Phylogeographical history of the widespread meadow fescue (Festuca pratensis Huds.) inferred from chloroplast DNA sequences

Abstract

Aim Here we explore the variation in chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) in a widespread Eurasian diploid forage grass, meadow fescue (Festuca pratensis Huds.), to address its phylogeographical history. In particular, we aim to answer whether the post-glacial migration routes of meadow fescue are associated with the spread of agriculture or concurrent with well-documented natural migration pathways from glacial refugia.

Dated historical biogeography of the temperate Loliinae (Poaceae, Pooideae) grasses in the northern and southern hemispheres

“…The origin of most of the Loliinae lineages and of other temperate grasses has been usually associated with the recent geological and climatic changes of the late Tertiary and the Quaternary periods (Stebbins, 1985;Charmet et al, 1997;Balfourier et al, 2000;Fjellheim et al, 2006). Previous molecular-clock estimates deduced from the divergence between rice and wheat indicate a late Miocene (9 My) origin of the broad-leaved and fine-leaved Festuca lineages (Charmet et al, 1997), supporting these recent historical scenarios.…”

“…The origin of the European (3.5 My) and Mahgrebian (ca. 3 My) Schedonorus lineages could be dated back to those times, with ages for the split between meadow fescue and ryegrasses (2.8 My), and diversification of Lolium (2 My) slightly older than previously estimated (Charmet et al, 1997;Fjellheim et al, 2006). Nonetheless, caution should be taken about the estimates obtained for allopolyploid hybrid lineages of topological intermediate or subbasal placement (i.e.…”

Refugial Pattern of Bromus Erectus in Central Europe Based on Issr Fingerprinting

“…Recent molecular studies suggest that the mesophilous grass species Festuca pratensis and Lolium perenne (Fjellheim et al, 2006) and the thermophilous species Stipa capilata (Hensen et al, 2010) and Eryngium campestre (Bylebyl et al, 2008) could have survived the last glacial maximum (LGM) in nonglaciated areas of Central Europe.…”

Adaptive divergence and speciation among sexual and pseudoviviparous populations of Festuca

“…These cpDNA regions have been previously shown to be polymorphic in Festuca pratensis (Fjellheim et al, 2006). For PCR, 25 ml reaction mixes comprising 12.5 ml Biomix (Bioline, London, UK), 25 pmol of each primer and 2.5 ml of DNA template were assembled.…”

“…Following the initial screen, the two variable loci (trnCF-rpoB and trnT2-rps4) were used to obtain sequence in both directions for the remaining samples. For the larger screen, cpDNA sequence data were also obtained from GenBank for Agrostis stolonifera, F. pratensis haplotype A, B and C (from Georgia, Bulgaria and the United Kingdom, respectively), Norwegian Festuca gigantea, Festuca arundinacea and Lolium perenne; these were used as reference samples for the phylogenetic analysis (Fjellheim et al, 2006;Saski et al, 2007). A. stolonifera was used as the out-group sample.…”