Abstract

Phylogenetics is crucial in the study of evolutionary processes and the determination of appropriate conservation units, and often these efforts are complicated by hybridization and introgression. Aliciella subsection Subnuda consists of seven species of herbaceous plants occurring in Utah and the Four Corners region of North America. Previous molecular and morphological work left relationships in the subsection unresolved. Here, we use comparative DNA sequencing of ITS and cpDNA regions and RAD-seq data to clarify phylogenetic relationships and examine the role of hybridization in the subsection. We construct haplotype and nucleotype networks from the cpDNA and ITS sequence matrices and compare nuclear and chloroplast phylogenies to identify multiple putative chloroplast capture events. The RAD-seq maximum likelihood phylogeny robustly resolves relationships between six clades, supportive of merging of two species. We employ STRUCTURE and HyDe on the RAD-seq data to evaluate the influence of hybridization within the subsection. The HyDe results provide evidence of hybridization among and between all species in the subsection. Our study robustly resolves relationships in Aliciella subsection Subnuda and provides a framework for discussing its speciation despite a history of hybridization and introgression.

Degree

MS

College and Department

Life Sciences; Biology

Rights

https://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/

Date Submitted

2019-11-19

Document Type

Thesis

Handle

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/etd11764

Keywords

RAD-seq, Aliciella, phylogenetics, hybridization, introgression, integrative taxonomy, cytonuclear discordance

Language

english

Included in

Life Sciences Commons

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