useful markers for studies of genetic diversity and structure. Chloroplast microsatellites (cpSSRs) are frequently targeted because they are more easily isolated than nuclear microsatellites. Here, we quantified the frequency and uses of cpSSRs based on a literature review of over 400 studies published 1995-2013. These markers are an important and economical tool for plant biologists and continue to be used alongside modern genomics approaches to study genetic diversity and structure, evolutionary history, and hybridization in native and agricultural species. Studies using species-specific primers reported a greater number of polymorphic loci than those employing universal primers. A major disadvantage to cpSSRs is fragment size homoplasy; therefore, we documented its occurrence at several cpSSR loci within and between species of Acmispon (Fabaceae). Based on our empirical data set, we recommend targeted sequencing of a subset of samples combined with fragment genotyping as a cost-efficient, data-rich approach to the use of cpSSRs and as a test of homoplasy. The availability of genomic resources for plants aids in the development of primers for new study systems, thereby enhancing the utility of cpSSRs across plant biology.

A new phylogeny for the genus Picea from plastid, mitochondrial, and nuclear sequences

Studies over the past ten years have shown that the crown groups of most conifer genera are only about 15-25 Ma old. The genus Picea (spruces, Pinaceae), with around 35 species, appears to be no exception. In addition, molecular studies of co-existing spruce species have demonstrated frequent introgression. Perhaps not surprisingly therefore previous phylogenetic studies of species relationships in Picea, based mostly on plastid sequences, suffered from poor statistical support. We therefore generated mitochondrial, nuclear, and further plastid DNA sequences from carefully sourced material, striking a balance between alignability with outgroups and phylogenetic signal content. Motif duplications in mitochondrial introns were treated as characters in a stochastic Dollo model; molecular clock models were calibrated with fossils; and ancestral ranges were inferred under maximum likelihood. In agreement with previous findings, Picea diverged from its sister clade 180 million years ago (Ma), and the most recent common ancestor of today's spruces dates to 28 Ma. Different from previous analyses though, we find a large Asian clade, an American clade, and a Eurasian clade. Two expansions occurred from Asia to North America and several between Asia and Europe. Chinese P. brachytyla, American P. engelmannii, and Norway spruce, P. abies, are not monophyletic, and North America has ten, not eight species. Divergence times imply that Pleistocene refugia are unlikely to be the full explanation for the relationships between the European species and their East Asian relatives. Thus, northern Norway spruce may be part of an Asian species complex that diverged from the southern Norway spruce lineage in the Upper Miocene, some 6 Ma, which can explain the deep genetic gap noted in phylogeographic studies of Norway spruce. The large effective population sizes of spruces, and incomplete lineage sorting during speciation, mean that the interspecific relationships within each of the geographic clades require further studies, especially based on genomic information and population genetic data.

Finding a (pine) needle in a haystack: chloroplast genome sequence divergence in rare and widespread pines

Critical to conservation efforts and other investigations at low taxonomic levels, DNA sequence data offer important insights into the distinctiveness, biogeographic partitioning and evolutionary histories of species. The resolving power of DNA sequences is often limited by insufficient variability at the intraspecific level. This is particularly true of studies involving plant organelles, as the conservative mutation rate of chloroplasts and mitochondria makes it difficult to detect polymorphisms necessary to track genealogical relationships among individuals, populations and closely related taxa, through space and time. Massively parallel sequencing (MPS) makes it possible to acquire entire organelle genome sequences to identify cryptic variation that would be difficult to detect otherwise. We are using MPS to evaluate intraspecific chloroplast-level divergence across biogeographic boundaries in narrowly endemic and widespread species of Pinus. We focus on one of the world's rarest pines - Torrey pine (Pinus torreyana) - due to its conservation interest and because it provides a marked contrast to more widespread pine species. Detailed analysis of nearly 90% ( approximately 105 000 bp each) of these chloroplast genomes shows that mainland and island populations of Torrey pine differ at five sites in their plastome, with the differences fixed between populations. This is an exceptionally low level of divergence (1 polymorphism/ approximately 21 kb), yet it is comparable to intraspecific divergence present in widespread pine species and species complexes. Population-level organelle genome sequencing offers new vistas into the timing and magnitude of divergence within species, and is certain to provide greater insight into pollen dispersal, migration patterns and evolutionary dynamics in plants.

