Molecular data provide strong evidence of natural hybridization between native and introduced lineages of Phragmites australis in North America

Abstract

Hybridization, both within and between taxa, can be an important evolutionary stimulus for bioinvasions. Novel intra-taxon hybridizations may arise either between formerly allopatric introduced lineages, or between native and introduced lineages.

Long‐distance dispersal and high genetic diversity are implicated in the invasive spread of the common reed, Phragmites australis (Poaceae), in northeastern North America

“…Vegetative spread is isolation. The latter case seems unlikely since even the two subspecies Phragmites a. australis and P. a. americanus are not completely reproductively isolated from one another ( Paul et al, 2010 ). It is most likely that patterns of genetic structure observed in this study can be explained by long distance dispersal of multiple P. a. australis lineages throughout the region studied here, which provides some evidence that the invasion process is ongoing, and the potential for admixture among different lineages is substantial.…”

“…Data from six of these loci were used to identify incidences of hybridization between native and nonnative genotypes in a previous study, although no inferences about population genetics were made in that study ( Paul et al, 2010 ). Amplifi cations were performed as two multiplexes and four singleplex reactions, each in a total volume of 10 μ l. Multiplex reactions included 1.5 mM MgCl 2 , 0.4 μ M of each primer, 200 uM dNTPs, 1.5U taq (TopTaq, Qiagen Inc.-USA, Valencia, California, USA), and approximately 10ng DNA.…”

Trade-Offs Among Ecosystem Services and Disservices on a Florida Ranch

“…and the African P. mauritianus Kunth. The possibility for contemporary hybridization between Phragmites types appears possible as well (Meyerson et al 2010;Paul et al 2010). Although we are not aware of any specific examples of natural hybridization of forage grasses leading to invasiveness, it certainly seems possible considering the repeated introductions from multiple source populations that characterizes the introduction history of many species.…”

Heteroplasmy due to chloroplast paternal leakage: another insight into Phragmites haplotypic diversity in North America

“…Introduced P. australis haplotype M can interbreed with native P. australis ssp. americanus (Paul et al 2010;Saltonstall et al 2014;Wu et al 2015;Saltonstall et al 2016) and hybrids are relatively easy to obtain by hand-crossing (Meyerson et al 2010). Evidence of hybridization comes also from more distantly related taxa, i.e.…”