HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (1) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Zhang, Z. Articles by Gu, Z. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Zhang, Z. Articles by Gu, Z. Agricola Articles by Zhang, Z. Articles by Gu, Z.

Alkaloid polymorphism and ITS sequence variation in the Spiraea japonica complex (Rosaceae) in China: traces of the biological effects of the Himalaya-Tibet Plateau uplift¹

Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan 650204, China

ABSTRACT

Spiraea japonica, a diverse, perennial shrubby species complex widespread across E Asia, was a useful model in a first attempt to link specific phylogeny, floristic evolution, and historical environmental changes in E Asia. DNA-based phylogenetic reconstruction served as a framework to investigate whether the patterns of variation in alkaloids and nrITS from varieties of S. japonica reflect the geological history of China and the uplifting of the Himalaya-Tibet plateau, the most significant geological event in E Asia since the late Paleocene. The high geographical structure found in the phylogenetic trees was corroborated by the distribution of alkaloids. All populations from E China, with mainly hetisine-type alkaloids, formed a single clade, sister to a clade of all populations from SW China, with mainly atisine-type alkaloids. The distribution boundary between the two clades roughly matched the floristic division between the Sino-Japanese Forest and the Sino-Himalayan Forest subkingdoms, as well as the environmental division between SW and E China, suggesting a close link between specific phylogeny, floristic evolution, and geographical changes in E Asia. The divergence between lineages at variety and population level within the eastern clade was slightly older than those within the southwestern clade, supporting the hypothesis of a northeast–southwest migration of Spiraea since the Eocene. The uplift of the Himalaya-Tibet plateau and subsequent increase in geographical complexity in SW China, could facilitate divergence maintenance, thus accelerating the evolutionary rate.

Key Words: biological effects • East Asia • environmental heterogeneity • Himalaya-Tibet Plateau uplift • Rosaceae • Spiraea japonica

This article has been cited by other articles:

				Y. Mitsui, S.-T. Chen, Z.-K. Zhou, C.-I. Peng, Y.-F. Deng, and H. Setoguchi Phylogeny and Biogeography of the Genus Ainsliaea (Asteraceae) in the Sino-Japanese Region based on Nuclear rDNA and Plastid DNA Sequence Data Ann. Bot., January 1, 2008; 101(1): 111 - 124. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]