contens

Xth Symposium of the International Organization of Plant Biosystematists 2 – 4 July 2008 Vysoké Tatry, Slovakia

CONTENS 2

Oral presentations Phylogeography

2

Biogeography

8

Evolutionary processes in European mountain ranges

14

Polyploidy

22

Molecular approaches in plant evolution

33

Ecological factors in plant evolution

38

Evolutionary processes in extra-european mountains

42

Role of apomixis in plant evolution

47

Poster presentations

51

1

PHYLOGEOGRAPHY O 01 Phylogeography of arctic-alpine plants - recent advances Christian Brochmann National Centre for Biosystematics, Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, PO Box 1172 Blindern, NO-0318 Oslo, Norway. email: [email protected] Many individual species histories of arctic-alpine plants have now been inferred based on various nuclear and cytoplasmic markers. I will review some recent case studies which have brought new insights into various aspects of arctic-alpine phylogeography, for example by comparing different types of molecular markers and by merging molecular and fossil data. I will also provide an update of recent studies revealing long-distance dispersals and multiple regional colonizations in arctic-alpine plants,

and

present

some

recent

advances

in

comparative

arctic-alpine

phylogeography on regional to circumpolar scales. Of particular importance in current arctic-alpine

phylogeography

will

be

to

develop

stronger

links

with

the

paleoecological community as well as with groups working on predictive species distribution modeling and GIS-based approaches to analyses of genetic data, and to develop new molecular tools based on the pyrosequencing technology. I will present results from some ongoing projects demonstrating the potential for coupling of genetic data with paleoecological data, for modeling of loss of genetic diversity following future climate warming, and for reconstructions of past species distributions based on DNA preserved in permafrost.

2

O 02 Comparative phylogeography of Afro-alpine plants inferred from AFLP and plastid DNA variation Magnus Popp1, Abel Gizaw 1, 2, Biructawit Bekele1, 2, Dorothee Ehrich1,3, Adane Assefa4, Sileshi Nemomissa2, Mulugeta Kebede2, & Christian Brochmann1 1

National Centre for Biosystematics, Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, PO Box1172 Blindern, NO-0318 Oslo, Norway; 2Department of Biology, Addis Ababa University, PO Box 3434, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; 3Department of Biology, Universitety of Tromsø, N-9037 Tromsø, Norway; 4Department of Biology, P.O.Box: 79, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia; [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] Many studies have addressed the impact of the Pleistocene climate fluctuations on phylogeographic history and structuring of intraspecific diversity in the Northern hemisphere, but there are few such studies on African plants. The Afro-alpine region in Eastern Africa, consisting of isolated high mountains acting as biological ‘sky islands’, offers a particularly interesting system to address questions such as the relative importance of random long-distance dispersal versus gradual expansion via montane forest bridges during humid interglacials. We will present some results from a comparative study of the phylogeographic history of widespread plants from the Afro-alpine and Afro-montane zones in the high mountains of Eastern Africa. We use nucleotide sequences from several non-coding plastid DNA regions along with recently completed AFLP data sets for seven species without obvious mechanisms for long-distance dispersal: Cerastium afromontanum, Erica arborea, Haplosciadum abyssinicum, Hypericum revolutum, Lobelia giberroa, Nuxia congesta, and Salvia merjamie. The relationships inferred from the sequence data are largely congruent with the AFLP data. Our preliminary results indicate that whereas the genetic diversity in plants with an Afro-alpine distribution is geographically structured, the genetic groups discovered in Afro-montane plants are geographically more widely distributed.

3

O 03 Phylogeographical structure of alpine plants in the Carpathians: a comparative study Michał Ronikier1 & Intrabiodiv Consortium2 1

Institute of Botany, Polish Academy of Sciences, Lubicz 46, PL-31-512 Kraków, Poland; e-mail: [email protected]; 2 www.intrabiodiv.eu The Carpathians belong to major mountain ranges forming the European alpine system and form a mountain arch extending over ca 400 km. With a comparable spatial extension but deviating in topography and glacial history, the Carpathians provide a different system than the European Alps for studying the Quaternary history of alpine plants. Alpine areas form here a discontinuous island system, separated by large forested and subalpine areas. Unlike the Alps, the Carpathians were not extensively glaciated during the Quaternary; glaciers developed only locally, while lower massifs remained ice-free. Only the highest Carpathian ridges, like the Tatra mountains (the highest massif, 2663 m a.s.l.), showed more extended glaciation. In contrast, while plant habitats in the Alps were mostly limited to marginal refugia, alpine areas were extended in the large ice-free and treeless Carpathian ranges, potentially enabling range extensions for high-mountain plants. In the present study, populations of 14 high-mountain species distributed in alpine habitats across the Carpathians were studied using AFLP markers to infer their genetic structure. Additionally, chloroplast DNA sequences were examined in part of species to test the phylogeographical groups detected. Most species were characterized by a significant phylogeographical structure in the Carpathians and several well-supported regional groups were detected. A main genetic break supported by results from most taxa separated Western and South-Eastern Carpathians, following the well-known phytogeographical boundary. Further genetic groups were found in the SE Carpathians, suggesting for several species a last glacial isolation in several regional refugia rather than population expansion potentially favoured by extension of ice-free and treeless areas.

4

O 04 Contrasting phylogeographies inferred for the two alpine sister species Cardamine resedifolia and C. alpina (Brassicaceae) Judita Lihová1, Tor Carlsen2, Christian Brochmann2 & Karol Marhold1 1

Institute of Botany, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 14, SK-845 23 Bratislava, Slovak Republic; [email protected] 2 National Centre for Biosystematics, Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1172 Blindern, NO-0318 Oslo, Norway Two sister species were studied using AFLPs to address the history of disjunctions in the European alpine system: Cardamine alpina (Alps, Pyrenees) and C. resedifolia (mountain ranges from Sierra Nevada to the Balkans). We explored differentiation among their disjunct populations as well as within the contiguous Alpine and Pyrenean ranges, and compare the phylogeographic histories. Samples of the closely related, predominantly arctic C. bellidifolia were also included in attempt to explore its origin and postglacial establishment. In the snow-bed species C. alpina we resolved two strongly divergent lineages, one Alpine and one Pyrenean, possibly representing cryptic species. While multiple glacial refugia were invoked in the Pyrenees, we inferred only a single one in the Maritime Alps - from which postglacial colonization of the entire Alps occurred, accompanied by a strong founder effect. In C. resedifolia the genetic structuring was rather weak and did not correspond to the main geographic disjunctions. Two widespread and largely sympatric main genetic groups were found, one of them subdivided into four geographically more restricted groups, with frequent secondary contacts among them. The conspicuously different histories of these two species are likely associated with their different ecologies. The more abundant habitats available for C. resedifolia may have increased its probability for gradual migration during colder periods and for successful establishment after long-distance dispersal, whereas C. alpina has been more restricted by its dependence on snow-beds. Surprisingly, the arctic C. bellidifolia formed a very divergent lineage with little variation, contradicting a scenario of recent, postglacial migration of this species from the Alps or Pyrenees. The origin of C. bellidifolia likely followed a more complex scenario, perhaps taking place in the Asian part of its distribution area. 5

O 05 Phylogeography on the Balkan Peninsula – examples from Veronica (Plantaginaceae) Katharina Bardy1, Peter Schönswetter1, Dirk C. Albach2 & Manfred A. Fischer1 1

Department of Biogeography and Botanical Garden, Faculty Centre Botany, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, 1030 Wien, Austria; [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] 2 Institute for Special Botany, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Bentzelweg 9, 55099 Mainz, Germany, [email protected] The Balkan Peninsula is one of the hotspots of biodiversity in Europe; presumingly because of its role as a refugial area during the Pleistocene ice ages. Additionally, the Balkan Peninsula was a place for further diversification and formation of new species further enhancing its richness in endemic species. Up to now, our knowledge of the phylogeographic history of plant species of the Balkan Peninsula is predominantly based on the study of trees. However, most of its species richness is due to herbaceous perennials such as the genus Veronica. We focus on species from three different subgenera: subgenus Stenocarpon – growing in alpine habitats – subgenus Pseudolysimachion – occurring on grasslands – and subgenus Chamaedrys – mainly inhabiting forests. Using genome size estimation, AFLP fingerprints and cpDNA markers we address the following main questions:

1)

Which

taxa

form

well-defined

taxonomic

units?

phylogeographical patterns do these taxa exhibit on the Balkan Peninsula?

6

2)

Which

O 06 Molecular phylogeography of Rhodiola integrifolia (Crassulaceae): postglacial recolonization of western North America Heidi Guest University of Victoria, Department of Biology, P.O. Box 3020 Stn. CSC, Victoria, BC V8W 3N5, Canada, [email protected] The cyclic contraction and expansion of available habitat during the Quaternary period has strongly influenced patterns of genetic variation in plant populations. Genetic diversity is expected to be high in glacial refugia - such as Beringia, and low in recently deglaciated areas. The arctic/alpine plant Rhodiola integrifolia is found at high latitudes from northwestern North America to northeastern Asia and extends southward along mountain ranges on both continents. To explore its genetic diversity I surveyed variation in the cpDNA psbA-trnH spacer region of 69 populations from western North America (including Alaska, Yukon, British Columbia, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and California). Digests with three restriction enzymes (ApoI, BstXI and MseI) revealed 12 haplotypes over this geographic region. Sequencing of the same cpDNA region in a subset of samples yielded 28 haplotypes. Of these, nine were found exclusively within Beringia and five exclusively south of the glacial maximum. Three haplotypes were found both within Beringia and in adjacent glaciated B.C., Alaska and Yukon, and five were wholly within glaciated southeast Alaska. Four haplotypes were widespread with disjunct distributions, occurring both north (within or bordering Beringia), and south of the glacial maximum. Two haplotypes were found within glaciated regions and may have persisted in coastal refugia. Populations of R. integrifolia in western North America appear to have persisted both north and south of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet during the most recent glaciation, and have subsequently recolonized western Canada primarily from the north since the last glacial maximum.

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BIOGEOGRAPHY O 07 The importance of refugia for evolution and biogeography of alpine and arctic-alpine plants Andreas Tribsch Department of Organismic Biology, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunnerstrasse 34, 5020 Salzburg, Austria; [email protected] During severe climatic changes only populations of those organisms survive that are able to migrate to suitable habitats, to adapt to the new environment quickly or that live in environmentally stable regions. An area where living conditions are suitable and stable throughout climatic fluctuations are often termed refugium. Stability is usually a factor in areas less affected by natural climatic changes, like in mountainous areas, where altitudinal migrations of populations are easily possible. Several studies where published that deal with the relevance of refugia in Europe for explaining distribution and phylogeographic patterns and the paradigm that refugia where mainly situated in the main Mediterranean peninsulas was created. Recently this view has been changed, although strong support for Northern refugia far beyond these areas is still limited. In my presentation I would like to show the relevance of the European mountains and some areas in the Arctic as refugia by discussing published and own phylogeographic data on several alpine and arctic-alpine plants. Moreover I will explain that potential refugia, where organisms where potentially able to survive climatic changes should be discriminated from realized refugia that are supported by biological data. Knowing the location of such realized refugia hold a key for our understanding of many (intraspecific) phylogeographic pattern found, but does not

explain

the

evolutionary

significance

wholly.

The

question,

whether

phylogeographic patterns are stable simply because of genetic drift and limitation of gene-flow or whether phylogroups did already diverge by adaptation to different habitats associated with refugial patterns as a first step towards speciation remain open so far and will be important for future research.

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O 08 Phylogenetic and biogeographical studies of alpine species of Ranunculus in Eurasia Khatere Emadzade & Elvira Hörandl Department of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, 1030 Vienna, Austria; [email protected] & [email protected] Ranunculus is the largest genus in Ranunculaceae. It comprises c. 600 species and is distributed worldwide in all continents. Morphological adaptations enable the genus to colonize a very broad spectrum of habitats, ranging from terrestrial to aquatic, arctic or alpine areas. The genus has a great diversity of species in the Eurasian mountains. Previous studies on European taxa (Hörandl & al., 2005; Paun & al., 2005) suggested that European alpines have mostly an autochthonous origin, but the relationships to the species of the Asian mountains remained unclear. A molecular phylogeny based on DNA sequences of the nuclear ITS region and the plastid matK/trnK region has been worked out to establish the ecological and geographical clades in a worldwide framework. Biogeo-graphical analysis was implemented using the program Dispersal – Vicariance Analysis (DIVA). Biogeographical analyses of genus reveal a radiation within the ancient Tethyan area. Tethyan’s taxa originated in the meridional zone and migrated to temperat and boreal zones. The mountain species of the Mediterranean and western IranoTuranian region (East to Hindu Kush) have the same origin but are not related to the species central Asian mountains (Altai, Himalaya, Tien-shan, Tibet). The central Asian high mountain species are related to arctic, northern European and North American species. This clade originated probably in North America and migrated via a northern route to Eurasia. This geographical differentiation within Eurasia might be due to different climates, but also to speciation and diversification of clades in different time periods.

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O 09 Phylogeny and biogeography of selected plant groups from the Balkan Peninsula Božo Frajman1 & Peter Schönswetter2 1

Biology Department, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Večna pot 111, SI1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia. E-mail: [email protected] 2 Department of Biogeography and Botanical Garden, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, A-1030 Vienna, Austria. E-mail: [email protected] The Balkan Peninsula is renowned for its biodiversity and high levels of endemism both among animals and plants. Still, biota of some parts of the Balkans ranges among the least known in Europe. Studies using modern molecular approaches are largely lacking, with the exception of some recent phylogenetic and phylogeographic studies. One of the genera with several endemics described from the Balkans is Heliosperma (Sileneae, Caryophyllaceae). Phylogenetic and phylogeographic studies using chloroplast and nuclear DNA sequences as well as AFLP data suggest complex reticulate patterns and molecular data do not support traditional taxonomic delimitations within the H. pusillum group. Chloroplast data suggest an old split within the group, which is geographically correlated. This is not supported by nuclear data, possibly due to hybridisation between the two groups. Molecular dating suggests a recent, most probably Pliocene/Pleistocene diversification within the group. On the contrary, H. macranthum from Montenegro/Albania/Kosovo, is likely of more ancient Tertiary origin. The general assumption that many Balkan endemics are Tertiary relics has thus to be taken with caution. Another plant group including several Balkan endemics is the Euphorbia barrelieri group. Phylogenetic studies using nuclear and chloroplast DNA sequences reveal patterns different from traditional classifications. ITS data suggest that Euphorbia barrelieri from Italy is not most closely related to E. barrelieri from the Balkan Peninsula. Euphorbia nicaeensis and E. glareosa are nested within this group and E. herzegovina is most closely related to E. nicaeensis. Euphorbia kerneri and E. triflora are most closely related, whereas E. saxatilis from the Eastern Alps forms an independent lineage. Additional sampling is needed to corroborate these preliminary results.

10

O 10 Phytogeographical relationships of high-mountain flora in the Carpathians Zbigniew Mirek1, Gheorge Coldea2, Roman Letz3, Karol Marhold3,4, Halina PiękośMirkowa5 1

Institute of Botany, Polish Academy of Sciences, Lubicz 46, PL-31-512 Kraków, Poland; 2Institute of Biological Research, Strada Republicii 48, RO-3400 ClujNapoca, Romania; 3Institute of Botany, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 14, SK-845 23 Bratislava, Slovak Republic; 4Department of Botany, Charles University, Benátská 2, CZ-128 01 Praha 2, Czech Republic; 5Institute of Nature Conservation Polish Academy of Sciences, Al. Mickiewicza 33, PL-31-120 Kraków, Poland. Based on distribution of high mountain vascular plant species in the Carpathians most important phytogeographical phenomena are characterised and discussed relying on multi-varied numerical analyses. These include: ‐

patterns of distribution discernible within high mountain flora of the Carpathians in relation to main phytogeographical elements,

‐

endemism, with special concern to categories of endemic species,

‐

division of the Carpathians into natural phytogeographical units and floristic entity of these units reflected in distinctiveness of high mountain flora,

‐

evident floristic gap and conspicuous differences between western and southeastern Carpathians,

‐

clear gaps between eastern and southern parts of the Carpathians with some other floristic discontinuities found among these two parts; apart of that gradual changes along the arch of the Carpathians from South to the North and from East to the West have been observed.

