Melo 2016 (Dissertation) Dyckia

Filogeografia de espécies de Dyckia endêmicas de uma região do centro-oeste brasileiro

Author(s):—C.A. Melo

Publication:—UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DO RIO GRANDE DO SUL (2016).

Abstract:—Bromeliaceae family harbors species of epiphytic, saxicol or land plants, which are distributed from the southern of United States to Patagonia, comprising 58 genera with about 3140 species. It is one of the most diverse ecological and morphologically families that arose in the Guiana Shield about 100 milion years ago (Ma), and spread to other regions of the tropical and subtropical Americas around 15 to 10 Ma. Dyckia genus has about 160 species, many of these rare and endemic. This genus is characterized by the absence of a "tank" that accumulates water, enabling these species to inhabit environments with extreme drought conditions, such as ―the dry diagonal‖ in the center of South America. The state of Mato Grosso do Sul, located on dry diagonal, comprises four biomes (Cerrado, Pantanal, Chaco and Atlantic Forest), being one interesting area for phylogeographic studies. This dissertation is composed by one manuscript that seeks to understand the genetic diversity and evolutionary history of five restricted and endemic species from Dyckia genus in a region comprising different biomes, compared with a wide distributed congener. In Chapter II, through a phylogeographic approach, using two plastid markers (cpDNA) and one nuclear (nuDNA), we estimated the genetic diversity within and among Dyckia grandidentata, D. pottiorum, D. divaricata, D. excelsa and D. exserta (restricted species endemic to the Cerrado and the Pantanal / Chaco), comparing with a congener with wide distribution (D. leptostachya). The results from cpDNA showed that restricted distributed species had low intra-populational genetic diversity in comparison with the species widely distributed. However, the diversity presented by the widely distributed species was not considered high, since only four populations showed genetic variation. Considering the total diversity, the restricted distribution species ranged from zero to 0,7355 (h) and 0,000988 (π) , and when compared with widespread species showed minor diversity. The exception was Dyckia excelsa that showed high diversity, fact that could be related with its self incompatibility. The results obtained from nuDNA showed a slightly structured network and a high genetic diversity compared to cpDNA, which may be probably due to high recombination rates, the high dispersion via pollen or the retention of ancestor polymorphism. Also, the cpDNA results showed a low haplotype sharing and high structure, and shared haplotype between D. grandidentata, D. pottiorum and D. divaricata (H1, H3) and populations of D. leptostachya (H5) may be consequence of retention of ancestral polymorphism. The genetic relationship presented by cpDNA haplotype network reveals three haplogroups, one formed by widespread species, and the others by species that occur in Cerrado and in Pantanal / Chaco, indicating that biogeographic history of these biomes may have influenced speciation of this group of species. Serra de Maracaju and the differences in landscape elevation between Cerrado and Pantanal lowland was proposed as the main geographical barrier that generated the high structure between the haplogroups formed by species from Cerrado and Pantanal/Chaco. Thus, the preservation of biomes is imperative for the conservation of Dyckia species, ensuring the maintenance of that exclusive diversity encountered in these populations.

Pages: 32