Incongruence among mitochondrial, chloroplast and nuclear gene trees in Pinus subgenus Strobus (Pinaceae)

Introgression has been considered to be one of main factors leading to phylogenetic incongruence among different datasets at lower taxonomic levels. In the plants of Pinaceae, the mtDNA, cpDNA, and nuclear DNA (nrDNA) may have different evolutionary histories through introgression because they are inherited maternally, paternally and biparentally, respectively. We compared mtDNA, cpDNA, and two low-copy nrDNA phylogenetic trees in the genus Pinus subgenus Strobus, in order to detect unknown past introgression events in this group. nrDNA trees were mostly congruent with the cpDNA tree, and supported the recent sectional and subsectional classification system. In contrast, mtDNA trees split the members of sect. Quinquefoliae into two groups that were not observed in the other gene trees. The factors constituting incongruence may be divided into the following two categories: the different splits within subsect. Strobus, and the non-monophyly of subsect. Gerardianae. The former was hypothesized to have been caused by the past introgression of cpDNA, mtDNA or both between Eurasian and North American species through Beringia. The latter was likely caused by the chimeric structure of the mtDNA sequence of P. bungeana, which might have originated through past hybridization, or through a horizontal transfer event and subsequent recombination.

Chloroplast diversity in a putative hybrid swarm of Ponderosae (Pinaceae)

The Ponderosae subsection of the genus Pinus contains numerous taxa in disjunct mountain ranges of southern Arizona and New Mexico, differing for several leaf and cone traits, key among which is the number of leaf needles per fascicle. Trees with three needles are often found together with trees having five needles and mixed numbers. One taxonomic hypothesis is that there are swarms of hybrids between P. ponderosa and P. arizonica. A second hypothesis is that there are spatial mixtures of two separate taxa, five-needle P. arizonica and a "taxon X" containing three needle and mixed needle trees. We genotyped chloroplasts in one putative hybrid swarm on Mt. Lemmon using microsatellite markers and show that cpDNA is almost completely differentiated between two separate morphotypes corresponding to P. arizonica and "taxon X." Little if any introgression has occurred on Mt. Lemmon, and the simplest explanation is that little or no effective hybridization has occurred. Further results indicate that not only is taxon X not of hybrid origin, it is more closely related to nonregional Ponderosae other than P. ponderosa and P. arizonica. The results further suggest that other putative hybrid swarms in the region are also spatial mixtures of distinct taxa.

Natural hybridization in Saxifraga callosa Sm

Saxifraga callosa Sm. is an evergreen perennial species distributed from Eastern Spain, through the Western Alps and the Apennines, to southern Italy. The existence of high morphological variation within different subspecies indicates that phenotypic characters are useful but not sufficient taxonomic tools. Indeed, available morphological data already suggested that S. callosa subentity lantoscana may be an outcross between S. callosa and S. cochlearis. In this work, by analyzing ITS (Internal Transcribed Sequences), AFLP (Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphisms), and cpDNA (chloroplast DNA) markers, a comprehensive study of the genomic relationships among S. callosa and related species has been carried out. The sequence of the ITS region of S. callosa subentity lantoscana gave no conclusive results on the taxonomy status of S. callosa subentity lantoscana. On the other hand, the use of the "NewHybrids" software to analyze an AFLP data-set (208 polymorphic amplified fragments) supported a significant posterior probability that S. callosa subentity lantoscana individuals are natural hybrids between S. callosa and S. cochlearis. The level of introgression of genes from alien genomes was confirmed by a simpler and quick methodology that analyze length variation in cpDNA sequences.

