Are Ophiolitic Substrates Drivers for Reticulate Evolution in Armeria (Plumbaginaceae)?
ABSTRACT Ultramafic substrates can play a role in fostering ecological adaptation and microevolutionary dynamics. The Armeria denticulata complex includes two flowering plant species (A. denticulata and A. saviana): the former is a strict serpentinophyte endemic to Tuscany and western Liguria, while...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2025-06-01
|
| Series: | Ecology and Evolution |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71525 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850085826192474112 |
|---|---|
| author | Manuel Tiburtini Salvatore Tomasello Eleonora Manzo Luca Sandroni Thomas Abeli Lorenzo Peruzzi |
| author_facet | Manuel Tiburtini Salvatore Tomasello Eleonora Manzo Luca Sandroni Thomas Abeli Lorenzo Peruzzi |
| author_sort | Manuel Tiburtini |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT Ultramafic substrates can play a role in fostering ecological adaptation and microevolutionary dynamics. The Armeria denticulata complex includes two flowering plant species (A. denticulata and A. saviana): the former is a strict serpentinophyte endemic to Tuscany and western Liguria, while the latter grows on limestone/jasper in a small area of southern Tuscany. Intriguingly, northern Apennine populations of A. arenaria subsp. praecox, a subspecies otherwise endemic to the western Alps, grow on ophiolites. Finally, the central‐southern Italian endemic A. gracilis is instead linked to limestone. We aimed at understanding whether substrate specificity and/or hybridization promoted speciation in the A. denticulata complex, despite similar ecological conditions failing to cause speciation in the nearby A. arenaria. We used Genome skimming and Illumina sequencing to assemble plastomes (152 kb) and data from the nuclear genome (ribosomal DNA subunits and 36 single‐copy markers; 27 kb in total) used to infer phylogenies and evaluate different reticulate evolution scenarios by calculating gene tree probabilities under the Coalescent model. The phylogenomic analyses were complemented by morphometric data using a matrix of 134 individuals × 27 characters. Morphometric data were analyzed both by fitting a Gaussian Mixture Model to compute population‐wise Jensen–Shannon Distances and a Neighbor‐Net network, and by inferring a standard linear discriminant analysis. Both morphometric and phylogenomic results suggest A. saviana is a species of homoploid hybrid origin, involving A. denticulata s.str. (ovule donor) and A. gracilis (pollen donor). A single population of A. denticulata from inner Tuscany (Monte Ferrato) could have originated from an introgression/hybridization event between A. denticulata s.str. (pollen donor) and A. arenaria subsp. praecox (ovule donor). Accordingly, our results suggest that substrate specificity and hybridization/introgression prompted microevolutionary processes in the Armeria denticulata complex. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-06f759c74b7244c19f584bd2b9bc0d33 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2045-7758 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj-art-06f759c74b7244c19f584bd2b9bc0d332025-08-20T02:43:38ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582025-06-01156n/an/a10.1002/ece3.71525Are Ophiolitic Substrates Drivers for Reticulate Evolution in Armeria (Plumbaginaceae)?Manuel Tiburtini0Salvatore Tomasello1Eleonora Manzo2Luca Sandroni3Thomas Abeli4Lorenzo Peruzzi5PLANTSEED Lab, Department of Biology University of Pisa Pisa ItalyDepartment of Systematics, Biodiversity and Evolution of Plants (With Herbarium), Albrecht‐von‐Haller Institute for Plant Sciences Georg‐August‐University of Göttingen Göttingen GermanyPLANTSEED Lab, Department of Biology University of Pisa Pisa ItalyPLANTSEED Lab, Department of Biology University of Pisa Pisa ItalyDepartment of Earth and Environmental Science University of Pavia Pavia ItalyPLANTSEED Lab, Department of Biology University of Pisa Pisa ItalyABSTRACT Ultramafic substrates can play a role in fostering ecological adaptation and microevolutionary dynamics. The Armeria denticulata complex includes two flowering plant species (A. denticulata and A. saviana): the former is a strict serpentinophyte endemic to Tuscany and western Liguria, while the latter grows on limestone/jasper in a small area of southern Tuscany. Intriguingly, northern Apennine populations of A. arenaria subsp. praecox, a subspecies otherwise endemic to the western Alps, grow on ophiolites. Finally, the central‐southern Italian endemic A. gracilis is instead linked to limestone. We aimed at understanding whether substrate specificity and/or hybridization promoted speciation in the A. denticulata complex, despite similar ecological conditions failing to cause speciation in the nearby A. arenaria. We used Genome skimming and Illumina sequencing to assemble plastomes (152 kb) and data from the nuclear genome (ribosomal DNA subunits and 36 single‐copy markers; 27 kb in total) used to infer phylogenies and evaluate different reticulate evolution scenarios by calculating gene tree probabilities under the Coalescent model. The phylogenomic analyses were complemented by morphometric data using a matrix of 134 individuals × 27 characters. Morphometric data were analyzed both by fitting a Gaussian Mixture Model to compute population‐wise Jensen–Shannon Distances and a Neighbor‐Net network, and by inferring a standard linear discriminant analysis. Both morphometric and phylogenomic results suggest A. saviana is a species of homoploid hybrid origin, involving A. denticulata s.str. (ovule donor) and A. gracilis (pollen donor). A single population of A. denticulata from inner Tuscany (Monte Ferrato) could have originated from an introgression/hybridization event between A. denticulata s.str. (pollen donor) and A. arenaria subsp. praecox (ovule donor). Accordingly, our results suggest that substrate specificity and hybridization/introgression prompted microevolutionary processes in the Armeria denticulata complex.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71525Armeriaedaphismendemismphylogenomicsreticulate evolutionserpentine |
| spellingShingle | Manuel Tiburtini Salvatore Tomasello Eleonora Manzo Luca Sandroni Thomas Abeli Lorenzo Peruzzi Are Ophiolitic Substrates Drivers for Reticulate Evolution in Armeria (Plumbaginaceae)? Ecology and Evolution Armeria edaphism endemism phylogenomics reticulate evolution serpentine |
| title | Are Ophiolitic Substrates Drivers for Reticulate Evolution in Armeria (Plumbaginaceae)? |
| title_full | Are Ophiolitic Substrates Drivers for Reticulate Evolution in Armeria (Plumbaginaceae)? |
| title_fullStr | Are Ophiolitic Substrates Drivers for Reticulate Evolution in Armeria (Plumbaginaceae)? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Are Ophiolitic Substrates Drivers for Reticulate Evolution in Armeria (Plumbaginaceae)? |
| title_short | Are Ophiolitic Substrates Drivers for Reticulate Evolution in Armeria (Plumbaginaceae)? |
| title_sort | are ophiolitic substrates drivers for reticulate evolution in armeria plumbaginaceae |
| topic | Armeria edaphism endemism phylogenomics reticulate evolution serpentine |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71525 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT manueltiburtini areophioliticsubstratesdriversforreticulateevolutioninarmeriaplumbaginaceae AT salvatoretomasello areophioliticsubstratesdriversforreticulateevolutioninarmeriaplumbaginaceae AT eleonoramanzo areophioliticsubstratesdriversforreticulateevolutioninarmeriaplumbaginaceae AT lucasandroni areophioliticsubstratesdriversforreticulateevolutioninarmeriaplumbaginaceae AT thomasabeli areophioliticsubstratesdriversforreticulateevolutioninarmeriaplumbaginaceae AT lorenzoperuzzi areophioliticsubstratesdriversforreticulateevolutioninarmeriaplumbaginaceae |