Sciuto Katia, Wolf Marion A, Sfriso Adriano, Brancaleoni Lisa, Iberite Mauro, Iamonico Duilio
Department of Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Agricultural Sciences, University of Ferrara, Via Luigi Borsari 46, 44121 Ferrara, Italy.
Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, Ca'Foscari University of Venice, Via Torino 155, 30172 Mestre, Italy.
Plants (Basel). 2023 Jan 13;12(2):375. doi: 10.3390/plants12020375.
is a highly taxonomically problematic genus due to the reduced morphological observable characters. Ten Eurasian species are currently recognized: , , , , , , , , , and . In addition, eleven subspecies are accepted, mainly based on their distribution areas. Along the Venetian coasts and in Sardinia, in the past, an endemic species called was recognized, but this name was later synonymized with subsp. . The aim of the present research is investigating different Italian populations by a molecular point of view, using the nuclear ribosomal external transcribed spacer ETS and the plastid A-H intergenic spacer. A particular focus is on the comparison between Venetian (including those occurring in of ) and Sardinian and other Italian populations of this species. The molecular analyses based on the plastid marker highlight that the Italian populations form two well distinct groups. In particular, some of the Venetian ( of ) and all the Sardinian specimens are genetically distinct (=plastid haplotype 1) from the other investigated populations (=plastid haplotype 2). This indicates that the AH haplotype 1 glassworts represent a distinct entity, which we suppose to coincide with the former . Therefore, we suggest to recognize this taxonomic entity at the subspecies rank, as subsp. comb. and stat. nov. However, contrary to the results found with the plastid AH intergenic spacer, the ETS locus does not show a separation into two distinct clades for , probably due to a different evolution of the two loci. Nevertheless, in the ETS phylogenetic reconstruction, the Sardinian specimens (=ribotypes 2 and 3) are placed, together with a Moroccan sample, in a subclade separated from all the other . These results suggest that the Sardinian populations can represent a subspecies/incipient speciation process, probably due to geographic isolation. In the light of this, morphometric analyses (k-means, MANOVA, PCA, DA, and Box-Plot) have been carried out on the Sardinian and Venetian populations to verify if this distinction is detectable also by a morphological point of view. The morphometric analyses highlight the existence of two groups, concerning both the nuclear and plastid trees. Six characters were found to be diagnostic.
由于可观察到的形态特征减少，它是一个在分类学上极具问题的属。目前已确认有10个欧亚物种： 、 、 、 、 、 、 、 、 和 。此外，主要根据其分布区域，接受了11个亚种。在威尼斯海岸和撒丁岛，过去曾确认有一种名为 的特有物种，但这个名称后来被同义化为 亚种 。本研究的目的是从分子角度研究不同的意大利 种群，使用核糖体核外部转录间隔区ETS和质体A-H基因间隔区。特别关注威尼斯（包括在 的那些）和撒丁岛 的比较以及该物种的其他意大利种群。基于质体标记的分子分析表明，意大利 种群形成了两个明显不同的群体。特别是，一些威尼斯（ 的）和所有撒丁岛标本在基因上与其他调查种群（=质体单倍型2）不同（=质体单倍型1）。这表明AH单倍型1的盐角草代表一个独特的实体，我们认为它与以前的 一致。因此，我们建议在亚种等级上认可这个分类实体，即 亚种 ，新组合及新状态。然而，与质体AH基因间隔区的结果相反，ETS基因座并未显示 分为两个不同的分支，这可能是由于两个基因座的进化不同。尽管如此，在ETS系统发育重建中，撒丁岛标本（=核糖型2和3）与一个摩洛哥样本一起被置于一个与所有其他 分开的亚分支中。这些结果表明，撒丁岛种群可能代表一个亚种/初始物种形成过程，可能是由于地理隔离。有鉴于此，对撒丁岛和威尼斯种群进行了形态测量分析（k均值、多变量方差分析、主成分分析、判别分析和箱线图），以验证从形态学角度是否也能检测到这种差异。形态测量分析突出了存在两个群体，这与核树和质体树的情况一致。发现六个特征具有诊断性。
