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Interfertile oaks in an island environment. II. Limited hybridization between Quercus alnifolia Poech and Q. coccifera L. in a mixed stand

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Abstract

Hybridization and introgression between Quercus alnifolia Poech and Q. coccifera L. is studied by analyzing morphological traits, nuclear and chloroplast DNA markers. The study site is a mixed stand on Troodos Mountains (Cyprus), and the analyzed material includes both adult trees and progenies of specific mother trees. Multivariate analysis of morphological traits shows that the two species can be well distinguished using simple leaf morphometric parameters. A lower genetic diversity in Q. alnifolia than in Q. coccifera and a high interspecific differentiation between the two species are supported by an analysis of nuclear and chloroplast microsatellites. The intermediacy of the four designated hybrids is verified by both leaf morphometric and genetic data. Analysis of progeny arrays provides evidence that interspecific crossings are rare. This finding is further supported by limited introgression of chloroplast genomes. Reproductive barriers (e.g. asynchronous phenology, postzygotic incompatibilities) might account for this result. A directionality of interspecific gene flow is indicated by a genetic assignment analysis of effective pollen clouds with Q. alnifolia acting as pollen donor. Differences in flowering phenology and species distribution in the stand may have influenced the direction of gene flow and the genetic differentiation among effective pollen clouds of different mother trees within species.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Andreas Christou (Department of Forests, Republic of Cyprus personnel, for their assistance during plant collections). We are grateful to Mr. Petros Anastasiou for his valuable help during plant collections. This research was conducted in partial fulfillment for the doctorate degree of the first author at Albert-Ludwigs University of Freiburg. During that time, the first author was supported by doctorate scholarships from DAAD and the State of Baden-Württemberg. Partial financial assistance to Filippos Aravanopoulos in the form of two cooperative grants of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Cyprus and the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Forest Ecology, Forest Research Institute of Baden-Württemberg, Wonnhaldestr. 4, 79100, Freiburg, Germany

    Charalambos Neophytou & Aikaterini Dounavi

  2. Laboratory of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding, Faculty of Forestry and Natural Environment, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, P.O. Box 238, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Charalambos Neophytou & Filippos A. Aravanopoulos

  3. Faculty of Forest and Environmental Sciences, Albert-Ludwigs University of Freiburg, Bertoldstr. 17, 79085, Freiburg, Germany

    Siegfried Fink

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  1. Charalambos Neophytou
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  2. Filippos A. Aravanopoulos
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  3. Siegfried Fink
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  4. Aikaterini Dounavi
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Correspondence to Charalambos Neophytou.

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Communicated by C. Ammer.

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Neophytou, C., Aravanopoulos, F.A., Fink, S. et al. Interfertile oaks in an island environment. II. Limited hybridization between Quercus alnifolia Poech and Q. coccifera L. in a mixed stand. Eur J Forest Res 130, 623–635 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-010-0454-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-010-0454-4

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