Some general relationships with high mountain flora with Alps are drawn.

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O 11 When phylogeography meets biogeography: Inter- and intraspecific differentiation and genetic diversity in alpine plants Conny Thiel-Egenter1, Felix Gugerli 1, Nadir Alvarez 2, Thorsten Englisch3, Rolf Holderegger 1 & IntraBioDiv-Consortium4 1

Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Zürcherstrasse 111, CH-8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland; [email protected], 2Laboratoire de Botanique Evolutive Université de Neuchâtel 11, rue Emile-Argand CH-2007 Neuchâtel, Switzerland; [email protected], 3Department of Biogeography, Institute of Botany, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, A-1030 Vienna, Austria; [email protected] & 4 www.intrabiodiv.eu/IMG/pdf/IntraBioDiv_Consortium_v10.pdf There is a long history of studying the flora in the European Alps and its biogeography. Since the early 19th century, scientists have attempted to localize floristically similar regions and its delimitations. Here, we propose a new approach to geographically identify biogeographic breaks. We use an exhaustive dataset of the distribution of alpine plant species, compiled within the project IntraBioDiv. Data on species occurrences refer to a regular spatial grid across the whole range of the Alps. On the same grid, we assessed the genetic structure of several widely distributed alpine plant species to identify common phylogeographic breaks. We found that biogeographic and phylogeographic breaks were largely congruent, indicating that historical processes acted at both the genetic and the species level in the same direction. We further assessed genetic diversity of these plant species in the Alps and the Carpathians to test the influence of various species traits, elevation and phylogeographic history on genetic diversity. Species dispersed and pollinated by wind showed higher genetic diversity than species with self or insect pollination and animal or gravity dispersal. Genetic diversity was generally lower in the Carpathians than in the Alps, due to higher topographical isolation of alpine habitats in the Carpathians and this mountain massif’s divergent phylogeographic history. Elevation did not influence genetic diversity, challenging the long-held view of decreasing genetic diversity with increasing elevation in mountain plants.

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O 12 Did vascular plants and bryophytes survive the last glaciation in Scandinavia? Kristine Bakke Westergaard1,2, Magnus Popp2, Kjell Ivar Flatberg3, Inger Greve Alsos4, Torstein Engelskjøn1 & Christian Brochmann2 1

Tromsø University Museum, University of Tromsø, N-9037 Tromsø, Norway, Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1172 Blindern, N-0318 Oslo, Norway 3 Museum of Natural History and Archaeology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, N-7491 Trondheim, Norway 4The University Centre in Svalbard, P.O. Box 156, N-9171 Longyearbyen, Norway; [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] 2

Glacial survival vs. postglacial immigration of the Scandinavian alpine flora has been debated for more than 100 years, and has recently received increased attention with the development of molecular tools. Several vascular plant species occur disjunctly on both sides of the North Atlantic Ocean, but are lacking from areas east- and westwards. A subset also absent in the Alps, the so-called ‘west-arctic’ species, has been considered to provide the strongest evidence for local survival in Scandinavia at least through the last glaciation. Bryophytes have never attained weight in this discussion, even though many of them are exceptionally hardy and therefore more likely as in situ survivors. Using AFLPs, cpDNA markers and low-copy nuclear gene data, we carry out a comparative phylogeographic analysis of some of these species to test whether the Scandinavian populations originate from recent (postglacial) cross-oceanic dispersal from the west, and/or whether they descend from long-term glacial in situ survivors. This talk will focus on the results from studies on three highly disjunct species. First, AFLP and cpDNA data from the arctic Saxifraga rivularis s.l. represents the first case study contributing extensive molecular data to investigate the extreme biogeographical disjunction between the amphi-Beringian and the amphi-Atlantic areas. Second, cpDNA data from the ‘west-arctic’ Arenaria humifusa reveals little variation in the amphi-Atlantic area. Third, preliminary cpDNA data from the most extreme ‘west-arctic’ and dioecious Carex scirpoidea will be presented.

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EVOLUTIONARY PROCESSES IN EUROPEAN MOUNTAIN RANGES O 13 Primula sect. Aleuritia: a paradigm of hybrid speciation via secondary contact Elena Conti University of Zurich, Institute for Systematic Botany, Zollikerstrasse 107, Zuerich, 8008, [email protected] Hybridization, often followed by polyploidization, represents one of the most important modes of speciation in plants, especially in arctic/alpine systems, probably because the repeated habitat fragmentation caused by advancing and retreating glaciers during the Pleistocene created many opportunities for secondary contact between partially differentiated populations. Primula, a circumboreal genus with high species diversity and variation of ploidy levels and breeding systems, is an ideal group to study the effects of climate change on species distribution, reproductive biology, and speciation modes at different evolutionary scales. Detailed phylogenetic analyses of Primula, sect. Aleuritia revealed that switches to polyploidy and homostyly co-occurred in the group, possibly as a result of recombination at the heterostyly linkage group caused by genomic rearrangements associated with polyploidization. The higher success of the autogamous polyploid species of sect. Aleuritia at recolonising habitats freed by glacial retreat might be explained in terms of selection for reproductive assurance. Analyses of DNA sequences from the chloroplast and nuclear genomes, in combination with chromosome in situ hybridization studies, revealed that the amphi-Beringian tetraploid P. egaliksensis evolved via inter-sectional hybridization from a North American maternal parent and an Asian paternal parent and that most ITS sequences of the tetraploid hybrid were homogenized towards the paternal repeat.

14

O 14 Gentianella (Gentianaceae): A model taxon for evolution in the European mountains Josef Greimler Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Faculty Center Botany, University of Vienna, A1030 Vienna, Rennweg 14, Austria Members of the large genus Gentianella occur on every continent. Taxa of the fimbriate section Gentianella are distributed in the northern latitudes and mountain ranges of North America and Eurasia. The European taxa occur in various grasslands and open forests throughout the continent and provide a good model group for investigating processes of evolution and speciation. The highest diversity within this group is found in the Alps and their periphery. Most of these ca. 20 European taxa are highly variable due to ecological polymorphism among populations in different habitats, due to seasonal dimorphism within and among populations, and probably due to high plasticity at populational and individual levels. Shifts in resource allocation from the vegetative to the reproductive part and seed size variation might indicate adaptations to the mountain habitats. Investigations from reproductive biology, common garden experiments, morphology, nrDNA, cpDNA, and AFLP reveal a variety of evolutionary trends and various processes that can lead to incipient speciation. In contrast to morphology, genetic data show clear differentiation into two cryptic species within one widespread taxon. These allopatric cryptic or sibling species appear to have been separated by Pleistocene climatic oscillations. The glacial oscillations are obviously responsible for weakly differentiated peripatric narrow endemic variants in the Southern Alps. Reticulate patterns among taxa seem to be common and have been investigated in the Northeastern Alps. Seasonal dimorphism resulting from more recent historical human impact may lead to sympatric speciation.

15

O 15 Evolving towards the tops: phylogeny and evolution of the European endemic Phyteuma (Campanulaceae) Gerald M. Schneeweiss1, Michael Barfuss2, Mike Thiv3 1

Department of Biogeography and Botanical Garden, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, A-103 Vienna 2 Department of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, A-103 Vienna 3 Department of Botany, Federal Natural History Museum Stuttgart, Rosenstein 1, D70191 Stuttgart Phyteuma comprises c. 20 species endemic to Europe and is morphologically characterized by its peculiar flower morphology with long and narrow corolla lobes remaining attached distally and separating only late in anthesis. Phyteuma species occur in different habitats, ranging from lowland woodlands via mid-elevation rock crevices to alpine grasslands and subnival tundra, rendering it a good model system to investigate habitat evolution in a comprehensive phylogenetic context. To this end, we established a sound hypothesis on the relationships among all Phyteuma species based on phylogenetic analysis of 4.3 kb sequence data from the plastid (trnL-intron and trnL-trnF spacer, trnK-intron including the matK gene) and the nuclear genome (ITS). Phyteuma is a well supported monophyletic group and is sister to the SE Alpine endemic Physoplexis. Within Phyteuma, two clades are found, largely corresponding to previously recognized sections, which were delimited by the distribution of different inflorescence types (spikes vs. capitulae). The majority of currently recognized species are confirmed as separate lineages, while in others, most notably Ph. globulariifolium and Ph. scheuchzeri, current taxonomy does not adequately reflect lineage diversity. Using this phylogenetic framework, habitat evolution is analyzed under the assumptions that habitat evolution correlates either with the amount of molecular evolution (phylogram branch lengths) or with time (branch length of an ultrametric tree). Although the morphologically more primitive taxa occur in woodlands, there is no evidence that this habitat was the ancestral one for the genus, but rather the ancestor of Phyteuma was a chasmophyte, alpine/subnival habitats being clearly derived.

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O 16 Crocus - Evolution and domestication Marian Ørgaard & Niels Jacobsen Department of Ecology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Rolighedsvej 21, DK-1958 Frederiksberg C (Copenhagen), Denmark Crocus belongs to the family Iridaceae and includes more than 80 species. The genus is mainly found in the northern Mediterranean region, especially towards the Middle East. Crocus exhibits a large inter- and intraspecific variation regarding morphology, cytogenetics and molecular composition. The chromosome numbers vary from 2n = 6 to 2n = 64 and this variation is also to be found intraspecifically, e.g. at the subspecies and even population level. Crocus vernus s.l. has a wide distribution from Spain to easternmost Europe with reported chromosome numbers varying from 2n = 8 to more than 20. Crocus biflorus s.l. represents the one species with the most variation encountered. Chromosome numbers range from 2n = 8 to 28 and vary at the subspecies and population level. These cyto-/ecotypes are often confined geographically to mountain peaks and ranges. Natural hybridization between populations and species occurs and give rise to new genotypes and eventually new species. Variation in chromosome numbers can be explained by the “Triploid Pathway”. Expression of diversity can be speeded up when plants from different geographical areas are taken into cultivation and allowed to hybridize through open pollination. This has resulted in more than 200 Crocus cultivars altogether. The diversity is registered in morphological appearance, DNA polymorphism (e.g. results from RFLP, AFLP, in situ hybridization, DNA sequencing), chromosome number and crossability.

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O 17 Refuges within refuges: evolutionary complex patterns in southern Spanish mountain ranges Gonzalo Nieto Feliner Real Jardín Botánico, CSIC, Plaza de Murillo 2, 28014 Madrid, Spain The phylogeographic literature is filled with interpretations of current genetic patterns based on the contraction/expansion model forced by the climatic oscillations during the last two million years. But of the wealth of scientific studies accumulated along the last two decades, particularly in Europe, we only understand reasonably well those referred to higher latitudes. This is because evolutionary histories in those latitudes resemble a model in which in each climatic cycle most traces from the previous one are erased. In southern European ranges (or in general, in those places where ice effects were less severe) the situation is fairly different and to some extent opposite. These regions are referred to as refuges due to the long-time recognised fact that they contain more genetic diversity than elsewhere. But this is due not only to an accumulation of genotypes from other places escaping from extinction but to a number of processes that operated on them, including the mixing of different genotypes. Additional sources of complexity come from the predominance of mountain ranges in the southern European landscape – adding an altitudinal migration component to the latitudinal one imposed by climatic changes – and the patchy nature of landscape. The overall consequences are that there is no general phylogeographic pattern in these regions and that just speaking of refuges to refer to southern regions is an oversimplification. These ideas will be illustrated with data generated in the last years from various plant groups, which allow, at most, the identification of the processes involved but not the recognition of a single phylogeographic pattern for the so-called southern refuges.

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O 18 Is hybridization between Pinus sylvestris and P. uncinata expressed in morphological traits? Anna K. Jasińska & Witold Wachowiak Institute of Dendrology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Parkowa 5, 62-035 Kórnik, Poland; [email protected], [email protected] Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and P. uncinata DC. are closely related species and they often create mixed forest stand. The aim of this study was to investigate the natural hybridisation of these pine species and answer the question if hybrids can be recognized using morphological and anatomical traits? Two year-old needles were collected from individuals from mixed and isolated populations from the Perenees in Spain and Andorra and from the Central Massive in France. Morpholological and anatomical analyses show that P. uncinata differs at statistically significant level from P. sylvestris in a few traits, mostly by the number of the resin canals, shape of epiddermis cell and the vascular bundles distance. Hybrids origin of several individuals was confirmed with the application of the species specific cpDNA markers. The influence of hybridisation for morphological and anatomical traits is discussed.

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O 19 Species-genetic diversity correlation in the European alpine grasslands dominated by Carex curvula Mihai Puşcaş1,3, Pierre Taberlet1, Philippe Choler1,2 1

Laboratoire d’Ecologie Alpine, UMR CNRS-UJF 5553, Université J. Fourier, Grenoble I, BP53, 38041 Grenoble, France 2 Station Alpine J. Fourier, UMS CNRS-UJF 2925, Université J. Fourier, Grenoble I, BP53, 38041 Grenoble, France 3 A. Borza Botanical Garden, Babeş-Bolyai University, 400015 Cluj-Napoca, Romania [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] The distributional range of alpine plants experienced dramatic changes during the Quaternary ice ages. These changes offer many opportunities for studying the impact of habitat contraction and fragmentation on both species and genetic diversity. Here, we examined the AFLP-based genetic diversity in the sedge Carex curvula All. in

relation to the species diversity of siliceous European alpine grasslands in which the sedge is dominant. We found no relationship or even a negative relationship between genetic and species diversity indices. Local species richness was associated with the regional pool size of siliceous alpine species, which was itself dependent on the extant area of suitable habitats for these species. Genetic diversity of C. curvula was primarily shaped by the presumed location of glacial refugia and the routes of postglacial colonization. We conclude that the two levels of diversity are not positively correlated because genotypes and species do not respond similarly to the spatial dynamics of suitable habitats induced by Quaternary temperature changes.

20

O 20 Evolutionary studies in a group of high mountain Artemisia (Asteraceae, Anthemideae): molecular cytogenetic, phylogenetic and genome size data Sònia Garcia1, Teresa Garnatje1, Oriane Hidalgo1, Jaume Pellicer2, Sonja SiljakYakovlev3, Joan Vallès2 1

Institut Botànic de Barcelona (CSIC-ICUB), Passeig del Migdia s/n, 08038 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] 2Laboratori de Botànica, Facultat de Farmàcia, Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Joan XXIII s/n, 08028 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; [email protected], [email protected] 3Écologie, Systématique, Évolution, UMR CNRS 8079, Université Paris-Sud, bâtiment 360, 91405 Orsay Cedex, France; [email protected] The genus Artemisia encompasses some European and west Asian orophytic taxa, mostly belonging to the subgenus Absinthium, which can be called the Artemisia umbelliformis complex. This dysploid-polyploid group is distributed from Sierra Nevada to Central Asian mountains, through the Pyrenees, the Alps and the Caucasus. Some taxa of the group have been largely studied from several viewpoints, including cytogenetic and biogeographic, but a study involving the whole complex is lacking and several critical questions regarding its origin and the relationships between its members still remain unclear. In the framework of our researches on genome organization and evolution in Artemisia and related genera, we are presenting the results on a dozen taxa (orophytic and their close relatives), including a molecular phylogenetic reconstruction, chromosome counts, fluorochrome banding, fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) and genome size assessment. On the light of the data obtained, hypotheses are discussed on the origin of the dysploidy (appeared several times in the genus) and of polyploid species (through independent or recurrent events involving the extant diploid taxa and/or some extinct diploid precursors). Genome size differences have been detected between disjunct populations of the same species, suggesting ongoing diversification processes linked to geographical isolation.

