0000000000674294
AUTHOR
Patrick Teege
A taxonomic nightmare comes true: phylogeny and biogeography of glassworts (Salicornia L., Chenopodiaceae)
In this study we analysed ETS sequence data of 164 accessions belonging to 31 taxa of Salicornia, a widespread, hygrohalophytic genus of succulent, annual herbs of Chenopodiaceae subfam. Salicornioideae, to investigate phylogenetic and biogeographical patterns and hypothesise about the processes that shaped them. Furthermore, our aim was to understand the reasons for the notorious taxonomic difficulties in Salicornia. Salicornia probably originated during the Miocene somewhere between the Mediterranean and Central Asia from within the perennial Sarcocornia and started to diversify during Late Pliocene/Early Pleistocene. The climatic deterioration and landscape-evolution caused by orogenetic…
Tetraploid European Salicornia species are best interpreted as ecotypes of multiple origin
Abstract Salicornia procumbens and S. stricta are two tetraploid European salt marsh species of locally adjacent but ecologically differentiated distribution. Whereas S. procumbens grows in the lowest part of the salt marsh, it is replaced by S. stricta in the middle part (and diploid Salicornias in the upper part). Using AFLPs and a reciprocal transplantation experiment, we investigated whether the two species represent distinct evolutionary lineages. The analysis of AFLP variation clearly showed that both species are not monophyletic. Also, accessions do not cluster according to geographical origin. The transplantation experiment revealed that S. procumbens shows significantly reduced fit…