Genome Size Variation in Diploid Microseris Bigelovii (Asteraceae)

Abstract

Variation in nuclear 2C DNA content (Feulgen absorbancy) up to 25% was detected among plants from four populations of diploid Microseris bigelovii, 2n = 18. The lower DNA values were from geographically disjunct populations growing at the latitudinal extremes of the species range. These smaller genomes may have resulted from selection for low DNA content in stressful and/or time-limited environments. These data add M. bigelovii to the short list of taxa in which intraspecific variation in DNA content has been detected.