21

POLYPLOIDY O 21 Polyploidy and angiosperm diversification Douglas E. Soltis Department of Botany, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA The importance of polyploidy as a major force in angiosperm evolution has long been recognized. Recent genomic studies have provided important new insights into polyploid evolution in the flowering plants. The question is no longer “what proportion of angiosperms are polyploid”, but “how many episodes of polyploidy characterize any given lineage.” Through the interplay of genomic and phylogenetic approaches, we are on the verge of determining the frequency of ancient polyploidy events throughout angiosperm history. A series of investigations suggest that ancient polyploidy may be ubiquitous among angiosperms; these studies also reveal a number of ancient genome doubling events in the flowering plants. These ancient events include genome duplication in basal angiosperm lineages, as well as a proposed paleohexaploid event that may have occurred close to the origin of the eudicot clade. Interestingly, however, there is so far no evidence of ancient polyploidy in Amborella, the sister to all other living angiosperms. A major challenge that biologists now face is to reconstruct the ancestral genomes of lineages prior to genome duplication. Using new algorithms, it may be possible to reconstruct the ancestral eudicot genome or even the ancestral angiosperm genome. A major question has long been, does polyploidy promote species richness? Comparisons of species diversification rates suggest that ancient polyploidy has indeed resulted in a dramatic increase in species richness in several angiosperm lineages, including Poaceae, Solanaceae, Fabaceae, and Brassicaceae. However, additional genomic studies are needed to pinpoint the exact phylogenetic placement of the ancient polyploidy events within these lineages.

22

O 22 Polyploid evolution and ecological differentiation in Senecio carniolicus (Asteraceae) Peter Schönswetter Department of Biogeography and Botanical Garden, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, A-1030 Vienna, Austria; [email protected] Senecio carniolicus (Asteraceae), a frequent element of acidophilic alpine meadows of the Eastern Alps and the Carpathians, was previously believed to be uniformly hexaploid. A recent study, however, revealed the existence of three main cytotypes (diploid, tetraploid and hexaploid cytotypes) within the distribution area of S. carniolicus in the Eastern Alps, but also frequent cytotype-mixture within populations. Another study, focussing on an altitudinal gradient on a mountain slope where di- and hexaploids are known to co-occur, suggested a narrow altitudinal range of the hexaploid cytotype in the low-alpine belt and a much wider range of the diploid one, spanning both low-alpine and high alpine zones. In my presentation I will summarise published results and present a new project exploring origin and maintenance of intrapopulational cytotype mixture in S. carniolicus following two complementary research avenues. First, origin and evolutionary relationships among different cytotypes will be investigated in both space and time using a phylogenetic and phylogeographic approach based on DNA sequence and AFLP fingerprint data, supplemented by molecular cytogenetic and genome size data. The following aspects will be addressed: (1) Origin of polyploids and cytotype mixture, (2) phylogeographic patterns within and across cytotypes, (3) chromosomal re-organisation accompanying polyploidisation. Second, mechanisms for maintenance of the cytotype mixture will be explored with respect to the potential role of several pre- and postzygotic isolation mechanisms. Microsite analysis (analysis of surrounding vegetation), phenological observations with reciprocal transplantations, cross-pollination and germination experiments will be employed to address the following aspects: (4) habitat segregation and ecological displacement, (5) flowering time differences and flowering time displacement, and (6) postzygotic isolation mechanisms.

23

O 23 Biosystematic study of the Pilosella alpicola group (Asteraceae, Lactuceae) – from taxonomy to adaptive evolution Barbora Šingliarová1 & Patrik Mráz2 1

Institute of Botany, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 14, SK-845 23 Bratislava, Slovak Republic, [email protected] & 2Département de Biologie, Unité d`Ecologie & Evolution, Université de Fribourg, CH-1700 Fribourg, Switzerland, [email protected] The Pilosella alpicola group displays a polydisjunctive distributional pattern across high European ranges (Alps, Carpathians, Balkan mountains). Six subspecies have been traditionally recognized within the group. Present morphometric study including populations from the whole range revealed four morphologically well-separated allopatric taxa. Significant taxon-specific ploidy level variation was detected. While P. ullepitschii and P. glandulifolia are exclusively diploid taxa, P. rhodopea and P. alpicola s.str. possess four and three different cytotypes respectively, in ploidy-mixed populations. Allozymic variation reflects reproduction mode of the particular ploidy level. Although diploid sexually reproducing plants display much higher genetic variation (e.g. proportion of different multilocus genotypes) than polyploids reproducing mostly apomictically, the latter ones often harbour the alleles which are rare or missing in corresponding diploid cytotype. Thus, the polyploids might serve as a stock of alleles fixed by apomictic reproduction. Absolute DNA content downsizing found in the diploid cytotype is significantly correlated with decreasing precipitation during growing season. Cline variation was observed in some physiological traits relating to water-use efficiency such as specific leaf area, percentage of leaf carbon and ∆13C. Interestingly, the morphological characters discriminating particular taxa and considered as important phenotypic traits involved in evapotranspiration, such as density and colour of indumentum, show similar pattern. Clothing and stellate trichomes are more dense and brighter in taxa growing in southern ranges with lower precipitation during vegetation season. Our findings can be explained by adaptive speciation operating in allopatry among closely related taxa.

24

O 24 Species delimitation in a complex polyploid group - Papaver section Meconella Heidi Solstad, Christian Brochmann & Reidar Elven National Centre for Biosystematics, Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1172 Blindern, NO-0318 Oslo, Norway, [email protected] The arctic and alpine poppies – Papaver section Meconella – constitute a widespread mainly polyploid group of about 70-80 species. The group is notorious for its taxonomic problems. Several attempts have not resulted in any consensus as to number of species or their relationships. The treatments currently applied in different regions are largely incompatible. We investigated phylogenetic relationships and species delimitation using DNA sequences of plastid regions, ITS and a low copy nuclear region (RPA2), AFLPs, morphological analysis, and ploidy variation by flow cytometry and chromosome counts. The phylogenetic relationships within section Meconella remain, however, still largely unresolved, probably due to very recent evolution and extensive reticulation by hybridization and polyploidization. AFLP analysis of a subset of the section identified 30-40 more or less distinct entities, supported by morphological and ploidy consistency as corresponding to species or subspecies, but only partly reflecting current taxonomic solutions. Some of the conclusions are that recognition of three North European species (P. radicatum, P. lapponicum and P. dahlianum s.str.) is supported, that the two former have unclear links to other species, and that P. dahlianum s.l. is closely related to a Beringian species. The AFLP data indicate high species diversity in northeastern Asia and northwestern North America, in America distinctly higher than the number of currently recognized and named species.

25

O 25 Recurrent allopolyploidization in Brassicaceae Kentaro Shimizu1, Rie Shimizu-Inatsugi1,2, Hiroshi Kudoh2, Judita Lihová3 & Karol Marhold3,4 1

Institute of Plant Biology, University of Zurich, Zollikerstrasse 107, CH-8008, Switzerland; [email protected], [email protected], 2 Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University, Hirano, Ohtsu, Shiga, 520-2113, Japan, [email protected] 3 Institute of Botany, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 14, SK-845 23 Bratislava, Slovak Republic; [email protected], [email protected] & 4 Department of Botany, Charles University, Benátská 2, CZ-128 01 Praha 2, Czech Republic Although polyploidy is widespread, parental species are not known in most of the cases. Chloroplast and ITS sequences may be incongruent or have inadequate information. However, the sequencing of nuclear single genes is not a trivial task. Cloning procedures may be used to separate the mixtures of homoeologue sequences, but the number of clones containing artificial recombinants can be quite high (0-89%) and thus much effort is needed to distinguish true sequences from artificial recombinants. We developed a rapid method to design homeolog-specific primers. First, the mixture of homoeologues is amplified using universal primers, and the promoter region was directly sequenced. A short readable portion is often followed by a portion with overlaid peaks, which was presumably caused by smallscale insertion/deletion differences between the homoeologues. The primers embracing the detected insertion/deletion difference would, in this case, be homoeologue-specific ones. Cardamine is one of the largest genera in Brassicaceae with >200 species. We found that allopolyploidy occurred repeatedly and explored new niche. Evolutionary and ecological significance of the polyploidy will be discussed. We will also discuss about polyploid taxa of Arabidopsis living in mountainous and alpine habitats. References Shimizu, K.K., Fujii, S., Marhold, K., Watanabe, K., Kudoh, H. (2005). Arabidopsis kamchatica (Fisch. ex DC.) K. Shimizu & Kudoh and A. kamchatica subsp. kawasakiana (Makino) K. Shimizu & Kudoh, new combinations. Acta Phytotax. Geobot. 56: 165-174. Lihova, J., Shimizu, K. K., Marhold, K. (2006). Allopolyploid origin of Cardamine asarifolia (Brassicaceae): Incongruence between plastid and nuclear ribosomal DNA sequences solved by a single-copy nuclear gene. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 39: 759786.

26

O 26 Phylogeography and polyploid evolution in the white-rayed complex of Melampodium (Asteraceae) Carolin Rebernig1, Hanna Schneeweiss1, Renate Obermayer1, Cordula Blöch1, José Villaseñor2 & Tod Stuessy1. 1

Department of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, University of Vienna, Austria; Herbario Nacional, Universidad Nacional Autónoma, Mexico, D.F. The genus Melampodium (Asteraceae, Heliantheae) consists of 39 species distributed mainly throughout Mexico and Central America. Most species have flowering heads with yellow rays, except for three shrubby, xerophytic taxa in the southwestern U.S.A. and adjacent Mexico, M. argophyllum, M. cinereum and M. leucanthum, which are clearly separated by morphological, distributional, and

ecological features. Molecular populational studies both with AFLPs (six primer combinations) and chloroplast haplotypes (four markers: psbA-trnH, ndhF-rpL32, trnQ-rpS16, rpL32-trnL) also support these taxonomic distinctions. Based on molecular phylogenetic analyses (with nuclear and chloroplast markers), it appears that the white-rayed complex originated from a yellow-rayed ancestor of Series Cupulata in northwestern Mexico and adjacent Arizona. Within the complex, three different ploidy levels have been reported: diploid, tetraploid, and hexaploid. While M. argophyllum is uniformly hexaploid, both diploid and tetraploid cytotypes occur in the other two species. In this study all individuals analysed for AFLPs and cpDNA haplotypes have also been examined for ploidy level, which enables formulation of hypotheses on evolutionary origin of polyploids. In M. leucanthum and M. cinereum diploids prevail in the western portions of their ranges and tetraploids in eastern sectors. Assignment tests show that tetraploids are of autopolyploid origin, and pollen/ovule ratios strongly indicate xenogamous breeding systems. The hexaploid, M. argophyllum, appears to be an allopolyploid, with M. cinereum being the paternal and M. leucanthum the maternal parent.

27

O 27 Participation of the high mountainous grass Colpodium versicolor (Poaceae) in the evolution of some Zingeria species Violetta Kotseruba1, Klaus Pistrick2, Anahit Ghukasyan3, Andreas Houben2 1

Komarov Botanical Inst., 197376 St. Petersburg, Russia, [email protected] 2 Leibniz-Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK), 06466 Gatersleben, Germany, [email protected], [email protected] 3 National Botanical Institute of Armenia, Erevan, Armeni, [email protected] The high mountainous grass Colpodium versicolor (Stev.) Schmalh. has an unusual low basic chromosome number of two considering that the basic number of chromosomes of the Poaceae family is seven. At this moment we know only four plants with high reduced chromosome number 2n=4 and two of them belong to the Poaceae family: Colpodium versicolor and Zingeria biebersteiniana (Claus) P.A. Smirn. Analyses of the relation between these unique two genera of grasses including Colpodium versicolor (2n=2x=4, 2C=2.4 pg) Zingeria biebersteiniana (2n=2x=4, 2C=3.5 pg) Z. trichopoda (Boiss.) P. A. Smirn. (2n=4x=8, 2C=5.3 pg) and Zingeria kochii (Mez) Tzvelev (2n=6x=12, 2C=6.7pg) revealed a dynamic evolution of the genomes with the following results: (1) Z. trichopoda is of amphidiploid origin. Only four of the eight chromosomes of Z. trichopoda are strongly labelled after genomic in situ hybridisation with genomic DNA of Z. biebersteiniana. Therefore, Z. trichopoda evolved from a hybrid involving a species very close to the recent form of Z. biebersteiniana and a second species with a similar low number of chromosomes. (2) Z. kochii is of allohexaploid origin. Four of the twelve chromosomes of Z. kochii are strongly labelled after genomic in situ hybridisation with genomic DNA of Z. biebersteiniana, and four other chromosomes are strongly labelled with genomic DNA of C. versicolor. Therefore, Z. kochii evolved from a hybrid involving a species very close to the recent form of Z. biebersteiniana and C. versicolor.(3) The 45S rDNA loci of the Z. biebersteiniana-similar component of Z. kochii vanished after amphiploidisation. Supported by: RFBR 06-04-48399, DAAD 325, DFG 2001, DFG 2005.

28

O 28 Chromosome evolution in selected mountainous species of Luzula (woodrush). Monika Bozek1, Andrew R. Leitch2, Yoong K. Lim2, Graham Moore3, Thomas Haizel3 and Elzbieta Kuta1 1

Department of Plant Cytology and Embryology, Institute of Botany, Jagiellonian University, 52 Grodzka Street, 31-044 Cracow, Poland, [email protected] 2 School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary, University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, UK 3 John Innes Centre, Colney Lane, Norwich, Norfolk NR4 7UH, UK The monophyletic genus Luzula is a cosmopolitan Juncaceae taxon comprising about 115 species. It is the only known plant genus where all species have holocentric chromosomes, in which the kinetochore proteins occur along the entire chromatid. This attribute enables fused chromosomes and chromosome fragments to segregate normally in cell divisions. As a result, chromosome fragmentation (agmatoploidy) and/or fusion (symploidy) are commonly occurring structural chromosome mutations. Furthermore, polyploidy can be superimposed on these changes. Interestingly, a significant number of these events occur in species originating in alpine regions. We analyse karyotype divergence in eight closelyrelated species to better understand patterns of holocentric chromosome evolution in Luzula. C-banding and fluorescent in situ hybridisation (FISH) with selected DNA sequences

(centromeric-LCS1,

plant

telomeric

TTTAGGG,

ribosomal

DNA,

retroelements) supported by dot-blot estimates of sequence copy numbers and nuclear

DNA measurements

are

used

to

characterize

genome

structure.

Heterochromatin banding patterns are similar between species. Likewise the centromeric repeat-LCS1, which contributes significantly to the heterochromatic fraction of the genome, is found at numerous bands across the genome. Studies on retroelement distribution, especially between symploid and related diploid species, reveal lineages with extraordinary copy number increases. In a symploid species none of our markers indicated ancient fusions (e.g. interstitial rDNA loci or multiple loci on a single chromosome) and in polyploids there is evidence for diploidisation (e.g. a reduction in rDNA locus number from expectation), both results indicate genome evolution subsequent to karyotype structural change.

