Peng Jun-Chu, He Ziwen, Zhang Zhi-Qiang
State Key Laboratory for Vegetation Structure, Functions and Construction, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Transboundary Ecosecurity of Southwest China, Yunnan Key Laboratory of Plant Reproductive Adaptation and Evolutionary Ecology, Institute of Biodiversity, School of Ecology and Environmental Science, Yunnan University, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Resources, School of Life Sciences, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
Commun Biol. 2025 Apr 30;8(1):684. doi: 10.1038/s42003-025-08120-w.
Cryptic diversity in evolutionary radiation offers an excellent system for investigating the intricacies of evolutionary progress. Understanding the evolution of cryptic diversity is imperative for unraveling the hidden complexities of biodiversity. However, empirical evidence elucidating the mechanisms behind cryptic radiation remains limited, particularly in plants. Here, we focus on a monophyletic group of Aquilegia species mainly distributed in the mountains of Southwest China, one of the world's biodiversity hotspots. Using whole-genome resequencing of 158 individuals from 23 natural populations, we identify three to four paraphyletic lineages within each morphological species. Our findings reveal that 39 out of 43 detected instances of introgression occurred post-lineage formation. Identifying shared genomic regions indicates that the divergence of fixed singletons in lineages from morphological species A. kansuensis and A. rockii predates lineage formation, supporting a scenario where incomplete lineage sorting of standing variation contributes to morphological parallelism. Furthermore, strong positive correlations among genomic differentiation, divergence, and introgression suggest that standing variations and introgression from non-sister lineages contribute to the rapid genetic divergence. Our study illuminates the important roles of standing variations and introgression in plant cryptic radiation, advancing our understanding of the complex mechanisms behind the evolution of biodiversity in recent radiation events.
进化辐射中的隐秘多样性为研究进化进程的复杂性提供了一个绝佳的系统。理解隐秘多样性的进化对于揭示生物多样性背后隐藏的复杂性至关重要。然而，阐明隐秘辐射背后机制的实证证据仍然有限，尤其是在植物中。在这里，我们聚焦于主要分布在中国西南部山区的一个单系耧斗菜属物种群，该地区是世界生物多样性热点地区之一。通过对来自23个自然种群的158个个体进行全基因组重测序，我们在每个形态学物种中鉴定出三到四个并系分支。我们的研究结果表明，在检测到的43例基因渐渗事件中，有39例发生在分支形成之后。确定共享的基因组区域表明，形态学物种甘肃耧斗菜和紫斑耧斗菜分支中固定单基因座的分歧早于分支形成，这支持了一种情况，即现存变异的不完全分支分类导致了形态平行性。此外，基因组分化、分歧和基因渐渗之间的强正相关表明，现存变异和来自非姐妹分支的基因渐渗促成了快速的遗传分歧。我们的研究阐明了现存变异和基因渐渗在植物隐秘辐射中的重要作用，推进了我们对近期辐射事件中生物多样性进化背后复杂机制的理解。
