Origins and introgression of polyploid species in Mentzelia section Trachyphytum (Loasaceae).

OBJECTIVE

Polyploid speciation has been important in plant evolution. However, the conditions that favor the origination and persistence of polyploids are still not well understood. Here, we examine origins of 16 polyploid species in Mentzelia section Trachyphytum. •

METHODS

We used phylogeny reconstructions based on DNA sequences from plastid regions and the nuclear gene isocitrate dehydrogenase (idh) to construct hypotheses of introgression and polyploidization. •

RESULTS

Molecular data suggest that homoploid hybridization has been surprisingly common in Trachyphytum. Diploid species had unequal involvement in polyploid origins, but most polyploid taxa had allopolyploid origins from extant progenitors. A few polyploids with extreme phenotypes did not appear to have extant progenitors. We infer that the progenitors of these species were derived from extinct diploid lineages or ancestral lineages of multiple extant diploids. In agreement with other recent studies, we recovered molecular evidence of multiple phylogenetically distinct origins for several polyploid taxa, including the widespread octoploid M. albicaulis. •

CONCLUSIONS

Evidence of high levels of introgression and allopolyploidy suggests that hybridization has played an important role in the evolution of Trachyphytum. Although idh sequences exhibited complicated evolution, including gene duplication, deletion, and recombination, they provided a higher percentage of informative characters for phylogeny reconstruction than the most variable plastid regions, allowing tests of hypotheses regarding polyploid origins. Given the necessity for rapidly evolving low-copy nuclear genes, researchers studying hybridization and polyploidy may increasingly turn to complex sequence data.