29

O 29 From individuals to populations: the impact of flow cytometry on understanding polyploid evolution in mountain plants Jan Suda Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Benátská 2, CZ-128 01 Prague, Czech Republic & Institute of Botany, Academy of Sciences, Průhonice 1, CZ-252 43 Průhonice, Czech Republic; [email protected] Flow cytometry (FCM) is a powerful technology that simultaneously measures and analyses multiple parameters of single particles (cells, nuclei). Since the 1980s, use of FCM in plant population and evolutionary biology, biosystematics, and ecology has expanded dramatically both in scope and frequency, addressing primarily questions of phenotypic manifestation, spatial distribution, and evolutionary dynamics of genome duplication (polyploidy). Estimating differences in nuclear DNA content, FCM offers many advantages over other methods of detecting ploidy, high speed and reliability in particular, which paves the way for large-scale surveys at the landscape, population, individual, and tissue levels. Representative samplings allowed gaining novel insights into the extent of intra- and inter-population ploidy variation, niche differentiation, and ecological preferences of particular cytotypes. The technique is ideally suited for the detection and quantification of rare evolutionary episodes. An attractive feature is the possibility to reformulate former taxonomic concepts and propose robust classifications based on detailed understanding of population structure and phenotypic differentiation of polyploid alliances under investigation. Discrimination among homoploid taxa and their hybrids, based on differences in genome size, is another power of FCM. In combination with other, notably molecular, techniques, FCM promises qualitative advances in our understanding of genome multiplication and the population biology of vascular plants. Examples from both European

(e.g.,

Androsace,

Anthoxanthum,

Empetrum,

Pilosella,

Senecio,

Vaccinium) and extra-European (e.g., Lasiocephalus, Lychnis, Swertia) mountain plants will be discussed.

30

O 30 Evolutionary-related changes in marginal wheat populations speciation versus elimination Olga Raskina & Alexander Belyayev Institute of Evolution, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa 31905, Israel; [email protected], [email protected] The Middle East is considered to be the primary center of diploid and polyploid Triticeae species variability where local populations exhibit significant genetic diversity. A comprehensive study of wild tetraploid Triticum dicoccoides and five diploid Aegilops species (sect. Sitopsis) of marginal populations revealed a wide spectrum of intra-specific variability in repetitive DNA fractions (tandem repeats and transposable elements (TE)). It was discovered that: (i) several TEs are transpositionally active; (ii) there is a significant change in TE numbers over succeeding generations; (iii) copy numbers of TEs as well as the amplitude of oscillation in copy number are much higher in gametophyte than in sporophyte; (iv) temporal change in TE copy number is associated with a high level of morphological and chromosomal aberrations. Two contrasted scenarios of marginal population development can be distinguished. Both scenarios imply sufficient genome perturbations (chromosomal aberrations, TE activization, etc.). The first scenario leads to population elimination. Another scenario assumes that genetic/epigenetic alterations could allow species with plastic genomes to survive as new forms/species under intensive environmental pressure. We hypothesize that on a diploid level four Sitopsis species originated in this way, as derivatives of Ae. speltoides due to dynamics of Middle Eastern flora in the Holocene. Another way is allopolyploidy − when two or more different genomes unify in one nucleus to create a new species. Our data support that B- and G-genomes of allopolyploid wheat are similar to the two contrasting types of Ae. Speltoides

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O 31 Evolutionary responses towards adaptation and speciation after allopolyploidization in Dactylorhiza (Orchidaceae) Ovidiu Paun, Mark W. Chase, Javier A. Luna, Robyn Cowan & Michael F. Fay Jodrell Laboratory, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Richmond TW9 3DS, U.K.; [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], Hybridization and polyploidization are widespread in angiosperms and regularly stimulate plant evolution, promoting genetic diversity, evolutionary innovation, adaptive radiation and speciation. An important feature of allopolyploidization is its potential to occur repeatedly between the same parental taxa, leading to arrays of allopolyploids that subsequently interbreed. In Dactylorhiza, ecologically divergent allotetraploids D. majalis, D. traunsteineri and D. ebudensis resulted from hybridization of diploids D. fuchsii and D. incarnata. In this system we are analysing consequences of polyploidy and hybridization on natural evolution of the genomes and adaptation to the environment. A genome-wide survey of the transcriptome at 286 loci using cDNA amplified fragment length polymorphism (cDNA-AFLP), complemented by investigating epigenetic variation with methylation sensitive AFLP (MSAP), indicates extensive physical (non-epigenetic) differences in gene expression between parents and descendants, as well as between allotetraploids. Although no widespread repeatable loss of low copy DNA sequence is apparent in the hybrids, there is a significant increase of the number of transcripts expressed at a moment in time in the polyploids potentially resulting in biological complexity increase. Several novel transcripts in the polyploids are associated with environmental parameters and might represent parts of the molecular mechanisms that result in adaptation to different ecological conditions/habitats enforcing reproductive isolation. In addition to stabilizing allopolyploid genomes such novel expression patterns along with increased heterozygosity and gene redundancy might confer on hybrids an elevated evolutionary potential, with effects at scales ranging from the molecular to the ecological.

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MOLECULAR APPROACHES IN PLANT EVOLUTION O 32 DNA barcoding and reconstruction of past plant communities from permafrost samples Pierre Taberlet1 & Ludovic Gielly,1 1

Laboratoire d’Ecologie Alpine, CNRS UMR 5553, Université Joseph Fourier, BP 53, 38041 Grenoble Cedex 9, France. DNA barcoding, i.e. taxon identification using a standardized DNA region, has received much attention recently, and is being further developed through an international initiative. The now well-established Consortium for the Barcode of Life (CBOL;

http://barcoding.si.edu/),

an

international

initiative

supporting

the

development of DNA barcoding, aims to both promote global standards and coordinate research in DNA barcoding. For plants, the target is chloroplast (cp) DNA, but the situation is controversial, due to the relatively low sequence variation of this genome. With more and more DNA sequences allowing species identification accessible in databases and new sequencing technologies dramatically expanding available sequencing power, we anticipate that DNA barcoding techniques will be increasingly used by ecologists for biodiversity assessment. They will be able to determine the composition of complex source material. For example, the use of very short DNA fragments that persist in the environment will allow an assessment of local biodiversity from soil. In the talk, I will emphasize the perspectives offered by the analysis of environmental samples. I will focus on the adjustment of the methodology to reconstruct past plant communities from permafrost samples. I will also present the first results concerning modern Arctic soil and permafrost samples. Finally, I will discuss the power and the limitations of such an approach.

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O 33 Low copy rDNA types dominate expression of rDNA in Tragopogon allotetraploids Hana Šrubařová1, Roman Matyášek1, Yoong K. Lim3, Andrew R. Leitch3, Douglas E. Soltis2, Pamela S. Soltis4, Aleš Kovařík1 1

Institute of Biophysics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Královopolská 135, CS-61265 Brno, Czech Republic, [email protected]

2

Department of Botany, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, U.S.A

3

School of Biological Sciences, Queen Mary, University of London, E1 4NS, U.K.

4

Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, U.S.A. Interspecific hybrids and allopolyploids often silence expression of ribosomal genes

inherited from one parental species. This phenomenon, known as nucleolar dominance, was studied at the population level in recent ( 10%. At a finer scale, comparisons between the distribution of putative refugia and endemic centres of the Maritime Alps, exhibit similar spatial patterns. Therefore, Mediterranean mountains constitute significant areas for the local persistence of plants and a reservoir of unique genetic diversity favourable to the evolutionary processes of Mediterranean plant species. Thus, these mountains could play a crucial role in mitigating the putative extinction of species linked to climate change. Our results emphasize the critical importance of Mediterranean mountains for regional planning of conservation biogeography of this highly threatened ecoregion.

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P32 The karyology of some high-mountain Euphrasia species Lenka Mártonfiová1 & Vlastimil Mikoláš2 1

Botanical Garden, P. J. Šafárik University, Mánesova 23, SK-043 52 Košice, Slovakia, [email protected] 2 Hanojská 4, SK-04013 Košice, Slovakia, [email protected] The genus Euphrasia consists of many microspecies in Europe. Rapid evolution of the genus Euphrasia subg. Euphrasia is connected with pleistocene and development of many taxa growing in strict ecological conditions. In European alpine mountains probably autogamous small-flowered taxa evolved as a consequence of insufficiency of insect pollinators in alpine environment. In Europe and Slovakia two ploidy levels developed: diploids and tetraploids. Many taxa of Euphrasia evolved probably after hybridization events in connection with climatic oscillations in pleistocene. High variability of tetraploids is probably connected with their hybrid polytopic origin. In Slovakia only few data are available on the karyology of Euphrasia species. Only E. tatrae Wettst. was studied carefully. This species is diploid one and it is one of 3 diploid species of the ser. Latifoliae Pugsley s. Juzepczuk 1955 in European mountains. Another taxa are represented by E. inopinnata Ehrend. et Vitek and E. sinuata Vitek et Ehrend. E. exaristata Smejkal was described from Western Tatra Mts. The morphological analyses and a new chromosomal count (2n = 22) are in agreement with the hypothesis on its hybrid origin. New counts for E.officinalis L. subsp. kerneri (Wettst.) Eb. Fisch. also confirm the hypothesis that E. exaristata evolved from hybrid of this taxon with E. tatrae. As a relatively small-flowered species E. exaristata evolved populations especially in areas located between E. tatrae and E.officinalis subsp. kerneri. As it was observed, incidental hybridization causes the occurrence of occasional back hybrids with both parental species. This phenomen need another research, especially with the use of molecular methods and also observation of insect behavior on flowers of Euphrasia species in selected localities.

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P 33 Historical-geographical background of endemism of Aconitum in Central Europe Józef Mitka Jagiellonian University, Institute of Botany, Botanical Garden, Kopernika 27, 31-501 Kraków, Poland; [email protected] The Carpathian and Sudetic Mountains are important centers of endemism of the genus Aconitum in Central Europe. Among 25 taxa (species and subspecies) growing in this area 29% are the Western, 25% Eastern/Southern Carpathian, 17% Carpathian endemics and subendemics; 12% are of the Balkan-Alpine-Carpathian range type. The remaining 16% of taxa are the Sudetic-Hercynian and CarpathianSudetic elements (Mitka 2003). One of the mechanism of endemism is evolutionary migration or geographical vicarism. An example is A. degenii. It is a montane species occurring in two geographic centers, circumscribed in the rank of subspecies. Typical subsp. degenii occurs in the Southern/Eastern Carpathians, and subsp. paniculatum in the Alps and north-western part of the Balcans (Slovenia, Bosnia and Hercegovina). The other important mechanism contributing to high endemism of Aconitum is secondary contact. A. firmum subsp. moravicum, the WesternCarpathian endemic, probably originated in effect of the Carpathian A. firmum and Sudetic A. plicatum hybridization. Both are high-mountain species. This putative hybrid might have originated in an area adjoing to the Moravian Gate during one of the Quaternary pleniglacials when alpine vegetation descended to the foothills and came to the contact. The most intriguing among Aconitum in Central Europe is A. firmum subsp. maninese. It occurs only in two localities: in the Strážovské vrchy Mts in Slovakia and the Tatras. Rather unusual trait in the sectio Aconitum, i.e. glandular hair on indumentum, closes it to the Balcanic A. divergens (=A. pentheri) and endemic to the Maritime Alps A. burnatii. Further molecular DNA and cytogenetic studies are needed to circumscribe A. maninese in the proper taxonomic and evolutionary context.

83

P 34 Phylogeography

and

evolution

of

Gentiana

verna

s.l.

(Gentianaceae) Karin Moosbrugger, Hans-Peter Comes & Andreas Tribsch AG Ecology and Diversity of Plants, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunnerstraße 34, 5020 Salzburg, Austria; [email protected] The Spring Gentian (Gentiana verna) is a perennial herb frequently occurring in montane and alpine grasslands throughout the European mountain ranges. Geographically disjunct are populations located in Ireland, Scotland and in the Northern Ural region. From Turkey eastwards G. verna is replaced by Gentiana angulosa in the Caucausus and by Gentiana uniflora from the Tienshan over the Altai to the Baikal region. The present study aims to elucidate the evolutionary history and phylogeographical patterns of Gentiana verna by applying AFLP fingerprinting (Amplified fragment length polymorphism). Of special interest is the biogeographical origin of the isolated British and Ural populations and the degree of their genetic divergence from populations of the Central Europe. The sampling covers the entire distributional range of the species group (including Asian populations of G. angulosa and G. uniflora). A number of 380 samples originating from 54 populations are examined. As hybridization and introgression might blur phylogeographic patterns, further investigations are addressing potential gene flow between G. verna and the closely related and sympatrically distributed taxa G. brachyphylla and G. orbicularis. Being morphologically similar these species differ regarding their edaphic requirements. G. orbicularis requires calcareous substrate whereas G. brachyphylla is confined to siliceous soils. At three mixed stands within the Austrian Alps (Hohe Tauern, Stubaier Alpen) leaf material of 10 individuals per species was collected. First AFLP analyses proved the presence of hybrid individuals (G. verna x G. brachyphylla, G. verna x G. orbicularis) evidencing the potential of gene flow among these species.

84

P 35 Studies of seed morphological characters in 17 Iranian Euphorbia (Euphorbiaceae) species Mitra Noori1, Abdolkarim Chehregany2 & Mahdi Kaveh3 1

University of Arak, Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, Arak, Iran

2

Bu-Ali sina University, Department of Biology, Hamadan, Iran

3

Islamic Azad University, Brojerd Unit, Biology Department, Brojerd, Iran

Seed morphology is characters sets used to assess the relationships among Iranian species of the genus Euphorbia. Euphorbia is one of the largest genera in Euphorbiaceae with more than 2000 species in the world and about 100 species in Iran. Some macro and micro-morphological characters of seeds such as existing and durability of caroncule, seed size, shape, colour, chemical compounds and dorsal and ventral surface decoration seed have important role in seed dispersion and can be useful for taxonomists. 35 seed quantitative and qualitative characters of 17 collected Euphorbia species from different part of Markazi Province (central of Iran) were studied. Voucher specimens of each sample were prepared for references as herbarium vouchers. The morphology of the seeds was studied using a zoom binocular light microscope and scanning electron microscopy. Photomicrographs were taken under different magnification. A number of macroscopic characters were also scored. The key summarized these data. Macro- and micro-morphological studies of the Iranian Euphorbia species seeds showed some characters may support the identification of the species and their varieties.

85

P 36 Morphological and karyological variation of the Cyanus triumfettii group (Asteraceae) in the Western Carpathians Katarína Olšavská1,2, Marián Perný1,2 & Iva Hodálová1 1

Institute of Botany, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 14, SK-845 23 Bratislava, Slovak Republic; [email protected], [email protected] & [email protected] 2 Faculty of Natural Sciences, Matej Bel University, Tajovského 40, SK-974 01, Banská Bystrica, Slovak Republic The Cyanus triumfettii group is distributed from Syria across Europe to Morocco and, according to various taxonomic concepts, comprises from three to twelve species along with other infraspecific taxa recognized within them. Taxonomy of this group remains unsettled due to its pronounced morphological variation including morphologically intermediate populations and a considerable intra-population variability. Four taxa, classified as species, subspecies or varieties, are reported from the Western Carpathians: C. triumfettii subsp. axillaris, C. t. subsp. dominii, C. t. subsp. strictus and C. t. subsp. triumfettii. To identify the taxonomic position of the Western Carpathian populations from the C. triumfettii group, karyological and morphological variation of 47 populations from this area was studied. Analysed material was completed with populations from the type localities of all abovementioned subspecies. Chromosome counting and flow cytometric analyses confirmed diploid level for all analysed populations; however, some differences in nuclear DNA content were detected. Multivariate morphometric analyses revealed that C. triumfettii subsp. triumfettii does not occur in the Western Carpathians and showed complex morphological variation of C. triumfettii subsp. axillaris, C. t. subsp. dominii and C. t. subsp. strictus in this region. Additional data will be gathered to classify various morphotypes within the C. triumfettii group distinguished by presented morphometric analyses; therefore a need for further taxonomic study is emphasized.

