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The Centaurea alba complex in the Iberian Peninsula: gene flow, introgression, and blurred genetic boundaries

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Abstract

Using microsatellites and cpDNA sequences, we have analyzed genetic diversity and structure and evaluated levels of introgression of 19 populations from the Centaurea alba complex from subsection Phalolepis and six taxa from the closely related subsections Centaurea and Willkommia from the Iberian Peninsula. Genetic differentiation among the different populations of the C. alba complex was lower than those found in the Italian/northern-central Balkans, Greek, and Anatolian populations of subsect. Phalolepis. The lower genetic differentiation among the populations of the Iberian Peninsula compared to the other Mediterranean peninsulas may be due to intraspecific higher levels of admixture but also to a considerable degree of introgression with species that grow in close proximity. Although there is a significant pattern of isolation by distance within the C. alba complex, we have found considerable levels of gene flow between taxa, both recent and historical. Hybridization and introgression were also evident, as it is often observed within the genus. Patterns of genetic structure support the recognition of C. alba and C. costae as different species.

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Acknowledgements

Contribution of materials and assistance during field work by L. Barres, A. Hilpold, J. López-Alvarado, F. Márquez, J. Molero, K. Romaschenko, and R. Vilatersana is gratefully acknowledged. This work was funded by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación [Projects CGL2007-60781/BOS and CGL2010/18631/BOS] and Generalitat de Catalunya [Ajuts a Grups de Recerca Consolidats 2014-SGR514-GREB and 2017-SGR1116].

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Correspondence to Núria Garcia-Jacas.

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Online Resource 1. Pairwise comparisons showing differentiation between populations based on FST using the ENA correction.

Online Resource 2. Pairwise comparisons showing differentiation between populations (grouped as species) based on FST.

Online Resource 3. Screening for the most likely value of K. Number of groups (K) with non-hierarchical K-means clustering (Evanno et al. 2005), and the smallest K after the log probability of data [ln Pr(X|K)] values reached a plateau (Pritchard et al. 2000).

Online Resource 4. Alignment of the plastid markers used for constructing the phylogeny of Fig. 5.

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Requena, J., López-Pujol, J., Carnicero, P. et al. The Centaurea alba complex in the Iberian Peninsula: gene flow, introgression, and blurred genetic boundaries. Plant Syst Evol 306, 43 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-020-01669-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-020-01669-5

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