| Abstract Detail
Hybrids and Hybridization Engle-Wrye, Nicholas [1], Folk, Ryan [1]. Environmental drivers of a hybridization zone in Heuchera. Hybridization is thought to be a major driver of novel variation and diversification in many plant groups, and the advent of genome-scale datasets has led to renewed interest in its detection and characterization in numerous taxa. Nevertheless, understanding of the major drivers of hybridization in plants remains poor compared to polyploidy and other evolutionary mechanisms. We know little about why certain taxonomic groups and geographic areas are particularly prone to hybridization, and little about the long-term implications of hybrid history for diversification. Here we investigate patterns of hybridization in a hybrid zone of Heuchera (Saxifragaceae), one of the most prolific examples of chloroplast capture in plants, to understand drivers maintaining this zone at fine spatial scales. We hypothesize that a continuum of hybrid morphology in Heuchera americana var. hirsuticaulis is not primarily due to continuing gene flow with its parents (Heuchera americana and Heuchera richardsonii) but rather differences in parental environmental tolerances driving a gradient of parental contributions along the hybrid zone. To test this, we have leveraged phylogenomic data using a custom panel of 277 low-copy nuclear loci and coalescent methods for more than a hundred accessions across the range of the hybrid zone. With this strong molecular framework, we will construct abiotic niche parameters to test whether hybrid ancestry is driven by parental environmental preferences or solely due to proximity and isolation by distance.
1 - Mississippi State University, 295 E. Lee Blvd., P.O. Box GY, 295 E. Lee Blvd., P.O. Box GY, Mississippi State, MS, 39762, United States
Keywords:
none specified
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: HYHY1, Hybrids and Hybridization
Location: Virtual/Virtual
Date: Monday, July 27th, 2020
Time: 12:45 PM
Number: HYHY1002
Abstract ID:578
Candidate for Awards:None |