86

P 37 Morphological traits in Dianthus gelidus from the Romanian Carpathians – comparison with D. glacialis from the Tatry Mountains Marilena Onete1, Virgil Iordache2, Rodica Blându1, Anca Păunescu1 1

Institute of Biology, Romanian Academy, Spl. Independentei 296, 060031, Sector 6, Bucharest, Romania; [email protected] 2 Department of Systems Ecology, University of Bucharest, Spl Independentei 91-95 050089, Sector 5, Bucharest, Romania; [email protected] Analyzing literature and herbaria focused on distribution and taxonomy of Dianthus gelidus and D. glacialis in the Carpathians, we have found uncertainties regarding distributional and taxonomical data. Following field sampling, we realized morphological measurement on D. glacialis from the Tatry Mountains (Poland and Slovakia), D. gelidus from the Bucegi Massif and D. callizonus from the Piatra Craiului Massif as already known taxa. Differential characters (quantitative and qualitative) among species were analysed using ANOVA. The statistical analysis show that there are high meaningful differences between the Tatry and Bucegi regarding length and width of calyx, internal and external epicalyx-scales, length and width of seeds, derma of leaves, etc. There is also high geographical difference of the three species, which imply that the taxon which lives in the Bucegi is different from the taxon living in the Tatry and both from taxon living in the Piatra Craiului. Stems length, internodes’ number, leaves length and width; all depend on the integrative plant associations and altitude. The morphological measurements of Bucegi and Tatry taxa, reveals that not all the studied parameters overlap (as is stipulated in the literature), demonstrating high differences between D. glacialis and D. gelidus belonging to populations from the Tatry and Bucegi, which imply that in the Tatry and Bucegi there are two separated species, at least in studied populations.

87

P 38 Evolutionary relations of Linum species in the flora of Ukraine Olga Optasyuk M.G. Kholodny Institute of Botany National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 2 Tereshchenkivska St., Kyiv, Ukraine; [email protected] Genus Linum L. of the flora of Ukraine amounts 23 species which belong to 8 sections (Optasyuk, 2007). Pecularities of historical development of the genus Linum, evolutional and phylogenetic relations and ways of speciation are discussed, based on the original results biomorphological, macro- and micromorphological research, the geographical and ecological-coenotic analysis, summary of molecular and cytogenetic data. Ancestral form of Protolinum is at the base of evolutional scheme of Linum, closely related with sections of Adenolinum, Linum and Syllinum. Monotypic section Cathartolinum is the evolutionally youngest section. Sections Linopsis, Dichrolinum, Tubilinum and Dasylinum occupy intermediate isolated position. Specialization within the genus occurred in different ways: polyploidy played a significant role in the evolution of groups with different chromosome numbers, and species isolation within groups occured due to chromosomes reconstruction. In the genus 3 parallel evolutional branches are clearly оbserved: blue-flowered, yellowflowered and white-flowered. Section Adenolinum (n=9) is basal for blue-flowered linums (sect. Adenolinum, Linum, Dasylinum, Dichrolinum). Further evolution of the section goes in two directions: evolution of homostyled forms (subsect. Linum) from heterostyled (sect. Adenolinum or subsect. Nervosa) and doubling of chromosomes number. Further evolutional changes in the genus probably come through polyploidy and aneuploidy. Section Syllinum is basal for yellow-flowered linums (sect. Syllinum, Linopsis, Tubilinum). Evolutional processes within this group went in two directions: formation of Suffruticulae branch (edaphic specialized suffruticulus) and Flava branch (herbaceous policarpics). Polyploidy in L. flavum indicates intensive speciation processes within the series, confirmed by the hybridizations between some species of series Suffruticulae. In general, our results correlate with molecular data (McDill, 2004, 2005).

88

P 39 Origin and evolution of agamospermic (Rosaceae) in Central Europe

Potentilla

species

Juraj Paule1 & Christoph Dobeš2 1

University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg Institute of Plant Science, Department of Plant Systematics and Biodiversity, Im Neuenheimer Feld 345, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany; [email protected] 2 Department of Pharmacognosy, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, A-1090 Wien, Austria; [email protected] The aggregates of Potentilla verna and P. argentea are both agamospermic species complexes of overlapping geographic distribution, which integrate into each other by extensive hybridisation. Hybrid populations are found in a multitude of isolated places throughout Europe and are currently treated as species within the Potentilla collina agg (Collinae sensu Th. Wolf). Chloroplast DNA sequence polymorphisms within the putative paternal aggregates but also within other related taxa were analysed in order to identify those parental evolutionary lineages which gave rise to P. collina forms. In a first phase of the project, we have focused on the origin of Potentilla alpicola De la

Soie, a member of the Collinae, in Southern Tyrol and adjacent areas. In this study on hybrid speciation we assessed the question whether P. alpicola populations are of single or multiple origin and whether they have been established by a uniform evolutionary process or if a more complex scenario of evolution applies. For that purpose cpDNA, morphological and cytological data were combined.

89

P 40 Karyological variation of the Phleum pratense group (Poaceae) in Europe Marián Perný1,2, Lenka Mártonfiová3 & Pavol Mártonfi4 1

Institute of Botany, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 14, SK-845 23 Bratislava, Slovak Republic; [email protected] 2 Faculty of Natural Sciences, Matej Bel University, Tajovského 40, SK-974 01, Banská Bystrica, Slovak Republic 3 Botanical Garden & 4Faculty of Science, Institute of Biology and Ecology, Department of Botany, P. J. Šafárik University, Mánesova 23, SK-041 54 Košice, Slovak Republic; [email protected] & [email protected] Flow cytometric analyses and chromosome counting revealed complex karyological variation within the Phleum pratense group in Europe. Analyses of 157 natural populations from the Apennine Peninsula, Alps, Carpathians with adjacent part of Pannonia, and Scandinavia detected four ploidy levels within the group. Hexaploid cytotype (2n = 6x = 42) is the most common, occurring in 152 populations. It often cooccurs with diploids (2n = 2x = 14) in the Carpathians, Pannonia and Sweden. Detailed sampling in the Carpathians showed that most mixed populations occur in the Western Carpathians (26), while in the Eastern Carpathians mixed populations are much rarer, with three populations in Ukraine and one in Romania. In the Southern Carpathians, only hexaploids were found. Rare triploid plant (2n = 3x = 21) was found in a mixed population with hexaploids and diploids in Switzerland. Occurrence of tetraploid P. pratense (2n = 4x = 28) was confirmed on three localities in the Apennine Peninsula. Conventional taxonomic concept of the two species, diploid P. bertolonii and hexaploid P. pratense, is followed in spite of their sympatric occurrence. Triploids and tetraploids are provisionally classified as P. pratense. Distribution maps based on chromosome number data from previous studies and on ploidy level estimates are presented. The pattern of distribution of the cytotypes and taxa in Europe is discussed.

90

P 41 Modeling reticulate evolution Anna Petri1, Martin Lott2, Vincent Moulton2, Katharina Huber2, Bengt Oxelman1 1

Dept. of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Göteborg University, Göteborg, Sweden; [email protected] 2 School of Computing Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom Allopolyploidy is a well known speciation mechanism in plants, but up until now there has been no formal way to visualize the formation of these. We are developing a method in which a number of multilabelled single-gene phylogenies are transformed into a single multilabelled genome tree, which is subsequently transformed into a species network. It works by a greedy consensus algorithm so that it can deal with

missing data and unresolved trees, and it discriminates single-gene duplications from whole-genome duplications. The resulting network aids in formulating an hypothesis concerning the evolutionary relationships of hybrids and their parental taxa. We have implemented our new method within the open-source PADRE software tool, a new version of which will be released in the near future.

91

P 42 Chromosome studies on the Poaceae of Russia: present and future Nina S. Probatova Institute of Biology & Soil Science, Far East Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 159 Stoletia Prospect, 690022, Vladivostok, Russia; [email protected] Chromosome number (CN) is particularly important for the taxonomy of Poaceae. The CNs of Poaceae are the most studied not only in Russia but also in the world. They have been the subject of our study since 1968, in collaboration with an outstanding Russian caryo-geographer, A.P. Sokolovskaya, and these studies continue to the present day. We focused on the caryosystematics and the evolution of the largest Poaceae genus Poa, as well as Glyceria, Agrostis, in the Russian Far East, and some of the Poaceae groups in the flora of the former USSR including: Calamagrostis, Alopecurus, Milium, Holcus, Colpodium s. ampl., Trisetum, Koeleria, Festuca, Arctopoa, etc. In total, our studies on CN involve representatives from more than 130 Poaceae genera. During our work, we have produced the first data on the CN of a unique endemic grass genus in Russia – Limnas, discovered the second known species with the minimal CN of 2n = 4 – Colpodium versicolor (in Caucasus), revealed the minimal CNs for Catabrosa, Catabrosella (2n = 10), Trisetum (2n = 12), and discovered the highest CN – in Milium (2n = 42). A rare occurrence for a Poaceae species, polybasic status within one species, was confirmed in Milium vernale s.l. (2n = 8, 10, 14, 18 (x = 4, 5, 7, 9). Additionally, the main trends of CN evolution within two large groups – Aveneae and Poeae -- were delineated. Our research group is currently working on a project entitled “Chromosome numbers of Poaceae

in

Russia

and

adjacent

territories:

diversity,

caryotaxonomy,

phytogeography, evolution”, with the aim of making a complete listing of Poaceae CN and analyzing the accumulated data obtained from 40 years of study. As a part of this study, a list of CNs in Poaceae from the Russian Far East is published. This work is financed by the Russian Fund for Basic Research (RFBR), project 07-04-00610

92

P 43 Biosystematic study on Oxytropis sect. Mesogaea in Iran Massoud Ranjbar, Soheila Bayat & Roya Karamian Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Bu-Ali Sina University, P.O.Box 65175/4161, Hamedan, Iran; [email protected] Oxytropis DC. is a genus belonging to the tribe Astragaleae of Papilionoideae in the Fabaceae, comprises about 300 species occurring in cold mountainous regions of Europe, Asia, and North America, and is most numerous in Central Asia. Oxytropis sect. Mesogaea one of the richest in species within the subgenus Oxytropis, includes 19 species within Flora Iranica. It is one of the difficult sections with respect to taxonomy, and probably by having often blue flower, basfixed hairs has given rise to the sections belong to Astragalus subgen. Hypoglottis. In this research, the main focus was on systematic investigation using morphometry, pollen micromorphology and seed morphology. Morphometric study on the species was carried out using more than 50 qualitative and quantitative characters. Pollen morpholgy was carried out by light microscopy after acetolysis procedure. For each taxon, 25 pollen grains were measured for polar and equatorial diameters, thickness of the wall at the poles and equator, length and width of colpus, mesocolpium, apocolpium and shape index. All of data were analysed by MVSP software and the relationships between species were studied. Also seed morphology of the species was studied by scanning electron microscopy. Based on qualitative characters of seed shape and testa ornamentation, three types are recognized.

93

P 44 Phylogeny of the genus Lasiocephalus (Asteraceae) – colonization of the equatorial páramo Eva Rejzková1, Tomáš Fér1, Petr Sklenář1, Jan Suda1,2, Karol Marhold1,3 1

Department of Botany, Charles University, Benátská 2, CZ-128 01 Praha, Czech Republic; [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] 2 Institute of Botany,Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Průhonice 1, CZ-252 43 Praha, Czech Republic 3 Institute of Botany, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 14, SK-845 23 Bratislava, Slovak Republic; [email protected] The neotropical genus Lasiocephalus Willd. ex Schltdl. (Asteraceae) consists of approx. 30 species inhabiting a range of vegetation types, from montane forests to the high páramo, in the Andes (from Venezuela to Bolivia). Two main growth forms can be recognized in the genus, i. e., the broad-leaved suffrutescent climbers of montane forests and the narrow-leaved ascending subshrubs of the páramo. These growth forms plausibly reflect an adaptive variation during the colonization of the páramo habitats. Our study aims at: (i) the inference of the evolutionary history of the genus, (ii) the assessment of relationships among the species, (iii) the reconstruction of the mode of colonization of the páramo habitats, and (iv) the interpretation of the ecological traits and geographical distribution of the species in the context of climatic chances during the Pleistocene. To elucidate these tasks, we employ molecular approaches (i.e., sequencing of chloroplast and nuclear DNA markers and AFLP) and DNA flow cytometry. Preliminary results based on the analyses of eight species collected in Ecuador and Venezuela showed only minor interspecific differences in three chloroplast non-coding DNA regions. ITS region provided more variable characters, suggesting a higher value of this marker for resolving phylogenetic relationships. Genome duplication may play an important role in the evolution of the genus as indicated by flow cytometric data. Ploidy heterogeneity (diploid and triploid cytotypes) was found in two species (L. ovatus and L. lingulatus). While most species showed a stability in nuclear DNA content, two different genome size variants were revealed in L. patens from Ecuador. 94

P 45 Phytogeographical relationships of Mediterranean mountains Ian Richardson Department of Botany, University of Reading, UK. A chorological analysis of montane species, reflecting geomorphological and climatological history, as well as suggesting areas, both geographical and taxonomic, where biosystematic studies might be rewarding.

95

P 46 Impact of exotic species in native mountain communities of Cape Verde Islands (Macaronesian region) Maria Romeiras1,2, Violante Medeiros2, Cláudia Fernandes1 & Cristina Duarte1 1

Instituto de Investigação Científica Tropical, Travessa Conde da Ribeira 9, 1300-142 Lisboa, Portugal; 2Instituto de Ciência Aplicada e Tecnologia, FCUL, Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal; [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] & [email protected] Exotic species, introduced deliberately or accidentally by man, are one of the main threats to the preservation of the islands' biodiversity. In Cape Verde Islands (Macaronesian Region: North-eastern Atlantic Ocean) the situation has deteriorated rapidly in the past few years and the ecological degradation of mountain regions, where most of the endemic species occur, is of special concern. Research is needed to understand their ecology and impacts, and develop and test methods to control the invasive plants. To address this predominant problem, the overall strategy may comprise two components: (1) dealing with exotic species already present in the islands, and (2) prevention of further plant introductions. For this purpose, a taxonomical review of naturalized nonindigenous species is performed. For the Cape Verde mountain islands (Santo Antão, São Vicente, São Nicolau, Santiago, Fogo and Brava Islands) provisional numbers suggest that, from a total of 93 angiosperm families, 66 have exotic representatives, namely: 58 Dicotyledons (306 species) and 8 Monocotyledons (83 species). The largest families, with more than 15 exotic species,

are

Asteraceae,

Leguminosae,

Solanaceae,

Euphorbiaceae,

Amaranthaceae and Poaceae. The genera contributing with more than 5 exotic taxa are Amaranthus, Ipomoea, Solanum, Chamaesyce, Indigofera (Dicotyledons) and Cyperus, Bromus, Eragrostis, Digitaria (Monocotyledons). Lantana camara and Furcraea foetida are amongst the strongest present day invaders of some mountain Cape Verde habitats. The results will contribute to a first insight of the invasion phenomena in native mountain communities of Cape Verde Islands and aim to contribute to conservation management plans.

