title: Himalayan-Tibetan plateau uplift drives divergence of polyploid poppies: Meconopsis Viguier (Papaveraceae).
abstract: Meconopsis Viguier (Papaveraceae) is an iconic genus of alpine forbs that includes medicinal and ornamental species. This study extends previous phylogenetic analyses of Meconopsis, using ITS sequences representing all the major Meconopsis clades. Phenotypic traits are also analysed for all described species. Our results show that Meconopsis evolved as a ≥ octaploid clade, with considerable interior structure reflecting further changes in ploidy levels as well as phenotypic differentiation. We support the exclusion of a few species as Cathcartia or Papaver, making Meconopsis a Tibetan region clade. Based on average rates of nucleotide substitution in angiosperm herbs we estimate that the Meconopsis clade diverged from the Meconella clade of Papaver approximately 16.6 Ma. This is soon after the 'hard' collision of the Indian continent with Asia caused uplift of the Himalaya and Hengduan ranges, greatly extended the Tibetan plateau, and initiated monsoonal climates. Eight major clades within Meconopsis are well supported and these correspond closely to previously recognised subgenus groups. However, the relationship among the clades is poorly resolved, probably because they diverged rapidly ∼15-11 Ma. Two of these clades are ∼dodecaploid but appear to have originated independently. The eight clades have distinct distributions, variously associated with the Himalaya, the eastern Plateau and Hengduan ranges. Some Meconopsis species were not monophyletic, suggesting that a combination of multilocus molecular and phenotypic traits is required when defining and revising species.
authors.affiliation: Division of Evolution, Ecology and Genetics, Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia; Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Hongyan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Division of Evolution, Ecology and Genetics, Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
authors.forename: Julian E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Ash
authors.affiliation: Division of Evolution, Ecology and Genetics, Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
authors.forename: Celeste C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Linde
authors.affiliation: Ecosystem Sciences, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
authors.forename: Saul
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cunningham
authors.affiliation: Division of Evolution, Ecology and Genetics, Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
authors.forename: Adrienne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nicotra
mesh_terms: D000531:Altitude; D002980:Climate; D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / Q000235:genetics; D017753:Ecosystem; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D049810:Genetic Speciation; D055593:Geological Phenomena; D054643:INDEL Mutation; D007194:India; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D010207:Papaver / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D010641:Phenotype; D010802:Phylogeny; D011123:Polyploidy; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D013045:Species Specificity; D018609:Tibet
chemical_list: D018744:DNA, Plant; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer