Glacial vicariance in Eurasia: mitochondrial DNA evidence from Scots pine for a complex heritage involving genetically distinct refugia at mid-northern latitudes and in Asia Minor

Abstract

Background: At the last glacial maximum, Fennoscandia was covered by an ice sheet while the tundra occupied most of the rest of northern Eurasia. More or less disjunct refugial populations of plants were dispersed in southern Europe, often trapped between mountain ranges and seas. Genetic and paleobotanical evidences indicate that these populations have contributed much to Holocene recolonization of more northern latitudes. Less supportive evidence has been found for the existence of glacial populations located closer to the ice margin. Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) is a nordic conifer with a wide natural range covering much of Eurasia. Fractures in its extant genetic structure might be indicative of glacial vicariance and how different refugia contributed to the current distribution at the continental level. The population structure of Scots pine was investigated on much of its Eurasian natural range using maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA polymorphisms.

Complex postglacial history of the temperate bark beetle Tomicus piniperda L. (Coleoptera, Scolytinae)

“…This distribution suggests that this group of related haplotypes originated from an Italian refugium and that they are found today in their interglacial range, north of the places in which they survived the LGM. It is worth noting that the same scenario was suggested for P. sylvestris (Cheddadi et al, 2006;Naydenov et al, 2007).…”

“…The complex distribution pattern of haplotype 1W probably explains why the SAMOVA analysis grouped the Italian population SON-IT with the North-Central European populations. It is interesting that one haplotype of P. sylvestris found mostly in the Iberian Peninsula was also present in low proportions in the Balkans, which suggest a similar history (Naydenov et al, 2007), with different refugia sharing similar rare haplotypes.…”

Genetic variability and health of Norway spruce stands in the Regional Directorate of the State Forests in Krosno

“…The mitochondrial DNA markers (STS) were used for Pinus sylvestris and P. abies (Sperisen et al 2001;Nowakowska 2007). Mitochondrial genes are often helpful in exploring the pathways of post-glacial migration of fauna and flora (Gugerli et al, 2001;Naydenov et al 2007;Pyhajarvi et al 2008;Dering, lewandowski , litkowiec et al 2009). …”

Genetic divergence, range expansion and possible homoploid hybrid speciation among pine species in Northeast China

“…mongolica and Pinus densiflora, are dominant components of natural coniferous forests in Northeast China (Wu, 1995), a region considered not to have been glaciated during the Quaternary (Hewitt, 2000). However, climatic oscillations during the Quaternary may have caused these indigenous coniferous forests to retreat to refugia during glacial periods and undergo range expansions during interglacials (Wu, 1995;Aizawa et al, 2007;Chen et al, 2008) as recorded for forest trees in other regions (for example, Petit et al, 2003;Naydenov et al, 2007). Such range shifts can stimulate allopatric divergence during periods of range fragmentation across different glacial refugia (Hewitt, 2004), but provide opportunities for interspecific hybridization following contact during interglacials, although the possibility of subsequent homoploid hybrid speciation has rarely been examined or reported (Abbott and Brochmann, 2003).…”