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History and evolution of alpine plants endemic to the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau: Aconitum gymnandrum (Ranunculaceae).

Publication ,  Journal Article
Wang, L; Abbott, RJ; Zheng, W; Chen, P; Wang, Y; Liu, J
Published in: Mol Ecol
February 2009

How Quaternary climatic oscillations affected range distributions and intraspecific divergence of alpine plants on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) remains largely unknown. Here, we report a survey of chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) and nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) DNA variation aimed at exploring the phylogeographical history of the QTP alpine endemic Aconitum gymnandrum. We sequenced three cpDNA fragments (rpl20-rps12 intergenic spacer, the trnV intron and psbA-trnH spacer) and also the nuclear (ITS) region in 245 individuals from 23 populations sampled throughout the species' range. Two distinct lineages, with eastern and western geographical distributions respectively, were identified from a phylogenetic analysis of ITS sequence variation. Based on a fast substitution rate, these were estimated to have diverged from each other in the early Pleistocene approximately 1.45 Ma. The analysis of cpDNA variation identified nine chlorotypes that clustered into two major clades that were broadly congruent in geographical distribution with the two ITS lineages. The east-west split of cpDNA divergence was supported by an amova which partitioned approximately half of the total variance between these two groups of populations. Analysis of the spatial distribution of chlorotypes showed that each clade was subdivided into two groups of populations such that a total of four population groups existed in the species. It is suggested that these different groups derive from four independent glacial refugia that existed during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), and that three of these refugia were located at high altitude on the QTP platform itself at that time. Coalescent simulation of chlorotype genealogies supported both an early Pleistocene origin of the two main cpDNA clades and also the 'four-refugia' hypothesis during the LGM. Two previous phylogeographical studies of QTP alpine plants indicated that such plants retreated to refugia at the eastern/south-eastern plateau edge during the LGM and/or previous glacial maxima. However, the results for A. gymnandrum suggest that at least some of these cold-tolerant species may have also survived centrally on the QTP platform throughout the Quaternary.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Mol Ecol

DOI

EISSN

1365-294X

Publication Date

February 2009

Volume

18

Issue

4

Start / End Page

709 / 721

Location

England

Related Subject Headings

  • Sequence Analysis, DNA
  • Sequence Alignment
  • Phylogeny
  • Models, Genetic
  • Geography
  • Genetics, Population
  • Genetic Variation
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Evolution, Molecular
  • Ecosystem
 

Citation

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ICMJE
MLA
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Wang, L., Abbott, R. J., Zheng, W., Chen, P., Wang, Y., & Liu, J. (2009). History and evolution of alpine plants endemic to the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau: Aconitum gymnandrum (Ranunculaceae). Mol Ecol, 18(4), 709–721. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2008.04055.x
Wang, Liuyang, Richard J. Abbott, Wei Zheng, Ping Chen, Yujin Wang, and Jianquan Liu. “History and evolution of alpine plants endemic to the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau: Aconitum gymnandrum (Ranunculaceae).Mol Ecol 18, no. 4 (February 2009): 709–21. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2008.04055.x.
Wang L, Abbott RJ, Zheng W, Chen P, Wang Y, Liu J. History and evolution of alpine plants endemic to the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau: Aconitum gymnandrum (Ranunculaceae). Mol Ecol. 2009 Feb;18(4):709–21.
Wang, Liuyang, et al. “History and evolution of alpine plants endemic to the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau: Aconitum gymnandrum (Ranunculaceae).Mol Ecol, vol. 18, no. 4, Feb. 2009, pp. 709–21. Pubmed, doi:10.1111/j.1365-294X.2008.04055.x.
Wang L, Abbott RJ, Zheng W, Chen P, Wang Y, Liu J. History and evolution of alpine plants endemic to the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau: Aconitum gymnandrum (Ranunculaceae). Mol Ecol. 2009 Feb;18(4):709–721.
Journal cover image

Published In

Mol Ecol

DOI

EISSN

1365-294X

Publication Date

February 2009

Volume

18

Issue

4

Start / End Page

709 / 721

Location

England

Related Subject Headings

  • Sequence Analysis, DNA
  • Sequence Alignment
  • Phylogeny
  • Models, Genetic
  • Geography
  • Genetics, Population
  • Genetic Variation
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Evolution, Molecular
  • Ecosystem