Late Quaternary distributional stasis in the submediterranean mountain plant Anthyllis montana L. (Fabaceae) inferred from ITS sequences and amplified fragment length polymorphism markers

Abstract

Anthyllis montana is a submediterranean, herbaceous plant of the southern and central European mountains. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of nuclear ribosomal DNA were sequenced from multiple accessions of the species and several closely related taxa. In addition, amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) was analysed from 71 individuals of A. montana collected in 20 localities, mainly in the Pyrenees, Alps, Italian Peninsula and Balkans. Our ITS phylogeny showed a sequential branching pattern in A. montana, implying a western Mediterranean origin followed by an eastward migration. ITS clock calibrations suggest that speciation of A. montana took place at the Pliocene-Pleistocene boundary, while intraspecific divergence dates to Late Quaternary times (i.e. 0.7 million years ago). The AFLP analyses revealed a major genetic (west/east) subdivision within A. montana, probably caused by the massive glaciation of the Alps during this latter time period. The present-day absence of A. montana from vast parts of the Alps, which appear ecologically suitable for the species, together with the finding of evenly distributed AFLP variability within each of the two western and eastern lineages identified, is taken as evidence for a largely static Late Quaternary history without large-scale migration. High levels of AFLP variation observed among populations, together with weak or absent patterns of isolation by distance, seem to be in accord with long-term population insularization and distributional stasis. However, recent small-scale migration and a narrow hybrid zone between western and eastern lineages need to be postulated to explain the intermediate genetic composition of individuals from the Maritime Alps, a well-known suture-zone for other plant and animal species.

Are Iberian endemics Iberian? A case-study using water beetles of family Dytiscidae (Coleoptera)

“…On the contrary, at least for diving beetles the Pyrenees and the Ebro valley seem to have been almost insurmountable geographical barriers during most of the Pleistocene, isolating Iberian populations from those in the rest of Europe long enough for them to speciate in allopatry. This will be in agreement with recent work on other taxa, for which during the Pleistocene glaciations Iberia (and other peninsulas in southern Europe) could have remained isolated rather than being a refuge from where to re-colonise northern areas during the interglacials (Bilton et al, 1998;Kropf et al, 2002;Michaux et al, 2003). For these taxa, northern refuges could be the source of most present-day central and north European populations (e.g.…”

Two lineages ofTrifolium alpinum(Fabaceae) in the Pyrenees: evidence from random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers

“…Our study on T. alpinum provides, in addition to the data obtained for Rumex scutatus (Lauga et al, 2005), Trollius europaeus (Després et al, 2002) and Anthyllis montana (Kropf et al, 2002), a better understanding of today flora repartition and genetic structuring in this Southern European mountain massif. Even though interesting, the studies on Borderea chouardii (Segarra-Moragues et al, 2005) and B. pyrenaica (Segarra-Moragues & Catalan, 2003) are not considered here since it concerned specific cases of rare plants with a narrow distribution range.…”

“…Even though interesting, the studies on Borderea chouardii (Segarra-Moragues et al, 2005) and B. pyrenaica (Segarra-Moragues & Catalan, 2003) are not considered here since it concerned specific cases of rare plants with a narrow distribution range. Hence, in spite of the reduced number of populations sampled in the Pyrenees (these studies were not focused on this massif), A. montana (Kropf et al, 2002) and T. europaeus (Després et al, 2002) exhibited, as in T. alpinum, an eastern/western biogeographic pattern along the Pyrenean massif. Interestingly, the Southern localities included in Kropf 's study indicated that the western Pyrenean population of A. montana showed similarity to western (Sierra de Cantabria) and southern (Sierra de Baza) Spanish populations whereas the eastern Pyrenean population was more divergent from them (Kropf et al, 2002) .…”

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“…These data clearly show that Vermifrux abyssinica cannot be placed in Anthyllis. However, the type species of Dorycnopsis, D. gerardii, has not yet been included in molecular phylogenetic analyses of Loteae (e.g., Allan & Porter, 2000;Kropf & al., 2002;Allan & al., 2003;Degtjareva & al., 2003;Nanni & al., 2004). Therefore, we have decided to produce and analyse nrITS sequences of Dorycnopsis gerardii to resolve its taxonomic position.…”