Phylogeography of the invasive weed Hypochaeris radicata (Asteraceae): from Moroccan origin to world-wide introduced populations.

M. A. ORTIZ; K. TREMETSBERGER; A. TERRAB; T. F. STUESSY; J. L. GARCIA-CASTANO; E. URTUBEY; C. M. BAEZA; C. F. RUAS; P. E. GIBBS; S. TALAVERA

MOLECULAR ECOLOGY

Blackwell Publishing

Lugar: Loughborough; Año: 2008 vol. 1 p. 3654 - 3667

0962-1083

In an attempt to delineate the area of origin and migratory expansion of the highly successful invasive weedy species Hypochaeris radicata we analysed amplified fragment length polymorphisms from samples taken in 44 populations. Population sampling focused on the W Mediterranean area, but also included sites from northern Spain, W and C Europe, SE Asia and South America. The six primer combinations applied to 213 individuals generated a total of 517 fragments of which 513 (99.2%) AFLP markers were polymorphic. The neighbour-joining tree presented two major clusters, and five subclusters, and these divisions were supported by the results of Principal Coordinates and Bayesian analyses. One major cluster included the heterocarpic populations from Morocco, southern Spain and the Central Mediterranean area, and the other, with one important exception, included all of the homocarpic populations from C and N Spain, W and C Europe, and also those from Asia and South America. Analyses of fragment parameters indicate the oldest populations of H radicata are those located in Morocco, and that the species expanded from this area in the late Quaternary via at least three migratory routes, the earliest if which seems to be the SW Sierra Morena area, with subsequent colonizations to the Central Mediterranean region and the Betic Sierras area in southern Spain. Homocarpic populations that probably had their origin in the Sierra Morena area, subsequently spread across C and N Spain. The latter have provided the source for introduced populations of this highly successful species in W and C Europe and Worldwide