Coupling genomic and phenotypic data in a hybrid swarm of a native tree in Argentina

TEICH, I.; MOTTURA, M.; VERGA, A.; BRUNO, C.; BALZARINI, M.

Fribourg

Workshop; Evolutionary and Ecological genomics of Adaptation; 2010

Conférence universitaire de Suisse occidentale

Prosopis chilensis and P. flexuosa are two hardwood arboreal species that play a vital role in the ecology and the economy of many arid and semiarid zones in Argentina. Both species are genetically related and significant gene flow occurs between them with the production of natural and fertile hybrids. In spite of hybridization, both species have maintained genetic,phenotypic and ecological cohesion within, as well as distinction between them. Hybridization creates intermediate phenotypes rendering an accurate morphological determination difficult. Given that qualitative and quantitative morphological characters are used to classify individual trees and that microsatellite markers have been recently developed for the genetic characterization of these forest, it is of interest to explore the correlation between both types of data.