Abstract
We describe the first reported intergeneric, which naturally occurs between two subspecies belonging to different genera, Dactylorhiza fuchsii subsp. sooana (genus Dactylorhiza) and Pseudorchis albida subsp. tricuspis (genus Pseudorchis), as × Pseudorhiza nieschalkii (Senghas) P.F.Hunt nothosubsp. siculorum H.Kertész & N.Anghelescu, 2020. The hybrid was found and digitally photographed for the first time by Hajnalka Kertész in June, 2020, within Terra Siculorum, in one of the Natura 2000 protected areas, known as Harghita Mădăraș, ROSCI00090. Following detailed morphometric analysis using 67 characters and molecular karyological analyses, we identified this unique specimen as an intergeneric hybrid, new to science. The hybrid, an F1 generation plant, most likely representing a single intergeneric pollination event, is phenotypically intermediate between its parental species in most of the characters scored, but it significantly closely resembles Pseudorchis albida subsp. tricuspis parent. Since several individuals of the parental species occurred in near proximity, within 1–10 meters distance, we suggest that the production of this hybrid required a minimum travel distance of ca 1–10 meters, by the pollinators and frequent exchange of pollen between the parental species was very likely. The parental species and the hybrid, which display a considerable synchronicity in their flowering time, overlap in the pollinator community, sharing various species of Hymenopterans and Dipterans, very abundant in the heathland. This Terra Siculorum hybrid is thus best described as a rarely occurring intergeneric hybrid that shows strong Pseudorchis albida subsp. tricuspis parental dominance in inheritance patterns.
Highlights
Over millions of years of evolution, hybridization had a major role in shaping the history of life on earth
A new hybrid lineage is formed through parental genome mixing
The area was declared a site of Community importance by Order of the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development No 1964 of 13 December 2007 and covers an area of 13,373 hectares
Summary
Over millions of years of evolution, hybridization had a major role in shaping the history of life on earth. The genes from P1 & P2 combine in the first resulted generation, named F1 [1] They will be present in the hybrid genotype and can be dominant, recessive or intermediate [2]. A new hybrid lineage is formed through parental genome mixing. The totality of all successful hybrid types that originate of the crossing of two parental taxa (natural species, not of hybrids) is called a nothotaxon. New hybrid lineages must establish reproductive isolation and a unique ecological niche in order to overcome genetic mixing and competition from parental species [3]. Hybridisation was shown to have a significant role in speciation, generating new species with better genetic, adaptive variation [4]
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