CSIRO Publishing Books Journals About Us Shopping Cart You are here: Journals > Australian Journal of Botany   
Australian Journal of Botany
  Southern Hemisphere Botanical Ecosystems
 
Search
 
 
  Advanced Search
   

Journal Home
About the Journal
Editorial Board
Contacts
Content
Online Early
Current Issue
Just Accepted
All Issues
Special Issues
Turner Review Series
Sample Issue
For Authors
General Information
Notice to Authors
Submit Article
Open Access
For Referees
General Information
Review Article
Annual Referee Index
For Subscribers
Subscription Prices
Customer Service
Print Publication Dates

 Early Alert
Subscribe to our Email Alert or RSS feeds for the latest journal papers.

 Connect with us
facebook   youtube

 

Article << Previous     |     Next >>   Contents Vol 48(5)

Molecular and morphological variation in the Senna artemisioides complex

J. E. Holman and J. Playford

Australian Journal of Botany 48(5) 569 - 579

Abstract

The Senna artemisioides species complex is characterised by extremely variable foliar morphology. This paper presents the results of an integrative study on reproductive biology, morphology and genetic variation to explore the evolutionary and systematic relationships within this species complex at Idalia National Park in central Queensland. Senna artemisioides showed discontinuous variation at both genetic and phenotypic level. At three sites, foliar morphology was discontinuous, being represented as discrete clusters. Analysis of isozyme variation indicated that many of the discrete morphological groups are distinguished by fixed genetic differences. Morphotypes were also characterised by widespread monomorphism. Most of the genetic variation was between morphotypes rather than within morphotypes. These fixed genetic differences indicate a lack of gene flow between morphotypes and therefore an absence of hybridisation. The two most distinct morphological groups (pyllodinous, pinnate) had high genetic distances of 0.5, a value beyond the usual distance between congeneric species. Forty-two percent of pairwise comparisons between other morphotypes yielded genetic distance values that were relatively high (0.21–0.42). Some phenotypically distinct morphotypes, however, showed little or no isozyme divergence. The combined evidence suggests that genetically distinct morphotypes are independent lineages originating from an ancestral sexual reproductive event that is perpetuated by apomictic reproduction.



Full text doi:10.1071/BT98032

© CSIRO 2000

 
PDF (928 KB) $25
 Export Citation
 Print
  
  
Subscriber Login
Username:
Password:  

    


 
Top  Email this page
 
Legal & Privacy | Contact Us | Help

CSIRO

© CSIRO 1996-2012