Silene aegyptiaca

Pfeil Zeynep Toprak Bengt Oxelman, Bernard E., 2017, Recombination provides evidence for ancient hybridisation in the Silene aegyptiaca (Caryophyllaceae) complex, Organisms Diversity & Evolution 17 (4), pp. 717-726 : 718

The S. aegyptiaca ( Caryophyllaceae ) complex

The S. aegyptiaca (L.) L. fil. 1782 species complex includes a number of highly similar annual species that are found in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, especially southern Anatolia ( Coode and Cullen 1967; Erixon and Oxelman 2008; Aydin et al. 2014a). A recent study based on six nuclear loci revealed several cryptic species in the group ( Toprak et al. 2016). The analysis was based on a Bayesian multispecies coalescent analysis that tests the assignment of samples to species while co-estimating the species tree (DISSECT; Jones et al. 2015). A conservative interpretation of the results suggested that the observed species diversity was partitioned into three main clades, containing a total of nine putative taxonomic species (colour coded) that are partly geographically structured ( Fig. 1 ; modified from Toprak et al. 2016). The evidence for these nine species, exhibited by monophyletic gene trees, is strong. If samples come from the same species, then recombination among them is expected for sexually reproducing organisms. However, recombination among species can provide evidence for rare unexpected gene flow.

Figures

Fig. 1 Species tree inferred by the DISSECT module of *BEAST based on six nuclear loci. Clades containing conspecific samples have been shown as triangles. Six clades and three singletons comprise the nine species discussed in the text. Numbers above branches are the clade