Microsatellite evolution in the mitochondrial genome of Bechstein's bat (Myotis bechsteinii)

Being highly polymorphic, microsatellites are widely used genetic markers. They are abundant throughout the nuclear genomes of eukaryotes but rare in the mitochondrial genomes (mtDNA) of animals. We describe a short but highly polymorphic AT microsatellite in the mtDNA control region of Bechstein's bat and discuss the role of mutation, genetic drift, and selection in maintaining its variability. As heteroplasmy and hence mutation rate were positively correlated with repeat number, a simple mutation model cannot explain the observed frequency distribution of AT copy numbers. Because of the unimodal distribution of repeat numbers found in heteroplasmic individuals, single step mutations are likely to be the predominant mechanism of copy number alternations. Above a certain copy number (seven repeats), deletions of single dinucleotide repeats seem to be more common than additions, which results in a decrease in frequency of long alleles. Heteroplasmy was inherited from mothers to their offspring and no evidence of paternal inheritance of mitochondria was found. Genetic differences accumulated with more distant ancestry, which suggests that microsatellites can be useful genetic markers in population genetics.

Cytoplasmic composition in Pinus densata and population establishment of the diploid hybrid pine

Sequence and restriction site analyses of the paternally inherited chloroplast rbcL gene and maternally inherited mitochondrial nad1 fragments from the same set of populations and individuals were used to investigate cytoplasmic composition and population establishment of Pinus densata, a diploid pine that originated through hybridization between P. tabuliformis and P. yunnanensis. Two variable sites and three chlorotypes (TT, TC and GC) were detected on the rbcL gene of the three pines. P. densata harboured the three chlorotypes, two of which (TT, GC) were characteristic of the parental species, respectively. The third chlorotype (TC) was distributed extensively in seven of the 10 P. densata populations analysed, and might represent a mutation type or have been derived from an extinct parent. The distribution of chlorotypes, together with that of mitotypes, indicated that significant founder effect and backcross happened during the population establishment of the hybrid pine. P. tabuliformis and P. yunnanensis had acted as both mother and father donors, i.e. bi-directional gene flow existed between the two parental species in the past. Population differentiation of P. densata is high, as detected from the cytoplasmic genomes: GST = 0.533 for cpDNA and GST = 0.905 for mtDNA. The differences in cytoplasmic composition among the hybrid populations suggest that the local populations have undergone different evolutionary histories.

Evidences for multiple maternal lineages of Caryocar brasiliense populations in the Brazilian Cerrado based on the analysis of chloroplast DNA sequences and microsatellite haplotype variation

In this work we report on the phylogeography of the endangered tree species Caryocar brasiliense based on variability in two classes of maternally inherited chloroplast DNA sequences with different rates of molecular evolution. Eleven sequence haplotypes of a noncoding region between the genes trnT and trnF and 21 distinct 10-locus microsatellite haplotypes could be identified in a total of 160 individuals, collected in 10 widespread populations of C. brasiliense. An amova indicated that most of the variation can be attributed to differences among populations, both for DNA sequence (87.51%) and microsatellites (84.38%). Phylogeography based on a median-joining network analysis of the noncoding region showed a sharp difference from the analysis of microsatellite haplotypes. Nevertheless, both analyses indicated that multiple lineages may have contributed to the origin of C. brasiliense populations in Brazilian Cerrado. Incongruences in the microsatellite haplotypes network suggest that homoplasy, which emerged from recurrent and independent mutations, greatly influenced the evolution of the C. brasiliense chloroplast genome. We hypothesize that our results may show the outcome of the restriction of ancient relic populations to moist refugias during extended droughts coinciding with glaciation in the northern hemisphere. The subsequent spread to favourable areas throughout Central Brazil may have caused contact between different lineages during the interglacial periods. The extinction of megafauna dispersers in the last glaciation may have caused a restriction in seed movement and currently, gene flow has been occurring mainly by pollen movement.

