Genetic variability of Colobanthus quitensis from King George Island (Antarctica)

Abstract

Antarctic pearlwort (Colobanthus quitensis) is one of the flowering plant species considered native to maritime Antarctica. Although the species was intensively analyzed towards its morphological, anatomical and physiological adaptation to local environment, its genetic variability is still poorly studied. In the presented study, a recently developed retrotransposon−based DNA marker system (inter Primer Binding Site -iPBS) was applied to assess the genetic diversity and differentiation of C. quitensis populations from King George Island (South Shetland Islands, West Antarctic). A total of 143 scoreable bands were detected using 7 iPBS primers among 122 plant specimens representing 8 populations. 55 (38.5%) bands were found polymorphic, with an average of 14.3% polymorphic frag− ments per primer. Nine of all observed fragments were represented as a private bands de− ployed unevenly among populations. Low genetic diversity (on average H e = 0.040 and I = 0.061) and moderate population differentiation (F ST = 0.164) characterize the analyzed material. Clustering based on PCoA revealed, that the populations located on the edges of the study area diverge from the central populations. The pattern of population differentia− tion corresponds well with their geographic location and the characteristics of the sampling sites. Due to the character of iPBS markers, the observed genetic variability of populations may be explained by the genome rearrangements caused by mobilization of mobile genetic elements in the response to various stress factors. Additionally, this study demonstrates the usefulness of iPBS markers for genetic diversity studies in wild species.

How much of the invader's genetic variability can slip between our fingers? A case study of secondary dispersal of Poa annua on King George Island (Antarctica)

“…Comparisons of genetic variability of the only two Antarctic angiosperm Deschampsia antarctica Desv., Poacea (Chwedorzewska & Bednarek, ; Φ PT = 0.031) and Colobanthus quitensis (Kunth) Bartl., Caryophyllaceae (Androsiuk, Chwedorzewska, Szandar, & Giełwanowska, ; F ST = 0.164), with the local population of P. annua show that, the Antarctic populations of P. annua still have much higher levels of genetic variability, even in the Forefield population (Table ). Poa annua in Antarctica is in the early stages of invasion, so the Antarctic populations are probably still unstable and undergoing dynamic demographic processes.…”

Range-wide pattern of genetic variation in Colobanthus quitensis

“…Our previous studies on the genetic variation of C. quitensis (Androsiuk et al 2015) encompassed the highest number of populations of the species analyzed so far in one study, i.e., eight populations from King George Island (Southern Shetland Islands). They represented diversified habitats of the Maritime Antarctic, which vary considerably when microclimatic conditions as well as soil moisture and its nutrient content are considered.…”

The effects of methanesulfonic acid on seed germination and morphophysiological changes in the seedlings of two Colobanthus species

“…Polar plants are model species for investigating responses to environmental stressors because they are continuously exposed to harsh and changeable microhabitat conditions, and their adaptive capabilities have been studied for many years [2,5,11,12]. According to the literature, C. quitensis has developed unique anatomical and morphophysiological mechanisms that effectively minimize the adverse consequences of stress and enable the species to survive in the difficult climate of Antarctica [13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. However, stress tolerance of the related subpolar C. apetalus has not been investigated to date.…”