title: Systematics and evolution of Arctic-Alpine Arabis alpina (Brassicaceae) and its closest relatives in the eastern Mediterranean.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The high mountains in southern Anatolia and the eastern Mediterranean are assumed to play a major role as a primary center of genetic diversity and species richness in Eurasia. We tested this hypothesis by focusing on the widespread perennial arctic-alpine Arabis alpina and its sympatrically distributed closest relatives in the eastern Mediterranean.
  
  
  METHODS
  Plastid (trnL intron, trnL-F intergenic spacer) and nuclear (ITS) DNA sequence analysis was used for phylogenetic reconstruction. Broad-scale plastid haplotype analyses were conducted to infer ancestral biogeographic patterns.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Five Arabis species, identified from the eastern Mediterranean (Turkey mainland and Cyprus), evolved directly and independently from A. alpina, leaving Arabis alpina as a paraphyletic taxon. These species are not affected by hybridization or introgression, and species divergence took place at the diploid level during the Pleistocene.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pleistocene climate fluctuations produced local altitudinal range-shifts among mountain glacial survival areas, resulting not only in the accumulation of intraspecific genotype diversity but also in the formation of five local species. We also show that the closest sister group of Arabis alpina consists exclusively of annuals/winter annuals and diverged prior to Pleistocene climatic fluctuations during the colonization of the lowland Mediterranean landscape. These findings highlight that Anatolia is not only a center of species richness but also a center for life-history diversification.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biodiversity and Plant Systematics, Centre for Organismal Studies (COS) Heidelberg, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Karl
authors.forename: Christiane
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kiefer
authors.forename: Stephan W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Ansell
authors.forename: Marcus A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Koch
mesh_terms: D031214:Arabis / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D001110:Arctic Regions; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000235:genetics; D002736:Chloroplasts / Q000235:genetics; D032461:Chromosomes, Plant / Q000378:metabolism; D018742:DNA, Chloroplast / Q000235:genetics; D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / Q000235:genetics; D017753:Ecosystem; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006239:Haplotypes / Q000235:genetics; D019083:Mediterranean Region; D010802:Phylogeny; D011003:Ploidies; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D018742:DNA, Chloroplast; D018744:DNA, Plant; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer