Evidence for two genetic groups within the arctoalpine sedges Carex bicolor All. and C. atrofusca Schkuhr (Cyperaceae)

Irina Shekhovtsova

doi:10.1051/bioconf/20213800114

Abstract

C. bicolor and C. atrofusca are sedge species characteristic for arctoalpine habitats. They have almost circumpolar distributions; they are found in Europe, Northern Asia, and North America, as well as in Middle Asia (C. atrofusca). We hypothesized that certain genetic and morphological differences between populations may be expected across this large area. We tested a set of geographically remote populations of C. bicolor and C. atrofusca. We sequenced a fragment of the plastid matk gene for 15 specimens of C. bicolor and 10 specimens for C. atrofusca from the Asian Russia, and also extracted sequences of this species from GenBank. We found that for both C. bicolor and C. atrofusca, plants from the Arctic and boreal zones of North America and Eurasia had identical matk sequences, while there was certain nucleotide diversity in the mountain ranges of the southern Siberia. Therefore, based on the obtained data we may hypothesize that the mountains of the East Siberia are the center of diversity for some arctoalpine sedge species, and might have served as the ancestral area of the populations colonizing the Arctic.

Highlights

The genus Carex L. (Cyperaceae Juss.) is one of the biggest genera of flowering plants
In Russia and adjacent states it is represented by 384 species and subspecies, 109 of them in the Arctic province [1, 2]
The resulting vicariance may have led to the accumulation of genetic and morphological differences, as the result of both neutral evolution and natural selection

Summary

Introduction

The genus Carex L. (Cyperaceae Juss.) is one of the biggest genera of flowering plants. (Cyperaceae Juss.) is one of the biggest genera of flowering plants. V.I. Kreczetovich [3] found that many of the arctoalpine sedges from the Polar and Northern Urals have disjunctive distributions, which may give valuable insights into the pathways and timing of the origin of northern flora. Kreczetovich [3] found that many of the arctoalpine sedges from the Polar and Northern Urals have disjunctive distributions, which may give valuable insights into the pathways and timing of the origin of northern flora Kreczetovich believed that these species may be very old and that their ancient distributions may have been much larger than current ones. The resulting vicariance may have led to the accumulation of genetic and morphological differences, as the result of both neutral evolution and natural selection

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