Microsatellite markers for the New Zealand endemic Myosotis pygmaea species group (Boraginaceae) amplify across species

Abstract

Premise of the study:Microsatellite loci were developed as polymorphic markers for the New Zealand endemic Myosotis pygmaea species group (Boraginaceae) for use in species delimitation and population and conservation genetic studies.Methods and Results:Illumina MiSeq sequencing was performed on genomic DNA from seedlings of M. drucei. From trimmed paired-end sequences >400 bp, 484 microsatellite loci were identified. Twelve of 48 microsatellite loci tested were found to be polymorphic and consistently scorable when screened on 53 individuals from four populations representing the geographic range of M. drucei. They also amplify in all other species in the M. pygmaea species group, i.e., M. antarctica, M. brevis, M. glauca, and M. pygmaea, as well as 18 other Myosotis species.Conclusions:These 12 polymorphic microsatellite markers establish an important resource for research and conservation of the M. pygmaea species group and potentially other Southern Hemisphere Myosotis.

Integrative, next-generation, collaborative vascular plant systematics in New Zealand

“…A novel aspect of this research is that morphological data from both herbarium specimens and live plants were compared. In addition to developing novel microsatellite DNA markers from next-generation sequencing data (Prebble et al 2015), over 500 pygmy forget-me-nots were genotyped, and this data was analysed alone and in parallel with morphological and ecological niche modelling data using integrative statistical methods (Edwards & Knowles 2014). In the last chapter of the thesis, a taxonomic revision is proposed based on all available data.…”

Taxonomic revision of the southern hemisphere pygmy forget-me-not group (Myosotis; Boraginaceae) based on morphological, population genetic and climate-edaphic niche modelling data

“…Previously, microsatellite markers were developed for the pygmy forget-me-not group (Prebble et al 2015) and 497 individuals were genotyped at 12 loci (Prebble et al 2019). Population genetic metrics were calculated for individual populations in that paper.…”

“…The southern hemisphere species of Myosotis L. (Boraginaceae) are an example of a recent and rapid species radiation in need of taxonomic revision (Winkworth et al 2002;Meudt et al 2015), and work is ongoing to that end (Lehnebach 2012a(Lehnebach , 2012bMeudt et al 2013Meudt et al , 2020Prebble et al 2015Prebble et al , 2018Prebble et al , 2019Meudt 2016Meudt , 2021Meudt and Prebble 2018). It can be challenging to determine species boundaries in such recent and rapid radiations, but delimiting species after analysing multiple sources of data, as per the general lineage concept (de Queiroz 2007), has recently been undertaken with success for several groups of southern hemisphere Myosotis (e.g.…”

“…The main aim of this paper is to undertake a taxonomic revision of the pygmy species group (often called the Myosotis pygmaea Colenso species group in previous studies; Prebble et al 2015Prebble et al , 2018Prebble et al , 2019, by synthesising evidence from morphological data (Prebble et al 2018), molecular data (Prebble et al 2019), and climate-edaphic niche modelling data (this paper). The pygmy species group includes small, self-pollinating, herbaceous plants with petiolate obovate rosette leaves, and decumbent inflorescences with many flowers, each being associated with a cauline leaf.…”

“…With the goal of delimiting species within the pygmy forget-me-not group, morphological data (Prebble et al 2018) and population genetic data from microsatellite markers (Prebble et al 2015(Prebble et al , 2019 have both been analysed. The morphological data recovered four morph-groups that corresponded to Myosotis brevis, M. pygmaea, M. glauca and M. antarctica + M. drucei.…”