0000000000359708
AUTHOR
Katharina E. Bardy
Disentangling phylogeography, polyploid evolution and taxonomy of a woodland herb (Veronica chamaedrys group, Plantaginaceae s.l.) in southeastern Europe
Southeastern Europe is a centre of European biodiversity, but very little is known about factors causing the observed richness. Here, we contribute to fill this gap by reconstructing the spatio-temporal diversification of the cytologically variable and taxonomically intricate complex of Veronica chamaedrys (Plantaginaceae s.l.), growing in open forests, forest edges and grasslands, with flow cytometry, molecular markers (AFLPs, plastid DNA sequences) and morphometry. Our results show that both diploid and tetraploid cytotypes are widespread, but diploids predominate on the southern Balkan Peninsula. Plastid sequences suggest a first split into three main lineages in the mid-Pleistocene and …
Extensive gene flow blurs species boundaries amongVeronica barrelieri, V. orchideaandV. spicata(Plantaginaceae) in southeastern Europe
Little is known about the contribution of interspecific hybridization, a frequent phenomenon in plants, to the high plant diversity in southeastern Europe, one of the continent's diversity hot spots. A good system to study the relevance of hybridization for biodiversity in this region is Veronica subg. Pseudolysimachium sect. Pseudolysimachion (Plantaginaceae). Depending on the presumed frequency of hybridization, existing taxonomic concepts in this group range from distinguishing only morphological races without explicit taxonomic status to recognizing several species each with a series of intraspecific taxa. Using genetic (plastid sequences and AFLP fingerprints), ploidy-level and morphom…