96

P 47 Systematics of Lachemilla (Rosaceae) in the High Andes Katya Romoleroux Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Escuela de Ciencias Biológicas, Herbario QCA, 12 de Octubre y Roca, 172184, Quito, Ecuador; [email protected] Lachemilla (Rosaceae) is a group of approximately 80 morphologically variable herbs and shrubs. They are distributed between 2200 and 5000 m altitude, in the western mountains of the Neotropics from Southern Mexico to Northern Chile and Argentina, and one species is found in the Dominican Republic. About 60% of species are found in the Northern Andes of South America from Venezuela to Bolivia, above 3000 m, which suggests that the elevation of the Andes was important for the evolution and diversification of this taxa. In Ecuador, 25 species of Lachemilla have been recorded, four are endemics and one is a new species. These species are distributed between 3000 and 5000 m. Most of the species are found in páramos, especially in bunch grass páramo where 15 species have been recorded. Other species occur in cushion and desert páramo, and some are confined to wet páramo; few species are growing in forested regions. Some of the species considered more primitive occur mainly in desert páramo, while the most specialized species are usually found in wet páramo and swamps. Lachemilla has traditionally subdivided into 6 sections or series based on their growth form, leaf characteristics and inflorescence structure. Together with other botanists we have begin molecular studies based on the analysis of chloroplast and nuclear regions to test the traditional classifications and subdivisions. The preliminary results we have obtained partly coincide with the morphological data and proposed subdivisions. Lachemilla was first described as a section of Alchemilla, later it was considered as a different genus based mainly on the geographical distribution of the genera, and the number and position of stamens. Nevertheless, our first molecular phylogenetic studies including species of Lachemilla, Alchemilla and Aphanes suggest that these three taxa are very close and could be treated as one genus in the future.

97

P 48 Reconstructing the history of Campanulaceae s. str. with a Bayesian approach to molecular dating and dispersal-vicariance analysis Cristina Roquet1 , Isabel Sanmartín,2, Niklas Wikström,3, Llorenç Sáez,4, Núria García-Jacas,1, Juan José Aldasoro.2 1

Institut Botànic de Barcelona (CSIC-ICUB), Passeig del migdia s/n, E-08038 Barcelona, Spain; [email protected]; 2 Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid, Plaza de Murillo 2, E-28014 Madrid, Spain; 3 Evolutionsbiologiskt centrum, University of Uppsala, Norbyvägen 18D, SE-752 36 Uppsala, Sweden; & 4 Unitat de Botànica, Facultat de Ciències, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, E-08193 Bellaterra, Spain. Recent phylogenetic studies have shown that Campanula is not monophyletic, and that many satellite genera are nested within it. In this study, we attempted to reconstruct the past in terms of ancestral areas and divergence episodes of these genera, in order to increase the understanding of the evolution of this group of plants. We explored the spatial and temporal evolution of the Campanulaceae s. str., and of the Campanula alliance in particular, by applying a Bayesian approach to molecular dating and dispersal-vicariance analysis that takes into account phylogenetic uncertainty. To better resolve relationships among major groups (WahlenbergieaeCampanuleae) with respect to Campanula, we have sequenced the rbcL-conserved region including taxa of some major lineages within Platycodoneae and Wahlenbergieae. Dating and biogeographic analyses were applied to the new rbcL data and to the trnL-F data obtained in a previous study. The results obtained suggest that Western Asia and Eastern Mediterranean seem to have played an important role as centers of migration and diversification of the Campanula core. The biogeographical history of this genus seems to be highly complex. Rates of species diversification of Campanula seem to have increased during the Messinian period. Strong selective pressures from the climate changes and the expansion of mountainous regions during this period are suggested to explain the fact that many species of Campanula are adapted to drought, cold or disturbed environments.

98

P 49 Genetic variation in natural populations of Arabidopsis halleri (Brassicaceae) in Carpathians, Sudetes and upland regions of southern Poland Paweł Wąsowicz1, Alicja Kostecka2,3, Grodzińska2 & Adam Rostański1

Pierre

Saumitou-Laprade3,

Krystyna

1

Department of Plant Systematics, Faculty of Biology and Evironmental Protection, University of Silesia, Jagiellońska 28, 40-032 Katowice, Poland, 2 [email protected]; Department of Plant Ecology, W. Szafer Institute of Botany, Polish Academy of Sciences, Lubicz 46, 31-512 Kraków, Poland; 3 Laboratoire de Génétique et Evolution des Populationes Végétales, UMR CNRS 8016, Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille, Bâtiment SN2, F-59655 Villeneuve d’Ascq Cedex, France Arabidopsis halleri is a central European, mountain species from Brassicaceae family. It possesses interesting and rare abilities to grow in environment highly polluted with heavy metals. As A. halleri is closely related to A. thaliana it is considered as emerging model species in research on tolerance and accumulation of heavy metals in higher plants. In southern regions of Poland A. halleri occurs in wide variety of habitats from mountain meadows and rocky slopes in the Tatra Mts. and Sudetes to highly polluted areas surrounding smelters and mines in Silesia. The area is particularly important in terms of research activities as here metallicolous (M) and non-metallicolous (NM) populations of A. halleri occur within relatively short distances. We undertook research on genetic variation in natural populations of A. halleri from this interesting area in order to understand more accurately general pattern of genetic variation observed in other parts of Europe. Research was carried out on 24 populations located in the Tatra Mts., Sudetes as well as in upland regions of southern Poland. To accomplish our research we employed chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) PCR-RFLP analysis (Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism) and SNaPshot (Single Nucleotide Primer Extension Assay). Due to nonrecombinating nature of cpDNA genome, alleles observed in all analysed loci were combined into chlorotypes and analysed. Data obtained form our research allowed us to determine genetic structure of investigated populations and to establish the pattern of geographic distribution of chlorotypes throughout the investigated area. We proposed hypotheses about migration routes and evolution of A.halleri on investigated area. 99

P 50 Essential oil studies of Artemisia species in Azarbaijan-e-Gharbi, Iran Kazem Saedi1 and Adel Jalili2 1

Scientific board member in Agriculture and Natural Resources Research Center of Kurdistan; [email protected] 2 Scientific board member of Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands Considering Artemisia-Astragalus as the largest community in Iran, currently, basic studies are conducting on Artemisia spp. properties. Ecological-systematical aspects of essential oil studies of eight populations (six species) of the genus were dealt with in Azarbaijan-e-Gharbi. In this study, generative browses containing flowers of different species/populations were gathered in the same phonological stage. After preparing dry matter of the browses in open air, water distillation applied for obtaining essential oils used for investigating constituents by GC and GC/MS. To conduct a comparison between different studied taxa, a cluster analysis was used in Minitab 11.12. The results showed that there were two different chemotypes of A. fragrans and the oil was free of common detected toxic components in A. absinthium. Resulted cluster proved the inefficiency of chemical data in systematical categorizing of different taxa even in subgenus level.

100

P 51 Flora investigation of Ulubey (Turkey-Uşak) Canyons Mehtap Şahin Department of Science Education, Education Faculty, Uşak University, 1 Eylul Campus, Uşak, Turkey Republic; [email protected]. Our field of search located on south and south east part of Uşak province is formed because of its geological features. The canyons are structurally formed from The Dokuzsele River and Banaz Stream which located on east of Uşak-Karahallı motorway, 800-900 metres above sea level. The canyons are 100-500 metres in width, 135-170 meters in dept and 75 kilometers in length. The structures of canyon system have been changing its form 4.5 million years as a result of chemical and mechanical corrosion of limestones. The soil in the canyons floor is alluvium soil with these specifications it is the second biggest in the world. 823 plant taxa belonging to 70 families were collected from the area. The distribution of these plant taxa with respect to the floristic regions are as follows: 8% Irano-Turanian, 20% Mediterranean, 10% Euro-Siberian, 20% widespread, 42% of these is unknown and 5% of this taxa is endemic for Turkey. Total endemic taxa are 13.2%.

101

P 52 Cloning of ITS (nrDNA) sequences unveils a complex reticulate pattern

in

the

Iberian

orophilous

polyploid

Jasione

crispa

(Campanulaceae) Miguel Serrano,1 Roi Carbajal1, Santiago Ortiz1 & Javier Fuertes-Aguilar2 1

Departamento de Botânica, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782, Compostela, Spain; [email protected] 2 Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid, CSIC, Pza. de Murillo, 2, 28014, Madrid, Spain Jasione crispa complex, distributed through Iberian and southern French ranges, exhibits a remarkable variation in its levels of ploidy (2x, 4x, 6x, 8x). The level of ploidy increases with the altitude along the Iberian mountain ranges. Cloning of the ITS region from nr DNA evidenced geographical genetic differentiation among populations, undetected through direct sequencing, allowed the discrimination of coexisting ITS types within a single individual. All the detected ITS sequences from the 70 analysed populations can be assigned to three lineages among those detected in a phylogenetic analysis of the genus, namely J. crispa, J.laevis and J. montana. Sequences detected in the few lowland J. crispa diploid populations exhibited the same ribotype than the sympatric diploid J. montana, which, despite its name, occurs in lowland or mid-altitude habitats from western and central Europe and northwestern Africa. Along the remaining J. crispa polyploid populations we frequently have found “laevis” and “montana” ITS types. The detection of “laevis” sequences, another mid-altitude and top mountain species, could be explained by introgression between tetraploids from both species or by allopolyploidization processes involving crispa and diploid or tetraploid forms of laevis. An intriguing result is the widespread occurrence of “montana” ITS sequences among the J. crispa orophilous polyploid populations. Several causes are discussed to account for such a presence: 1, the persistence of “montana” sequences through ancient introgression; 2, the permeability of “montana” types through the introgression with J. laevis, since several J. laevis also bear “montana ITS type”; or 3, a multiple allopolyploid origin for J. crispa, being J. montana one of its parents.

102

P 53 Notes on species of Papaver (Papaveraceae) in Iran Fariba Sharifnia & Sodeh Heydarian Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Islamic Azad University, North Tehran Branch, P.O. Box: 19585-936. Tehran, Iran; [email protected] Papaver is the largest genus of the family Papaveraceae. According to Flora Iranica, there are 26 species in Iran of which 5 species are endemic. In this research, numerical taxonomy, anatomy and electronic microscopic research have been done. Referring to some herbaria, most of the specimens were observed and data were noted. The focus was on 77 quantity and quality characters of 75 samples from 14 taxa in numerical taxonomy research. The 11 diagnosis characters of pollen grains and 6 diagnosis characters of seeds were studied, too. These data were subject to phenetical analysis carried out using SPSS, ver.15 software The phenogram of these species was prepared and the factor analysis determined the source of changes between species. Besides, in present research, the different following organs such as pedicle, stem, basal petiole and cauline leaves were studied anatomically in the most possible replication. All seeds and pollen grains were photographed by Scanning Electronic Microscope (SEM). The following results have been obtained from this research: P. macrostomum and P. piptostigma are synonyms. P. gaubae was transferred to the variety level as P. glaucum var. gaubae. P. halophilum was transferred from species to variety level as P. macrostomum var. halophilum. P. fugax and P. armeniacum are synonyms. Distribution maps for all taxa were prepared together with the identification key for studied species.

103

P 54 Biosystematic study of the genus Bromus in Iran Masoud Sheidai, Fatemeh Fadaei, Maryam Nouroozei, Sara Saeidi Faculty of Biological Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran. Bromus species are among important range grasses of Iran which have been placed in 6 sections according to Flora Iranica. Biosystematic study was performed on about 80 populations of 17 Bromus species and varieties from 3 sections of Bromus L., Genea Dum. and Pnigma Dum., using morphometric, cytogenetic, anatomic and seed protein characteristics. Intra and inter-specific morphological variations were studied by the use univariate and multivariate statistical methods. The species relationships were studied by clustering and ordination methods indicating distinctness of the species by grouping different populations of each species in a single cluster and also supporting in general the taxonomic treatment of the genus in Flora Iranica. The present study suggests the use of some ratio characters along with other quantitative and qualitative characters in taxonomy of the Bromus. Cytogenetic studies showed the occurrence of different ploidy level for some of the species and also the major role of change in chromosome number and the occurrence of chromosomal structural changes (heterozygote translocations) in the evolution of these genus Bromus. A significant difference in the frequency and distribution of chiasmata among different populations and species indicated the occurrence of a major change in the genes controlling meiotic behavior of chromosomes during the species diversification. B-chromosomes occurred in many taxa which could significantly change the recombination index creating new genetic combinations in the next generation. Unreduced gametes were formed in most of the taxa studied through cytogenetic abnormalities including anaphase failure, desynapsis and cytomixis. Such unreduced gametes may have played a significant role in the adaptation and speciation of taxa studied. Anatomical and seed protein characteristics were also useful in the species delimitation in most of the species studied. Specific protein bands were identified for some of the species and also the bands present in all except one species which may be used in the species identification.

104

P 55 Polyploidization and adaptive radiation along water-usage gradient in the genus Cardamine Rie Shimizu-Inatsugi1, 2 , Hiroshi Kudoh2 & Kentaro Shimizu1 1

Institute of Plant Biology, University of Zurich, Zololikerstrasse 107,8008 Zurich, Switzerland; [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] & 2Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University, Hirano 2-509-3, Ohtsu, Shiga, 520-2113 Japan It is known that more than half of plant species have experienced genome duplication (polyploidization) although the significance of genome duplication is still an open question. Susumu Ohno proposed that gene and genome duplication is a major motive force for evolution, since the additional gene copy can freely evolve. In contrast, Stebbins supposed that genome duplication retards adaptive evolution since the additional copy also can keep its original function. The aim of this study is to demonstrate the effect of polyploidization on adaptation through analyzing the adaptive radiation of an Arabidopsis relative, genus Cardamine, along water- usage gradient. Cardamine has more than two hundreds species, which includes both wet species and dry species. The diploid species live in either wet conditions or open habitats and the polyploid species live in intermediate and fluctuating habitats, where they experience both wet and dry condition. The phylogenetic analysis of CHS revealed that most polyploid species originated from the fusion of genomes from various combinations of both wet and open habitats. Moreover, the polyploidization between wet and dry species occurred at least 10 times from different parent pairs. These observations suggest that the rapid adaptive radiation of Cardamine is attributed to recurrent polyploidy. Consequently, Cardamine could be a good example to investigate the contribution of polyploidy to an adaptive radiation. We speculate that a polyploid species can survive fluctuating habitat by exploiting the suitable gene set from either of its parental species according to the water environment. The close relationship to Arabidopsis (90%< in coding region) should allow the application of its genomic tools to Cardamine for further analysis.

105

P 56 Repeated range shifts of Potentilla fruticosa during glacial and interglacial periods on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau revealed by chloroplast DNA sequence variation Ayako Shimono National Institute for Environmental Studies, Environmental Biology Division, 16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8506, Japan The Qinghai-Tibetan plateau is one of the most extensive habitats for alpine plants in the world. The patterns of genetic variation in populations on the plateau can, therefore, provide us with the detailed demographic history of alpine plants. We analysed sequence variation and geographical distribution of the chloroplast matK region of Potentilla fruticosa L. (Rosaceae), a shrub currently present across the whole plateau. Sequence data were obtained from 522 individuals from 24 populations, ranging from the high altitude interior to the relatively low altitude northeastern plateau. In the interior, the genetic diversity was high and contained ancestral haplotypes. In contrast, the populations in the north-eastern area had relatively low genetic diversity and recently derived haplotypes. The expansion time in the interior was estimated to be 17 times longer than that in the north-eastern region. These data suggest that the demographic history of P. fruticosa on the plateau involved population expansion during periods of climatic cooling, alternating with warmer periods when the population contracted to the interior region. The interior would have acted as a refugium and greatly contributed to the diversification of P. fruticosa. Our data also indicate that there have been two cycles of range shifting along with a recent dramatic expansion of P. fruticosa in response to climate fluctuation.

