Adil GÜNER, Vehbi ESER - optima

Posters
TAXONOMIC STUDIES IN THE ALYSSUM MONTANUM – A. REPENS
COMPLEX (BRASSICACEAE)
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Stanislav ŠPANIEL 1 , Judita LIHOVÁ 1 , Mincho E. ANCHEV 3 , Nicodemo G.
PASSALACQUA 4 , Karol MARHOLD 1,2
1 Slovak Academy of Sciences, Institute of Botany, Bratislava, Slovakia,
stanislav.spaniel@savba.sk, judita.lihova@savba.sk, karol.marhold@savba.sk
2 Charles University, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Botany, Praha, Czech Republic
3 Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Botany, Sofia, Bulgaria, botmanch@bio.bas.bg
4 Museo di Storia Naturale della Calabria ed Orto Botanico, Università della Calabria, Arcavacata di Rende (CS),
Italy, nicodemo@unical.it
The Alyssum montanum – A. repens complex is a taxonomically critical group of taxa
distributed in major part of Europe on calcareous, sandy and serpentine sites from the sea
level up to the high mountains. Its taxonomic treatment is still controversial, and little is
known about the evolutionary processes in this complex. Here we present the overall pattern
of cytotype distribution in the area of Central Europe, Apennine and Balkan Peninsulas, and
give first insights into the morphological and genetic variation of the complex.
Three ploidy levels have been found in altogether 175 studied populations, with only slight
geographic tendencies observed – diploids are widespread in the western Balkan, tetraploids
predominate in Central Europe, while hexaploids are rare and found scattered. First results of
multivariate morphometric analyses on Central European populations indicate that the
diploids and tetraploids cannot be distinguished morphologically. Recognition of two
subspecies traditionally based on habitat preferences, A. montanum subsp. montanum (rocky
sites) and subsp. gmelini (sandy sites), is neither supported, and the morphological characters
usually reported do not allow to distinguish between them. Morphological investigation of
Mediterranean populations is under progress. Ribosomal ITS sequences display substantial
variation, but provide little resolution of the group. Chloroplast DNA haplotypes indicate
distinct positions of some Balkan populations corresponding to e.g., A. wierzbickii (Romania),
A. reiseri (Bulgaria), A. densistellatum (Greece), A. scardicum (Serbia), and show high
diversity among the Apennine populations.
Keywords: Brassicaceae, DNA sequences, flow cytometry, multivariate morphometrics,
polyploidy
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