Hybridization success is largely limited to homoploid Prunus hybrids: a multidisciplinary approach

0480212 - BÚ 2018 RIV AT eng J - Journal Article
Macková, L. - Vít, Petr - Ďurišová, Ľ. - Eliáš, P. Jr. - Urfus, T.
Hybridization success is largely limited to homoploid Prunus hybrids: a multidisciplinary approach.
Plant Systematics and Evolution. Roč. 303, č. 4 (2017), s. 481-495. ISSN 0378-2697. E-ISSN 1615-6110
Institutional support: RVO:67985939
Keywords : absolute genome size * interspecific hybridization * embryology
OECD category: Plant sciences, botany
Impact factor: 1.452, year: 2017

Prunus fruticosa is a rare shrub occurring in Eurasian thermophilous forest-steppe alliances. The species frequently hybridizes with cultivated Prunus species in Europe (allochthonous tetraploid P. cerasus and partly indigenous diploid P. avium). Propidium iodide flow cytometry, distance-based morphometrics, elliptic Fourier analysis and embryology were employed to evaluate the extent of hybridization in six Slovak populations. Flow cytometric analyses revealed three ploidy levels: diploid (P. avium), triploid (P. x mohacsyana) and tetraploid (P. fruticosa, P. x eminens and P. cerasus). In addition, P. fruticosa and P. cerasus, at the tetraploid level, were found to differ in absolute genome size. An embryological evaluation suggested the existence of a triploid block in P. x mohacsyana and significant potential for hybridization among tetraploid taxa (indicated also by a continuous distribution of genome size data and further mirrored by morphometrics). Although hybrids significantly differ in ploidy level and embryological characteristics, they are almost indistinguishable using morphological characters. Hybridization with P. cerasus thus turns out to be a significant threat to wild populations of P. fruticosa compared to the relatively weak influence of P. avium.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0278192