Abstracts, XIV OPTIMA Meeting, Palermo (Italy) , 9-15

XIV OPTIMA Meeting, Palermo (Italy), 9-15 September 2013
Phylogeny of the trans-Adriatic Campanula garganica complex (Campanulaceae)
BOGDANOVIĆ S. 1 , REŠETNIK I. 2 , BRULLO S. 3 , SATOVIC Z. 4 , LIBER Z. 2
1 Dept. of Agricultural Botany, Fac. of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia. E-mail: sbogdanovic@agr.hr
2 Dept. of Botany and Botanical Garden, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia.
3 Dipto. di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali, Università degli Studi di Catania, Catania, Italia.
4 Dept. of Seed Science and Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia.
The genus Campanula L. (Campanulaceae) has highest species diversity in the Mediterranean
region. One of the morphologically and phylogentically clearly recognized group is the isophyllous
group of ten trans-Adriatic endemic taxa. This group is attributed to the Campanula garganica complex
that taxonomically belongs to the sect. Campanula ser. Garganicae Trinajstić. This complex
exhibits a trans-Adriatic and Ionian distribution with the majority of species distributed along the East
Adriatic coast. The taxa belonging to this complex are: C. reatina Lucchese, C. garganica Ten., C. fenestrellata
Feer subsp. fenestrellata, C. fenestrellata subsp. istriaca (Feer) Damboldt, C. portenschlagiana
Roem. & Schult., C. poscharskyana Degen, C. cephallenica Feer, C. acarnanica Damboldt, C.
debarensis Rech. f., while the sister species to the group is Albanian endemic C. comosiformis (Hayek
& Janch.) Frajman & Schneew. Here we explore the phylogeny and diversification of the C. garganica
complex based on, nuclear (ITS) and plastid (trnL-trnF) DNA sequences and AFLPs. Our molecular
phylogenetic study confirmed the monophyly of the complex, while the relationships among taxa
are poorly resolved. The plastid and nuclear datasets were only partly congruent. A new phylogenetic
insight into the C. garganica complex revealed the existence of two new species, recently described as
C. teutana Bogdanović & Brullo from remote central Adriatic island of Vis and C. skanderbegii
Bogdanović, Brullo, & D. Lakušić from the central Albania. Both species are morphologically similar
to central Adriatic species C. portenschlagiana but phylogenetically they are not the closest relatives.
Broader sampling of the Albanian populations previously attributed to (= C. garganica Ten. var. albanica
Markgr.), revealed the existence of a new hidden taxon based on ITS and cpDNA sequences, and
showed close morphological relationship to C. fenestrellata. Preliminary analysis of AFLP fingerprinting
was performed on 23 populations in order to obtain further insight into phylogenetic relationships
within the complex. The AFLP data clearly separated all investigated taxa revealing some new
lineages, and indicated the existence of six genetic groups. AFLP data shows hybridisation zones
between sympatric C. fenestrellata and C. istriaca in the Northern Adriatic region, as well as the close
relationship between C. garganica from Mt. Gargano (Italy) and C. teutana from Vis Island (Croatia)
Haplotype network detected 24 different haplotypes and supports recent diversification of taxa.
Obtained genetic structure of C. garganica complex indicate connections between Italian and Balkan
Peninsula in the past probably during Pleistocene fluctuations of the sea level. Southern populations
are connected to Albanian ones and further detailed phylogeographic analyses are needed to elucidate
possible connections, migrations and phylogenetic relationships between newly described Albanian
taxa to the rest of C. garganica complex.
37