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

What's this?

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 Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (6) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Tiébré, M.-S. Articles by Mahy, G. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Tiébré, M.-S. Articles by Mahy, G. Agricola Articles by Tiébré, M.-S. Articles by Mahy, G. Social Bookmarking                            What's this?

Hybridization and morphogenetic variation in the invasive alien Fallopia (Polygonaceae) complex in Belgium¹

Laboratory of Ecology, Gembloux Agricultural University, Passage des Déportés 2, B-5030 Gembloux, Belgium; Behavioural and Evolutionary Ecology Unit - CP 160/12, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 50 Av. F. Roosevelt, 1050 Brussels, Belgium; Biology Department, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK

ABSTRACT

The invasive alien knotweeds, Fallopia spp. (Polygonaceae), are some of the most troublesome invasive species in Europe and North America. Invasive success in Fallopia may be enhanced by multiple hybridization events. We examined the pattern of hybridization and its evolutionary consequences in Belgium with a concerted analysis of ploidy levels (chromosome counts and flow cytometry), morphological variation, and genetic variation (RAPDs). At least four taxa with different ploidy levels were part of the pattern of invasion in Belgium. Hybrid F. xbohemica with various chromosome numbers restored the genotypic diversity that was lacking in the parental species. Hybrid genotypes were mainly assigned to a specific genetic pool and not to a mixture between the genetic pools of the putative parental species as would be expected for hybrids. Parental species and hexaploid hybrids differed significantly for a set of well-defined morphological characters, enabling future researchers to distinguish these taxa. On the basis of our results, the importance of hybridization has probably been underestimated in large parts of the adventive range of alien Fallopia species, pointing to the need for concerted molecular and morphological analyses in the study of the evolutionary consequences of hybridization.

Key Words: assignment test • Belgium • chromosome counts • Fallopia • flow cytometry • hybridization • morphology • Polygonaceae

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Facebook    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				C. L. Richards, R. L. Walls, J. P. Bailey, R. Parameswaran, T. George, and M. Pigliucci Plasticity in salt tolerance traits allows for invasion of novel habitat by Japanese knotweed s. l. (Fallopia japonica and F.xbohemica, Polygonaceae) Am. J. Botany, August 1, 2008; 95(8): 931 - 942. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]