Target enrichment and extensive population sampling help untangle the recent, rapid radiation of Oenothera sect. Calylophus

ABSTRACTOenothera sect. Calylophus is a North American group of 13 recognized taxa in the evening primrose family (Onagraceae) with an evolutionary history that may include independent origins of bee pollination, edaphic endemism, and permanent translocation heterozygosity. Like other groups that radiated relatively recently and rapidly, taxon boundaries within Oenothera sect. Calylophus have remained challenging to circumscribe. In this study, we used target enrichment, flanking non-coding regions, summary coalescent methods, tests for gene flow modified for target-enrichment data, and morphometric analysis to reconstruct phylogenetic hypotheses, evaluate current taxon circumscriptions, and examine character evolution in Oenothera sect. Calylophus. Because sect. Calylophus comprises a clade with a relatively restricted geographic range, we were able to extensively sample across the range of geographic and morphological diversity in the group. We found that the combination of exons and flanking non-coding regions led to improved support for species relationships. We reconstructed potential hybrid origins of some accessions and note that if processes such as hybridization are not taken into account, the number of inferred evolutionary transitions may be artificially inflated. We recovered strong evidence for multiple origins of the evolution of bee pollination from ancestral hawkmoth pollination, the evolution of edaphic specialization on gypsum, and permanent translocation heterozygosity. This study applies newly emerging techniques alongside dense infraspecific sampling and morphological analyses to effectively address a relatively common but recalcitrant problem in evolutionary biology.

Cytomictic Anomalous Male Meiosis and 2nPollen Grain Formation inMertensia echioidesBenth. (Boraginaceae) from Kashmir Himalaya

PresentlyMertensia echioidesBenth. (Boraginaceae) collected from Kashmir Himalaya, India, is cytologically analyzed for the first time revealing2n=2x=24(diploid). Interestingly we found 4.3–6.2% syncytic meiocytes/PMCs with2n=4x=48(tetraploid) in addition to normal meiocytes (2n=24) during male meiosis. These comparatively larger PMCs (pollen mother cells) lead to the formation of fertile giant2npollen grains. A frequency of 6.4–13.3% PMCs shows transfer of chromatin material at prophase-I and, therefore, results in aneuploid meiocytes. Whole chromatin transfer by the process of cytomixis could also have led to the formation of tetraploid cells. Translocation heterozygosity is also evident in the form of multivalents in 12–17% diploid (2x) meiocytes at diakinesis and metaphase-I and is reported for the first time in this species. The syncytes formed depict open chain hexavalent and quadrivalent formation in the three populations with different frequencies. Moreover chromatin stickiness at metaphase-I is observed in 45% of PMCs in population-1 (P-1). Syncyte or unreduced PMC formation leading to unreduced fertile gametes is here speculated to act as a possible way out for infraspecific polyploidization in the species.

Meiotic events in Oenothera — a non-standard pattern of chromosome behaviour

The genus Oenothera shows an intriguing extent of permanent translocation heterozygosity. Reciprocal translocations of chromosome arms in species or populations result in various kinds of chromosome multivalents in diakinesis. Early meiotic events conditioning such chromosome behaviour are poorly understood. We found a surprising uniformity of the leptotene–diplotene period, regardless of the chromosome configuration at diakinesis (ring of 14, 7 bivalents, mixture of bivalents and multivalents). It appears that the earliest chromosome interactions at Oenothera meiosis are untypical, since they involve pericentromeric regions. During early leptotene, proximal chromosome parts cluster and form a highly polarized Rabl configuration. Telomeres associated in pairs were seen at zygotene. The high degree of polarization of meiotic nuclei continues for an exceptionally long period, i.e., during zygotene–pachytene into the diplotene contraction stage. The Rabl-polarized meiotic architecture and clustering of pericentromeres suggest a high complexity of karyotypes, not only in structural heterozygotes but also in bivalent-forming homozygous species.

071 A Saturated Linkage Map for the Garden Pea

A linkage map for a set of 51 F2-derived recombinant inbred lines has been constructed from the segregation data of ≈850 morphological, isozyme, RFLP, STS, RAPD, and AFLP markers. The final map consists of seven clear linkage groups with a total length of nearly 900 cM. The wide variety of loci placed on this map permits its comparison with partial maps that have been developed in other programs. For the most part, the arrangement of loci agrees with that in previous maps, and no evidence for translocation heterozygosity in this cross is apparent. Although some clustering of markers is observed, for the most part the markers are well-distributed, and few gaps greater than 5 cM are found in the coverage. The availability of this first “complete” and highly saturated map for pea should permit more efficient comparison of the partial maps that have been generated in a number of different crosses, as well as provide a firm basis for future mapping and molecular studies in this species.