Analysis of the Genista ephedroides group (Fabaceae) based on karyological, molecular and morphological data

Abstract

Within the genus Genista, the species belonging to the G. ephedroides complex are examined from karyological, molecular and phenetic point of view. All the examined taxa show a chromosome complement with 2n = 48, occasionally with some accessory chromosomes. In addition, the aneuploid number 2n = 44 was found only in G. ovina, while higher counts (2n = 72 and 2n = 96) are reported for G. tyrrhena ssp. pontiana. As concerns the DNA, the restriction fragment analysis of the ribosomal ITS1 (HaeIII, RsaI) and 5.8S-ITS2 (HaeIII) regions was used; the classification and ordination of the taxa allow to distinguish three clusters: the first including the S-Tyrrhenian taxa, the second all the Sardinian and Balearic taxa, and the third grouping G. numidica and G. cilentina. The phenetic analysis was performed by using 40 morphological characters processed by the NTSYSpc package. The relative cladogram distinguishes three main clades: the most isolated including the Sicilian species, the other two separating the Sardinian and Balearic species from the STyrrhenian and Algerian ones.

Genetic structure in theGenista ephedroidescomplex (Fabaceae) and implications for its present distribution

“…() and Jesse, Véla & Pfenninger () for recent, possibly anthropogenic, dispersion events in the land snail genus Marmorana and the land snail Tudorella sulcata ]. Genista cilentina is also similar to G. numidica from a morphological standpoint, and the hypothesis of ‘accidental importation’ from Algeria in historical times was also formulated on morphological grounds (De Marco et al ., ; De Castro et al ., ; Bacchetta et al ., , ). The area in which G. cilentina presently grows includes an ancient and important Greek colony and a later Roman city, Elaea; Numidia, ancient Algeria, was home to various Phoenician colonies and later Punic cities actively engaged in sea trade.…”

“…(Pizzolongo, ; De Castro et al ., ; Bacchetta et al ., ). These species (here referred to as the G. ephedroides complex) have been investigated from morphological (Gibbs, ; Brullo, Scelsi & Siracusa, ; Valsecchi, ; Brullo & De Marco, ; Bacchetta et al ., , ), phylogenetic (De Castro et al ., ; Pardo, Cubas & Tahiri, ) and biogeographical standpoints (De Castro & De Luca, ; Estabrook, ; De Castro, Vallariello & Del Guacchio, ). These investigations resulted in the creation of various segregate taxa (Valsecchi, , ; Brullo et al ., ; Brullo & De Marco, ) and in the understanding that the group also includes G. numidica Spach, G. gasparrinii (Guss.)…”

“…In addition, recently Bacchetta et al . (, ) described new endemic taxa from south‐western Sardinia which, according to morphological and molecular evidence, are included in the G. ephedroides complex, i.e. G. bocchierii Bacch., Brullo & Feoli Chiapella (San Margherita di Pula, near Cagliari), G. insularis Bacch., Brullo & Feoli Chiapella subsp.…”

Karyology of nineTrifoliumL. taxa from Turkey

“…Onobrychis with the two basic chromosome numbers x = 7 and x = 8 (Hejazi et al 2010;Arslan et al 2012). On the other hand, the genus Genista has the most common chromosome number: 2n = 48 was found in all the studied taxa, apart from the aneuploid number 2n = 44 in Genista ovina (Bacchetta et al 2012).…”

Phylogeography ofArenaria balearicaL. (Caryophyllaceae): evolutionary history of a disjunct endemic from the Western Mediterranean continental islands

“…in Terrab et al, 2007; Anchusa L. in Bacchetta et al, 2008; Anchusa L. in Coppi, Mengoni & Selvi, 2008; Rodríguez-Sánchez et al, 2008; Salvo et al, 2008; Cephalaria gr. squamiflora (Sieber) Greuter in Rosselló et al, 2009; Bacchetta et al, 2012; Aquilegia L. in Garrido et al, 2012). …”