title: Detection of recent hybridization between sympatric Chilean Puya species (Bromeliaceae) using AFLP markers and reconstruction of complex relationships.
abstract: The Chilean Puya species constitute a monophyletic group, co-occurring in different species combinations within the country and displaying a remarkable morphological variability. Here, we studied the importance of recent hybridization and introgression in the group and reconstructed the complex inter- and intraspecific relationships. Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis, including 109 accessions of all Chilean Puya species and four putative hybrids, yielded 984 characters. Three main genetic groups were revealed, with the chilensis group (P. chilensis, P. gilmartiniae, P. boliviensis) diverging first, and the alpestris (P. alpestris, P. berteroniana) and coerulea group (P. venusta, P. coerulea) forming sister groups. STRUCTURE analyses confirmed a hybrid origin of morphologically intermediate individuals, and detected several additional hybrids. Hybrids were found between the chilensis and alpestris group, and between the alpestris and coerulea group. Exclusion of hybrids improved phylogenetic reconstructions. The study demonstrates that the detection of hybrids within Bromeliaceae can be difficult based on morphological characters alone and that efficient reproductive barriers may only slowly establish, leading to hybridization between closely related sympatric species. The importance of hybridization for the rapid diversification of Puya is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Australian Tropical Herbarium, Sir Robert Norman Building (E2), James Cook University, P.O. Box 6811, Cairns, Qld. 4870, Australia. katharina.schulte@jcu.edu.au
authors.forename: Katharina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schulte
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Silvestro
authors.forename: Elke
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kiehlmann
authors.forename: Sanja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vesely
authors.forename: Patricio
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Novoa
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zizka
mesh_terms: D054458:Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism Analysis; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D031229:Bromeliaceae / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D002677:Chile; D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D006824:Hybridization, Genetic; D008957:Models, Genetic; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D018744:DNA, Plant