106

P 57 The alpine violet Viola lutea is ancestor of both metal-tolerant subspecies, Viola lutea ssp. westfalica and V. lutea ssp. calaminaria Aneta Słomka1, Maria Pilarska1, Monika Bożek1, Ulrich Hildebrandt2, Hermann Bothe2, Elżbieta Kuta1 1

Department of Plant Cytology and Embryology, Jagiellonian University, 52 Grodzka St., 31-044 Cracow, Poland; [email protected] 2 Institute of Botany, The University of Cologne, 15 Gyrhofstrasse St., 50923 Cologne, Germany The origin of metal-tolerant plants is still open to discussion. Controversies exist between paleo- and neoenemic opponents. Thus metalliferous species may either be remnants of widely distributed plants in glacial periods or may have been evolved in parallel, originating from their non-tolerant relatives thriving in neighborhood. The blue and the yellow zinc violets, previously named V. guestphalica Nauenburg and V. lutea ssp. calaminaria (Ging.), respectively, are some of the most endangered plant species in Central Europe. They have a very restricted distribution confined to sites with highly elevated concentrations of Zn and Pb in soil. Based on various nomenclature data, a close relationship of both zinc violets to Viola lutea was suggested. We used molecular markers (674 bp sequences of the ITS1-5.8S rDNAITS2 region of 6 closely related taxa), combined with several embryological characters to find ancestor(s) of the zinc violets. Molecular data unambiguously indicate that the yellow and the blue zinc violets are closely related to each other and also to V. lutea. Therefore we termed them V. lutea ssp. westfalica (blue zinc violet) and V. lutea ssp. calaminaria (yellow zinc violet). Embryological data indicate that the yellow zinc violet reproduces sexually forming viable pollen (95%) and sets seeds with typically organized embryos thereby following the sexual reproduction model of its putative parental species V. lutea. Several disturbances affected sexual reproduction of the blue zinc violet, leading to the decrease of pollen and embryo viability (77% and 35%, respectively). Abnormalities could result from its hybrid origin, but the possibility that genetic drift may have led to an accumulation of mutations in its small, local populations can not be excluded. In conclusion, both zinc violets may be remnants of previously widely distributed populations of V. lutea, having its main distribution in several disjunctive alpine regions of Europe. 107

P 58 Intraspecific

genome

size

variation

in

Picris

hieracioides

(Compositae) Marek Slovák1, Petr Vít2,3, Tomáš Urfus2,3 & Jan Suda2,3 1

Institute of Botany, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 14, SK-845 23 Bratislava, Slovak Republic; [email protected] 2 Department of Botany, Charles University, Benátská 2, CZ-128 01 Praha 2, Czech Republic; [email protected], [email protected] & [email protected] 3 Institute of Botany, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Zámek 1, CZ-252 43 Průhonice, Czech Republic Due to its large phenotypic variation, Picris hieracioides (hawkweed oxtongue) ranks among taxonomically challenging groups of European flora. Previous attempts to elucidate the taxonomy of the species using conventional karyological approaches were in vain, since no variation in the number of chromosomes was observed. In this study, we therefore employed another cytogenetic character, genome size, in order to determine the level of variation in this marker, search for potential interpretations of the size heterogeneity, and assess its value for taxonomic decision-making. One hundred and seventy nine plant accessions from 54 populations distributed across 10 European countries were analyzed using propidium iodide flow cytometry. The species showed a remarkable variation in genome size, with diploid 2C-values (population means) ranging from 2.26 to 3.11 pg (a 1.37-fold variation). A new cytotype, DNA triploid, was found for the first time. The pattern of genome size variation was quite complex, nonetheless, showed certain associations with phenotypic differentiation and geographic distribution. Genome size provided some support for the two main morphotypes recognized previously (i.e., the ‘Lower altitude’ type and the ‘Higher altitude’ type), which possessed significantly different nuclear DNA amounts. However, interpretation of the within-group variation is still a challenge. Generally, the genome size of both morphotypes increased significantly from SW to NE. A relation between the distribution of genome size variants and the palaeovegetation history was found. We suggest that the complex evolutionary history of P. hieracioides (e.g., the existence of several cryptic lineages with different levels of cross-interactions) is the most plausible explanation for the observed heterogeneity in genome size. 108

P 59 Variation of Pinus mugo in the Giant Mountains (Sudethians) Karolina Sobierajska1, Krystyna Boratyńska1, Katarzyna Marcysiak2, Andrzej Lewandowski1, Artur Dzialuk2, Adam Boratyński1,2 1

Institute of Dendrology Polish Academy of Sciences, Parkowa 5, 62-035 Kórnik, Poland; [email protected] 2 Kazimierz Wielki University, Ossolińskich 12, 80-064 Bydgoszcz, Poland The verification of native provenance of several populations of Pinus mugo in the

Karkonosze National Park (Giant Mountains, Sudethians) was the aim of the present work. The seven populations were sampled, four on hardly accessible precipices of glacial cirques as a natural and three on the plane, topical part of the mountains as potentially alien provenance. Three populations were sampled in various parts of the Alps as possible seed source of alien provenances and two populations in the Tatras, as a comparative material. The differences among all individuals within samples and among samples were verified on the basis of analyses of DNA using 10 chloroplast microsatellite loci (cpSSR), on the level of isoenzyme using 10 enzymatic systems, biometrically using morphological and anatomical characters of needles and morphological characters of cones. Results indicate the high level of genetic differences, both DNA and isoenzymatic, between the Giant, Alpine and Tatra populations. The same points out also the biometrical analyses, especially on the needle characters, but differences between provenances have lower level than in the genetic analyses. The differences among samples from the Giant Mountains were found as relatively low. This indicates, that contemporary populations of P. mugo on the areas deforested and utilized as a pastures and meadows in the historical times have been colonized spontaneously or reforested with the local material. The participation of seeds from the Alps and/or Tatras has been excluded.

109

P 60 Phylogeny in Tanacetum (Anthemideae, Asteraceae) inferred from nuclear ribosomal DNA sequences Ali Sonboli 1, Shahrokh Kazempour Osaloo Mozaffarian4

2

, Hossein Riahi3 & Valioallah

1

Department of Biology, Medicinal Plants and Drugs Research Institute, Shahid Behshti University, G.C., Evin, 1983963113, Tehran, Iran. [email protected] 2 Department of Biology, Faculty of Basic Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran 3 Department of Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Shahid Behshti University, Tehran, Iran 4 Department of Botany, Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Tehran, Iran Asteraceae is one of the largest angiosperm families and comprises about 1300 genera and 25,000 species distributed in the worldwide. The genus Tanacetum belongs to the tribe Anthemideae. Within the tribe, Tanacetum is the third largest genus after Artemisia and Anthemis, comprising ca. 160 species. Phylogenetic relationships among some members of Anthemideae were assessed using sequences of the nrDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region to study the delimitation of the genus Tanacetum in broad sense. Total genomic DNA was extracted from leaves by DNeasy Plant Mini kit (Qiagen). PCR amplifications of the nrDNA ITS were performed using primers ITS4 and ITS5. Maximum parsimony analysis of the data set was carried out for phylogenetic reconstruction using the heuristic search algorithm of PAUP* with ACCTRAN, MULPARS and TBR branch swapping in action. The results suggest that the genus Tanacetum, in its classical circumscription, is not monophyletic due to the consistent placement of segregated genera (e.g. Tanacetopsis, Ajania, Xylanthemum, Lepidolopsis and Richteria). Furthermore, ITS data was in conflict with artificial infrageneric classification of the genus Tanacetum sensu Podlech and provide support for the new subtribal classification of the tribe Anthemideae sensu Oberprieler et al. This investigation identified 10 major clades within the Tanacetum and confirmed the inclusion of Gonospermum and Lugoa into Tanacetum.

110

P 61 Biogeography of tall-herb species in the Carpathians: a case study of Cicerbita alpina (L.) Wallr. Alina Stachurska-Swakoń1, Elżbieta Cieślak2, Michał Ronikier2 1

Institute of Botany, Jagiellonian University, ul. Kopernika 27, 31-501 Kraków, Poland; [email protected] 2 Institute of Botany, Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Lubicz 46, 31-501 Kraków, Poland The alliance Adenostylion alliariae Br.-Bl. 1925, (class Mulgedio-Aconitetea Hadač et Klika et Hadač 1944) includes tall-herb communities which constitute important elements of vegetation within the subalpine zone of European mountain ranges. In the frame of our project, a complex biogeographical study focused on these communities in the Carpathians has been initiated, covering aspects of syntaxonomy, phytogeography and phylogeography. According to a preliminary analysis, 32 communities of this alliance occur in the Carpathians. They form groupings characteristic for the Western, Eastern and Southern Carpathians, with diverse species compositions, including endemic species and other species reaching limits of their distribution. As the flora of tall-herb communities consists of different geographical elements (eg. the alpine-Central-European species, the arctic-alpine species, the Carpathian-Balkan species, the endemic species, the boreal species) there is a question about its origin in different part of mountains and potential migration routes during the Quaternary Period. In the second part of our project, several tall-herb species were selected to examine their genetic structure and infer their distribution history: eg. Adenostyles alliariae, Cicerbita alpina, Doronicum austriacum, Geranium sylvaticum, Ranunculus platanifolius. Cicerbita alpina, presented in this article, is the character species of the Adenostylion alliariae alliance and has a relatively wide distribution range covering central and northern European mountain massifs. The study is based on the AFLP analysis applied to a distributionwide sampling of populations from the Alps, Balkans, Carpathians and Scandinavia. Research is financially supported by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education Grant No. 2 P04G 09528.

111

P 62 The Melampyrum sylvaticum group in Central Europe – comparison among variation patterns in the Alps, Carpathians and Hercynian Massif Jakub Těšitel, Tamara Malinová, Milan Štech & Miroslava Herbstová Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 31, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic; [email protected], milan.stech.prf.jcu.cz We investigated morphological and molecular variation in the Melampyrum sylvaticum group in the Alps and Carpathians to capture and compare variation patterns in these regions and reconstruct evolutionary history of the whole complex. Two additional species, M. saxosum and M. herbichii, have been traditionally delimited from M. sylvaticum s. str. in the Eastern Carpathians on the basis of corolla size and anther length. These two species should differ from each other in corolla color which is white in M. saxosum or golden yellow in M. herbichii (i. e. same color as in M. sylvaticum s. str.). Populations occurring in the Alps have been always assigned to M. sylvaticum s. str. although certain degree of variation has been reported from this region too. We collected population samples from the Alps, Eastern and Western Carpathians and the Hercynian Massif. Morphometric analyses of corolla shape (thin plate spline with sliding semilandmarks) and sequencing of ITS region of nuclear DNA and trnLtrnT region of cpDNA were employed to capture morphological and molecular variation respectively. Beside this, we also recorded variation in corolla color. We detected a pronounced morphological and molecular differentiation of the Eastern Carpathian populations from the rest. These results indicate that they are not directly interrelated to the Western Carpathian and Hercynian type but are two distant lineages which met and hybridized on the boundary between the Eastern and Western Carpathians. We did not detect any coincidence between differences in corolla color and variation in any of the morphological traits or molecular markers within the North-Eastern Carpathian region. Hence, we suggested M. saxosum and M. herbichii conspecific (a single species displaying two corolla colors).

112

P 63 Genetic structure of endangered Eremostachys superba as assessed by RAPD analysis Susheel Verma1, J. L. Karihaloo2 and A. K. Koul3 1

Centre for Biodiversity Studies, School of Biosciences & Biotechnology, Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University, Rajouri – 185 131, J&K, India; 2Asia Pacific Consortium for Agricultural Biotechnology, CG Centres Block, DPS Marg, New Delhi – 110 012, India; 3Centre for Biodiversity Studies, School of Biosciences & Biotechnology, Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University, Rajouri – 185 131, J&K, India; [email protected] Eremostschys superba Royle ex Benth. (Lamiaceae), an endangered species has undergone a severe decline in population size since its discovery in the NorthWestern Hamalaya in late 19th Century. The reason attributed to its decline is anthropogenic stress because of its high medicinal value. One hundred and seventy two plants from six populations in the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir, located between 0.45 km and 455.72 km apart from each other were evaluated for RAPD polymorphism to determine the genetic structure of the species. Sixteen random primers generated 92 bands overall, 77 of which were polymorphic. Shannon’s index of genetic diversity within populations (Ho) ranged between 0.305 and 0.421; the average within population diversity (Hpop) was 0.389; and the total species diversity (Hsp) was 0.478. The population from Mohand, the type locality of the species, had the lowest number of plants, at 18, and was genetically the most depauperate. Among the other populations, ranging in size between 52 and 1,022 individuals, no relation between population size and genetic diversity was evident. It is suggested that these six populations represent relics of a larger, extended population in which the presence of perennating rootstock has helped preserve historic patterns of genetic diversity. Analysis of Molecular Variance revealed that 83.01% of the variation exists within populations which were consistent with earlier studies on reproductive biology of E. superba, which indicated this species is predominantly allogamous. FST distances between all populations were significant, indicating geographic differentiation despite some of them being closely located. The paper will speak in detail about the factors that may have influenced the partitioning of genetic diversity. Also the strategies for conservation of the species will be discussed.

113

P 64 The occurrence of arctic-alpine elements within high - mountain plant communities in relation to enviromental factors, functional types and phytogeography Ivana Šibíková1 & Jozef Šibík1 1

Institute of Botany, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 14, SK-845 23 Bratislava, Slovak Republic; [email protected] & [email protected] This contribution serves a view on processing of phytosociological relevés together with phytogeographical, functional and ecological data, paying particular attention to phytogeographical elements in the flora of Western Carpathians, life forms of individual taxa and Ellenberg’s indicator values. We used selected high-mountain plant communities of Western Carpathians with abundant arctic-alpine species as excellent model system. On the other hand, this contribution handles with the distribution of arctic-alpine taxa within Western Carpathians and their abundance in individual vegetation types. We worked with more than 43 thousand phytosociological samples taken from Slovak National Vegetation Database. Fourteen alliances (from the classes Asplenietea trichomanis, Caricetea curvulae, Carici rupestris-Kobresietea bellardii, ElynoSeslerietea, Loiseleurio-Vaccinietea, Montio-Cardaminetea, Mulgedio-Aconitetea, Salicetea herbaceae and Thlaspietea rotundifolii) were compared with respect to abundance of chorological elements, species richness, environmental factors and species composition. The abundance of arctic-alpine species was significantly correlated not only with the European high-mountain element, but also with the occurrence of Carpathian or Western Carpathian endemic taxa. The island phenomenon of the highest mountains gave rise not only to formation of refuge for relic taxa, but on the other hand, according to plasticity of individual taxa, the same habitats also provided suitable conditions for speciation and hence became the centre of endemism.

114

P 65 Cytogeography of the Alyssum montanum – A. repens complex and related taxa Stanislav Španiel1, Judita Lihová1, Mincho E. Anchev3, Nicodemo G. Passalacqua4 & Karol Marhold1,2 1

Institute of Botany, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 14, SK-845 23 Bratislava, Slovak Republic; [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] 2 Department of Botany, Charles University, Benátská 2, CZ-128 01 Praha 2, Czech Republic 3 Institute of Botany, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Acad. G. Bonchev Str., Bl. 23, B-1113 Sofia, Bulgaria; [email protected] 4 Museo di Storia Naturale della Calabria ed Orto Botanico, Università della Calabria, I-87030 Arcavacata di Rende (CS), Italy; [email protected] The Alyssum montanum – A. repens (Brassicaceae) complex is a taxonomically critical group with large morphological diversity in central and southern Europe. A number of infraspecific taxa have been described within both A. montanum and A. repens, and several putative relatives have been reported from the Balkan and Apennine Peninsulas. Our study aims to resolve evolutionary history of this complex, and to derive a sound taxonomic concept. Here we present our first insights into its cytogeography, based on chromosome number counts and DNA ploidy levels estimated by flow cytometry. Three ploidy levels have been found in A. montanum. Both diploids (2n=16) and tetraploids (2n=32) are common across the species area, while hexaploids (2n=48) appear to be rare (so far found only in the Apennine Peninsula). Within A. repens only tetraploid and hexaploid cytotypes have been found in the sampled material. A few populations corresponding to A. cuneifolium subsp. pirinicum (2n=18) and A. pulvinare (2n≈6x) have been analyzed as well. The material studied includes samples from type localities of several names: A. cuneifolium subsp. pirinicum (2n≈2x), A. diffusum (2n≈2x, 4x), A. mildeanum (2n≈6x), A. montanum subsp. brymii (2n≈4x), A. montanum subsp. alibotuschicum (2n≈4x), A. pedemontanum (2n≈6x), A. preissmannii (2n≈2x), A. reiseri (2n≈2x), A. repens (2n≈4x), A. stribrnyi (2n≈4x) and A. wierzbickii (2n≈2x).

