Lj. Gillespie et al., HYBRIDIZATION AND THE ORIGIN OF THE ARCTIC GRASS POA HARTZII (POACEAE) - EVIDENCE FROM MORPHOLOGY AND CHLOROPLAST DNA RESTRICTION SITE DATA, Canadian journal of botany, 75(11), 1997, pp. 1978-1997
The hypothesized hybrid origin of Poa hartzii Gand. (Poaceae) was inve
stigated by analysis of morphological and molecular data. This endemic
nearctic caespitose grass has been considered to be a hybrid between
two of the three sympatric arctic species, Poa glauca M. Vahl, Poa arc
tica R. Br., and Poa abbreviata R. Br. Field observations and morpholo
gical studies indicate that Poa hartzii is a morphologically distinct
apomictic species that reproduces and disperses by seed. Restriction e
nzyme analysis of polymerase chain reaction amplified chloroplast DNA
revealed the presence in Poa hartzii of two very different haplotypes.
One haplotype is identical to the dominant type found in Pou glauca,
while the second is identical to the haplotype of Poa secunda J. Presl
., located south of the arctic region. These results are consistent wi
th an hypothesis of ancient hybrid origin involving Poa glauca and Poa
secunda, but not Poa arctica nor Poa abbreviata. They are also consis
tent with an hypothesis of cytoplasmic transfer via hybridization and
introgression from Poa glauca to an ancestral Poa hartzii in the Poa s
ecunda complex. Direction of transfer is suggested by the widespread o
ccurrence of the Poa secunda haplotype in Pna hartzii and by closer mo
rphological similarity with Poa secunda than Poa glauca. The origin of
Poa hartzii provides an excellent example of reticulate evolution and
the importance of hybridization in the speciation of arctic grasses.