Maternal lineages of Pinus densata, a diploid hybrid

Previous morphological, allozyme and chloroplast DNA data have suggested that Pinus densata originated through hybridization between P. tabuliformis and P. yunnanensis. In the present study, sequence and restriction site analyses of maternally inherited mitochondrial nad1 intron were used to detect variation patterns in 19 populations of P. tabuliformis, P. yunnanensis and P. densata. A total of three mitotypes (A, B, C) were detected. All but one of the populations of P. yunnanensis possessed mitotype B while all populations of P. tabuliformis had mitotype A. Pinus densata populations, on the other hand, harboured both mitotypes A and B, which are characteristic of P. tabuliformis and P. yunnanensis, respectively. This result gives strong additional evidence supporting the hybrid origin of this diploid pine. The distribution of mitotypes indicated very different mating compositions and evolutionary history among P. densata populations. It seems that local founder populations and backcrosses may have played important roles in the early establishment of P. densata populations. The uplift of the Tibetan Plateau had a significant impact on the distribution of maternal lineages of P. densata populations.

Phylogenetic relationships among domesticated and wild species of Cucurbita (Cucurbitaceae) inferred from a mitochondrial gene: Implications for crop plant evolution and areas of origin

We have investigated the phylogenetic relationships among six wild and six domesticated taxa of Cucurbita using as a marker an intron region from the mitochondrial nad1 gene. Our study represents one of the first successful uses of a mtDNA gene in resolving inter- and intraspecific taxonomic relationships in Angiosperms and yields several important insights into the origins of domesticated Cucurbita. First, our data suggest at least six independent domestication events from distinct wild ancestors. Second, Cucurbita argyrosperma likely was domesticated from a wild Mexican gourd, Cucurbita sororia, probably in the same region of southwest Mexico that gave rise to maize. Third, the wild ancestor of Cucurbita moschata is still unknown, but mtDNA data combined with other sources of information suggest that it will probably be found in lowland northern South America. Fourth, Cucurbita andreana is supported as the wild progenitor of Cucurbita maxima, but humid lowland regions of Bolivia in addition to warmer temperate zones in South America from where C. andreana was originally described should possibly be considered as an area of origin for C. maxima. Fifth, our data support other molecular results that indicate two separate domestications in the Cucurbita pepo complex. The potential zone of domestication for one of the domesticated subspecies, C. pepo subsp. ovifera, includes eastern North America and should be extended to northeastern Mexico. The wild ancestor of the other domesticated subspecies, C. pepo subsp. pepo, is undiscovered but is closely related to C. pepo subsp. fraterna and possibly will be found in southern Mexico.

The evolutionary split of Pinaceae from other conifers: evidence from an intron loss and a multigene phylogeny

The second intron in the mitochondrial gene nad1 was surveyed using PCR, DNA sequencing, or Southern hybridization in 323 species (313 genera, 212 families) of seed plants. The intron was absent in all 22 species (22 genera, 8 families) of non-Pinaceae conifers studied, in Welwitschia mirabilis, and in seven angiosperms. Whereas absence of the intron in seven angiosperms and Welwitschia is likely due to seven independent losses when evaluated against the recently published multigene phylogenies, the lack of the intron in all non-Pinaceae conifers can be best explained by a single loss. These data suggest that the non-Pinaceae conifers represent a monophyletic group. We also conducted a phylogenetic analysis of seed plants using a combined data set of the partial exon and intron sequences of nad1 generated from this study and published sequences of mitochondrial cox1 and small subunit (SSU) rDNA, chloroplast rbcL, and nuclear 18S rDNA. The results supported the split of conifers into two groups: Pinaceae and non-Pinaceae conifers. The Gnetales were sister to Pinaceae, in agreement with the conclusion from other recent molecular phylogenetic studies that refute the anthophyte hypothesis.