Dianthus broteri shows the highest diversity of cytotypes known to date in the genus Dianthus. Moreover, some cytotypes present remarkable internal genome size variation. The evolution of the complex is discussed in terms of autopolyploidy, with primary and secondary contact zones.

Summary• Chromosomal duplications and increases in DNA amount have the potential to alter quantitative plant traits like flower number, plant stature or stomata size. This has been documented often across species, but information on whether such effects also occur within species (i.e. at the microevolutionary or population scale) is scarce.• We studied trait covariation associated with polyploidy and genome size (both monoploid and total) in 22 populations of Dianthus broteri s.l., a perennial herb with several cytotypes (2x, 4x, 6x and 12x) that do not coexist spatially. Principal component scores of organ size ⁄ number variations were assessed as correlates of polyploidy, and phylogenetic relatedness among populations was controlled using phylogenetic generalized least squares.• Polyploidy covaried with organ dimensions, causing multivariate characters to increase, remain unchanged, or decrease with DNA amount. Variations in monoploid DNA amount had detectable consequences on some phenotypic traits. According to the analyses, some traits would experience phenotypic selection, while others would not.• We show that polyploidy contributes to decouple variation among traits in D. broteri, and hypothesize that polyploids may experience an evolutionary advantage in this plant lineage, for example, if it helps to overcome the constraints imposed by trait integration.

Summary• The micro-evolutionary mechanisms that drive large-scale radiations are not completely understood, partly because of a shortage of population-level studies aimed at identifying putative causes of rapid evolutionary change. The Dianthus broteri complex, representing the largest polyploid series known to date for any species in the genus (2·, 4·, 6· and 12· cytotypes), belongs to a lineage that was recently found to have diversified at unusually rapid rates.• We used a combination of genome sequencing (internal transcribed spacer (ITS), plus chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) regions trnH-psbA, psbA-trnK and trnKmatK) and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) fingerprinting in 25 populations to infer the evolutionary history of extant polyploid races.• The haplotype, ribotype and AFLP reconstructions showed a star-shaped arrangement suggesting a pattern of radiative evolution. The major, widespread haplotype occurred at all ploidy levels, whereas 20 minor haplotypes were restricted to single populations and cytotypes. In addition, AFLP analyses retrieved well-supported cytogeographic groups: six clades were clearly differentiated in terms of ploidy level and geography. Molecular data indicate that gene flow among different cytotypes is rare or nonexistent.• Our study supports a scenario of rapid diversification in carnations in which autopolyploidy and allopolyploidy, in interaction with geography and ⁄ or isolation, have played prominent roles.

Summary Niche evolution in plant polyploids remains controversial and evidence for alternative patterns has been reported. Using the autopolyploid Dianthus broteri complex (2×, 4×, 6× and 12×) as a model, we aimed to integrate three scenarios – competitive exclusion, recurrent origins of cytotypes and niche filling – into a single framework of polyploid niche evolution. We hypothesized that high polyploids would tend to evolve towards extreme niches when low ploidy cytotypes have nearly filled the niche space. We used several ecoinformatics and phylogenetic comparative analyses to quantify differences in the ecological niche of each cytotype and to evaluate alternative models of niche evolution. Each cytotype in this complex occupied a distinct ecological niche. The distributions were mainly constrained by soil characteristics, temperature and drought stress imposed by the Mediterranean climate. Tetraploids had the highest niche breadth and overlap due to their multiple origins, whereas the higher ploidy cytotypes were found in different, restricted, nonoverlapping niches. Niche evolution analyses suggested a scenario with one niche optimum for each ploidy, including the two independent tetraploid lineages. Our results suggest that the fate of nascent polyploids could not be predicted without accounting for phylogenetic relatedness, recurrent origins or the niche occupied by ancestors.

We studied the relationships between self-incompatibility mechanisms and floral parameters in the genus Hypochaeris L. sect. Hypochaeris (consisting of H. glabra, H. radicata, H. arachnoidea, and H. salzmanniana). We assessed at intra- and interspecific levels (1) the self-incompatibility (SI) mechanism and its distribution among populations, (2) the relationship between SI and floral parameters, and (3) the relationship of SI to reproductive success. Hypochaeris salzmanniana is semi-incompatible, H. glabra is self-compatible, and H. arachnoidea and H. radicata are self-incompatible. Floral parameters differed among populations of H. salzmanniana: plants in self-compatible populations had fewer flowers per head, a smaller head diameter on the flower, and a shorter period of anthesis than self-incompatible populations. We also detected this pattern within a semi-compatible population of H. salzmanniana, and these differences were also found between species with different breeding mechanisms. Fruit to flower ratio in natural populations was generally high (>60%) in all species, regardless of breeding system. It is hypothesized that self-compatibility may have arisen through loss of allelic diversity at the S locus due to bottleneck events and genetic drift.