115

P 66 Phylogeny and comparative phylogeography of the orchid genus Epipactis along the Italian peninsula Valentina Tranchida Lombardo1,2, Antonia Cristaudo1, Salvatore Cozzolino2 1

Sezione di Biologia ed Ecologia Vegetale D.A.C.P.A., Università di Catania, via Vadisavoia 5, 95123, Catania, Italy; [email protected]. 2 Sezione di Biologia Vegetale, Università “Federico II”, Via Foria 223, 80139 Napoli. The genus Epipactis is a morphologically variable aggregate of taxa that can represent an interesting model for investigating the consequences of geographic fragmentation and of quaternary glaciations on species cladogenesis and distribution in

the

Mediterranean

basin.

Here

we

investigate

the

phylogenetic

and

phylogeographic relationships among closely related Epipactis species distributed along the Italian Peninsula with the aim to understand whether the recent paleoclimatic changes occurred in this area may have shaped the actual patterns of clade diversification and distribution in Epipactis. For these aims, we analysed chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) sequence variation for reconstructing patterns of phylogenetic relationships among closely related Epipactis species and distribution of cpDNA microsatellite haplotypes to reconstruct their main phylogeographic routes. We found that the genus Epipactis encompasses two main phylogenetic lineages, namely the E. helleborine and the E. muelleri/microphylla/atrorubens groups including both widespread allogamous species and several endemic, geographically isolated, autogamous taxa. We also detected low level of variation in cpDNA microsatellite, with a single main haplotype for the E. helleborine lineage and three main haplotypes for the E. muelleri/microphylla/atrorubens lineage being widespread along the Italian peninsula, and few other rare haplotypes locally distributed. These data strongly support the hypothesis of a very recent (postglacial) colonization of the Italian peninsula and of the multiple evolutions of locally endemic taxa from the main phylogenetic lineages. Frequent and rapid changes in breeding system (from allogamy to autogamy) could have represented the mechanism promoting this rapid diversification and the observed high taxonomic complexity.

116

P 67 Diversity of Draba L. sect. Aizopsis DC. (Brassicaceae) in Sicily Pietro Mazzola, Francesco Maria Raimondo, Angelo Troia Dipartimento di Scienze Botaniche dell’Università, via Archirafi 38, I-90123 Palermo, Italy; [email protected] The genus Draba L. (Brassicaceae) is a typical element of arctic and alpine floras, known for its taxonomic complexity. The species belonging to the sect. Aizopsis DC. are perennial rosette plants occurring on mountain areas from Spain to West Asia: often densely pulvinate, they have rigid, entire, ciliate leaves and usually yellow flowers. According to Flora Europaea (1993), about 17 species occur in Europe. Taxonomic status and delimitation of several species are still doubtful, not only for the unsatisfactory knowledge of their biology and variability, but also for their genetic structure derived from last geological history (Quaternary glacial-postglacial periods). In this context, the island of Sicily in the center of Mediterranean, with its ascertained role of refugium during glacial periods, is one of the key areas to understand patterns of speciation, migration and recolonization of the group as a whole. Today, two species belonging to the sect. Aizopsis are reported for Sicily: Draba aspera Bertol., whose distribution should include mountains of Northern Balkans, Central and Southern Italy, and Pyrenees as well; and Draba olympicoides Strobl, endemic to the Madonie Mountains (Central-Northern Sicily), whose taxonomic status is however uncertain. We present here the first results of taxonomic and biosystematic investigations aimed to ascertain the number of taxa of the sect. Aizopsis occurring in the mountains of Sicily, which species occur, and the amount of infra- and inter-specific diversity using enzyme electrophoresis.

117

P 68 Phylogeography and population structure of Dryas octopetala analysed by microsatellite markers Unni Vik1*, Marte Holten Jørgensen1, Håvard Kauserud2 & Anne Krag Brysting1 1

CEES, Dept. of Biology, P.O. Box 1066 Blindern, NO-0316 Oslo, Norway; *[email protected],2 MERG, Dept. of Biology, P.O. Box 1066 Blindern, NO0316 Oslo, Norway Dryas octopetala L. belongs to a circumpolar species complex where the taxonomic delimitations are not fully clarified. The plant is one of the most important components of tundra and heaths in terms of biomass, as it forms the vegetation carpet in dry gravelly sites from the mid-boreal to the high arctic zone. Microsatellites are co-dominant markers, which are ideal for resolving genetic variation at finer scales but might also be useful for interpreting phylogeographic patterns at a larger scale. Ten newly developed microsatellite markers are used in this work to infer phylogeography and population structure of Dryas octopetala populations

from

the

following

main

localities:

Finse

(southern

Norway),

Longyearbyen (Svalbard), Ny-Ålesund (Svalbard), Tromsø (northern Norway) and Langøysund (southern Norway). From each main locality, 30 plants were collected from each of three sub-localities localized approximately 1000 m apart. In addition to these populations, 3 x 10 individuals from Greenland and 5 x 10 individuals from Russia are included in the analyses. Preliminary analyses indicate that the genetic data contain geographically structured variation, with a relatively high genetic diversity observed for the Svalbard populations, and a somewhat lower diversity for the populations from mainland Norway. These patterns are consistent with results from a recent AFLP study which suggested different postglacial colonization routes for these two areas; whereas mainland Norway are colonized from a southern refugium, Svalbard may represent a contact point between a southern colonization and a colonization from an eastern (Russian) refugium.

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P 69 Alpine aromatic and medicinal plants: conservation through domestication José F. Vouillamoz, Catherine A. Baroffio & Christoph Carlen Agroscope Changins-Wädenswil ACW, Centre de recherche Conthey, 1964 Conthey, Switzerland; [email protected] In the past two decades, Alpine aromatic and medicinal plants have gained more and more interest with food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. Wild populations are being used to produce large quantities of aromatic compounds, essential oils or drugs. This might threaten some endangered taxa by leading to a loss of Alpine biodiversity and genetic erosion. To prevent from wild collecting, we have carried out several domestication and selection programs on emblematic plants of the Alps. Edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum L.), one of the best-known European mountain plant, has been successfully domesticated and the variety ‘Helvetia’ is now cultivated for ornamental or cosmetic purposes. Genepy (Artemisia umbelliformis Lam.) is often collected in nature by liquor producers, mainly in Northern Italy. We have thus domesticated Alpine genepy and selected two cultivars (with and without thujone). Several research programs on other Alpine species are now in the pipeline: Rhodiola rosea L., a promising adaptogen, Sideritis montana L., a good source of antioxidant compounds, Dryas octopetala L., a plant with anti-UV activities, etc. These programs aim at providing interesting and new plant material to producers in order to avoid wild collecting.

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P 70 Genetic variation of Rhodiola rosea L. in Trentino region (Italy) as detected by microsatellite markers Elena Zini1, Carla Vender1 & Matteo Komjanc2 1

Agricultural Research Council, Forest Monitoring and Planning Research Unit (CRAMPF), Piazza Nicolini, 6, 38100 Villazzano (TN), Italy; [email protected]; [email protected] 2 Genetics and Molecular Biology Department, Edmundo Mach Foundation Research Center, Via E. Mach 1, 38010 San Michele all’ Adige (TN), Italy; [email protected] Rhodiola rosea L. (Crassulaceae) is a circumpolar-montane/alpine species of coldtemperate and subarctic areas of the northern hemisphere. In Italy, it is widely distributed in siliceous substrates of alpine meadows (1500- 3000 mt). It is a popular plant of traditional medical system in Eastern Europe and Asia: extracts of R. rosea root were found to contain powerful adaptogens, supposedly enhancing memory and stress mastering. Genetic variation of 8 R. rosea L. populations from the Trentino region (North of Italy) was investigated using microsatellite markers. SSRs from Rhodiola rosea L. were developed with an enrichment procedure for the first time. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed that the genetic variation was mainly found among populations (78%). The main factor responsible for the high level of variation among populations is probably the isolation from other populations, due to mountainous environment. An additional analysis of population structure by principal component analysis (PCA) of allele frequencies was conducted. PCA results reflected the geographic distribution of the populations sampled in different locations in Trentino region. A simulated annealing procedure implemented in the spatial analysis of molecular variance (SAMOVA) algorithm was used to define groups of populations that are geographically homogeneous and maximally differentiated from each other. The results of SAMOVA confirmed the existence of geographic structure in the Rhodiola rosea L: populations.

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P 71 Phylogeographic

relationships

between

infraspecific

taxa

of

Astragalus vesicarius L. (Fabaceae) in Europe Elke Zippel, Botanical Garden and Botanic Museum Berlin-Dahlem, Königin-Luise-Straße 6-8, 14195 Berlin, Germany, [email protected] Several infraspecific taxa of Astragalus vesicarius L. (Fabaceae) occur throughout Southern Europe. Their distribution ranges from the Iberian Peninsula, the Southern Alps in France, Italy and Croatia to the Balkan Peninsula and Greece, and further from the Pannonic region to Ukraine. Due to the considerable variation of Astragalus vesicarius s. lat. it is difficult or impossible to distinguish between infraspecific taxa which differ e.g. in flower colour and slightly in form and length of calyx and banner, as

well

as

in

symmetry

and

size

of

calyx

teeth.

Astragalus vesicarius s.l. is a rare species and occurs presently in regions which were unglaciated or at the outer boundary of the maximum expansion of the Würm glacial. Only few populations of the subsp. pastellianus in Northern Italy are known from formerly glaciated regions, the inner alpine dry valleys Vinschgau and Aosta valley. The poster shows first results of a molecular study of populations of Astragalus vesicarius s.l. from nearly the whole distribution range. PsbA and ITS sequences, as well as AFLP data provided first hints on a high genetic differentiation within the infraspecific taxa and a split of the Astragalus vesicarius s.l. group into a Western and Eastern lineage. The data also suggest a multiple origin of the subsp. pastellianus in the inner alpine dry valleys of Northern Italy: the population of the Aosta Valley belongs like the populations from the Monte Pastello near Verona to the Western lineage, while the populations from the Vinschgau are of Eastern origin.

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P 72 BioCASE – access to specimen and observation data for taxonomists Elke Zippel, Wolf-Henning Kusber, Patricia Kelbert, Jörg Holetschek, Anton Güntsch & Walter Berendsohn Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem, Königin-Luise-Straße 6-8, 14195 Berlin, Germany, [email protected] Natural history collections and species observation records form a unique archive of biodiversity. Each object or record documents the occurrence of a species in a given location at a point in time. The multilingual Biological Collection Access Service for Europe (search.biocase.org) provides access to 50 million records for the European Fauna and Flora, based on the GBIF index. The content offered ranges from simple occurrence data to highly structured specimen information with multimedia content and multiple identifications. Searching for information on a specific species sometimes makes it necessary to look under several scientific names. In the BioCASE portal, the user can opt to extend the search by means of a taxonomic thesaurus. Known synonyms, included taxa such as subspecies, and related taxonomic concepts are included in the query. For botanical names, the Euro+Med PlantBase database is used as the thesaurus in the BioCASE portal. An alternative access system (search.biocase.org/toto/) allows the selection of names from those offered by several thesauri before the query is executed. The portal software can be adapted to other information needs. The German GBIF node for Botany provides access to German Phytodiversity using the German floristic standard lists. Further, an annotation system in all BioCASE portals allows the user to comment the data. A specimen access module for taxonomists is under development for the EDIT Internet Platform for Cybertaxonomy.

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P 73 Evolutionary Trends in Genus Alysicarpus Desv. Arvind S. Dhabe and Dileep S. Pokle. Department of Botany, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University, Aurangabad, 431004. India e-mail:- [email protected] , [email protected]

The genus Alysicarpus Desv is distributed in tropics & subtropics. Main centre of distribution is India followed by Africa. It is represented by about 32 species and 42 taxa of which nearly 17species and 9 infraspecific taxa occur in India especially in Marathwada. Out of 42 taxa, 12 taxa are endemic to India. The genus was revised for India (Pokle 1997-2000) and experimental taxonomic studies were carried out which includes Comparative Morphology, Floral biology, Phytochemistry, Seed Morphology and Testatopography, Anatomy and Dermatology, Seed anatomy, Seedling morphology and Palynology. The data procured from the studies was subjected to numerical analysis to reveal the relationships and evolutionary trends of the species. It revealed that, the genus can be subdivided into 5 groups of closely related species. Most primitive taxon appears to be A.bupleurifolius var. gracilis while the most advanced taxon appears to be A.hamosus. The present paper deals with detailed numerical analysis and the evolutionary trends and features are discussed in details.

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P 74 Distribution and Conservation Status of Some Steno-endemic Species Peculiar to Central Taurus (Turkey) Süleyman Doğu1, Muhittin Dinç2 & Yavuz Bağcı3 1

Selçuk University, Education Faculty, Department of Science Education, 42090 Meram, Konya, Turkey; [email protected] 2 Selçuk University, Education Faculty, Department of Biology Education, 42090 Meram, Konya, Turkey; [email protected] 3 Selçuk University, Science and Art Faculty, Department of Biology, 42031 Kampüs, Konya, Turkey; [email protected] Central Taurus have very rich flora and are important endemism centre of Turkey. New distributional data for 6 steno-endemic species (Viola isaurica Contandr. & Quèzel, Viola ermenekensis Ş. Yıldırımlı & M. Dinç, Sartoria hedysaroides Boiss. & Heldr., Scorzonera longiana H.Sümbül, Cicer isauricum P. H. Davis, Salvia adenocaulon P. H. Davis for Central Taurus is determined from Ermenek and Sarıveliler districts of Karaman province. The descriptions of the species are reviewed based on the literature data and the studies on the collected specimens. IUCN red list categories of these taxa are updated in the light of the literature, the observations on the determined populations and the possible threats. The habitats they occupy, their associated species, distribution map and photos are also presented.

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P 75 Evolutionary processes in South American Andes: Molecular Phylogeny, and Biogeography of Festuca (Poaceae) Daniel Stančík Department of Botany, Charles University, Benátská 2, CZ-128 01 Praha 2, Czech Republic, [email protected] Cosmopolitan genus Festuca is one of the largest grass genera in the World composed of more than 450 species. With about 140 species, South America represents one of the most important generic diversity centers. This diversity is a result of relatively young speciation after tertiary immigration of this genus into American continents from Eurasia. This study uses the analyses of two DNA fragments (trnL-F, ITS) of 85 North, Meso-, and South American species to show that Festuca speciation and diversification in South America was a complex process, which included several immigrations of different evolutionary lineages and their subsequent spreading along Mesoamerican mountains and tropical to temperate Andes of South America. This colonization had not the form of continuous and gradual spreading and speciation from north to south. More likely, it occurred via several long-distance dispersions from north to south and consequent local diversifications. Our analysis also indicates that morphological differentiation and inter species similarities in South America may be the result of ecological convergence rather than the manifestation of the existence of morphologically uniform evolutionary lineages. This should have implications in the systematic of the genus Festuca in South America.

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