State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Resources, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, China.
Key Laboratory of Ecology of Rare and Endangered Species and Environmental Protection, Ministry of Education, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin, 541004, China.
BMC Plant Biol. 2023 Mar 22;23(1):154. doi: 10.1186/s12870-023-04164-4.
Hybridization is generally considered an important creative evolutionary force, yet this evolutionary process is still poorly characterized in karst plants. In this study, we focus on natural hybridization in yellow Camellia species, a group of habitat specialists confined to karst/non-karst habitats in southwestern China.
Based on population genome data obtain from double digest restriction-site associated DNA (ddRAD) sequencing, we found evidence for natural hybridization and introgression between C. micrantha and C. flavida, and specifically confirmed their hybrid population, C. "ptilosperma". Ecophysiological results suggested that extreme hydraulic traits were fixed in C. "ptilosperma", these being consistent with its distinct ecological niche, which lies outside its parental ranges.
The identified hybridization event is expected to have played a role in generating novel variation during, in which the hybrid population displays different phenological characteristics and novel ecophysiological traits associated with the colonization of a new niche in limestone karst.
杂交通常被认为是一种重要的创造性进化力量，但这一进化过程在喀斯特植物中仍未得到很好的描述。在这项研究中，我们专注于黄色山茶花物种的自然杂交，这些物种是一组生境专家，仅限于中国西南部的喀斯特/非喀斯特生境。
基于从双酶切限制位点相关 DNA（ddRAD）测序获得的种群基因组数据，我们发现了 C. micrantha 和 C. flavida 之间自然杂交和基因渗入的证据，并特别证实了它们的杂交种群 C. "ptilosperma"。生态生理学结果表明，极端水力性状在 C. "ptilosperma" 中被固定，这与它独特的生态位一致，该生态位位于其亲本地域之外。
预期所识别的杂交事件在产生新的变异方面发挥了作用，其中杂交种群表现出不同的物候特征和与石灰岩喀斯特新生态位殖民化相关的新生态生理学特征。
