BACKGROUND: Hedera (ivies) is one of the few temperate genera of the primarily tropical Asian Palmate group of the Araliaceae, which extends its range out of Asia to Europe and the Mediterranean basin. Phylogenetic and phylogeographic results suggested Asia as the center of origin and the western Mediterranean region as one of the secondary centers of diversification. The bird-dispersed fleshy fruits of ivies suggest frequent dispersal over long distances (e.g. Macaronesian archipelagos), although reducing the impact of geographic barriers to gene flow in mainland species. Genetic isolation associated with geographic barriers and independent polyploidization events have been postulated as the main driving forces of diversification. In this study we aim to evaluate past and present diversification patterns in Hedera within a geographic and temporal framework to clarify the biogeographic history of the genus. RESULTS: Phylogenetic (biogeographic, time divergence and diversification) and phylogeographic (coalescence) analyses using four DNA regions (nrITS, trnH-psbA, trnT-trnL, rpl32) revealed a complex spatial pattern of lineage divergence. Scarce geographic limitation to gene flow and limited diversification are observed during the early-mid Miocene, followed by a diversification rate increase related to geographic divergence from the Tortonian/Messinian. Genetic and palaeobotanical evidence points the origin of the Hedera clade in Asia, followed by a gradual E-W Asian extinction and the progressive E-W Mediterranean colonization. The temporal framework for the E Asia - W Mediterranean westward colonization herein reported is congruent with the fossil record. Subsequent range expansion in Europe and back colonization to Asia is also inferred. Uneven diversification among geographic areas occurred from the Tortonian/Messinian onwards with limited diversification in the newly colonized European and Asian regions. Eastern and western Mediterranean regions acted as refugia for Miocene and post-Miocene lineages, with a similar role as consecutive centers of centrifugal dispersal (including islands) and speciation. CONCLUSIONS: The Miocene Asian extinction and European survival of Hedera question the general pattern of Tertiary regional extinction of temperate angiosperms in Europe while they survived in Asia. The Tortonian/Messinian diversification increase of ivies in the Mediterranean challenges the idea that this aridity period was responsible for the extinction of the Mediterranean subtropical Tertiary flora. Differential responses of Hedera to geographic barriers throughout its evolutionary history, linked to spatial isolation related to historical geologic and climatic constraints may have shaped diversification of ivies in concert with recurrent polyploidy.

• MeSH
• biologická evoluce MeSH
• břečťan klasifikace   genetika   MeSH
• ekosystém MeSH
• fylogeneze MeSH
• fylogeografie MeSH
• polyploidie MeSH
• vznik druhů (genetika) MeSH
• zkameněliny MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Asie MeSH
• Evropa MeSH

Genetic patterns of lichenized fungi often display a mosaic-like and difficult to interpret structure blurring their evolutionary history. The genetic diversity and phylogeographic pattern of a mycobiont of the predominantly Mediterranean dwelling lichen Solenopsora candicans were investigated on the base of extensive sampling (361 individuals, 77 populations) across its entire distribution range. We tested whether the genetic pattern of S. candicans mirrors paleoclimatic and paleogeological events in the Mediterranean and adjacent regions. The divergence time estimates indicated a Tertiary origin for S. candicans, with formation of intraspecific diversity initiated in the Late Miocene. The distribution of the most divergent haplotypes, mostly of a pre-Pleistocene origin, was restricted to the eastern or western extremities of the Mediterranean exhibiting Kiermack disjunction. The population genetic diversity analyses indicated multiple diversity centres and refugia for S. candicans across the entire Mediterranean Basin. While the south Mediterranean regions harboured both the Tertiary and Quaternary born diversity, conforming to the 'cumulative refugia' paradigm, the Apennine and Balkan Peninsulas in the north hosted mostly younger Pleistocene haplotypes and lineages. The recent population expansion of S. candicans might have occurred in the middle Pleistocene with a population burst in the Apennine and Balkan peninsulas. The presence of unique haplotypes in Central Europe indicates the existence of extra-Mediterranean microrefugia. This study presents the first comprehensive lichen phylogeography from the Mediterranean region and simultaneously reports for the first time the glacial survival of a warm-adapted lichen in the temperate zone.

• MeSH
• biologická evoluce MeSH
• časové faktory MeSH
• demografie MeSH
• fylogeneze MeSH
• fylogeografie MeSH
• genetická variace * MeSH
• haplotypy MeSH
• lišejníky klasifikace   genetika   MeSH
• refugium MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Balkánský poloostrov MeSH
• Středomoří MeSH

Four species of legless anguid lizard genus Anguis have been currently recognized: A. fragilis from western and central Europe, A. colchica from eastern Europe and western Asia, A. graeca from southern Balkans, and A. cephallonica from the Peloponnese. Slow worms from the Italian Peninsula have been considered conspecific with A. fragilis, despite the fact that the region served as an important speciation center for European flora and fauna, and included some Pleistocene glacial refugia. We used mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences to investigate the systematic and phylogenetic position of the Italian slow-worm populations and morphological analyses to test for phenotypic differentiation from A. fragilis from other parts of Europe. Our phylogenetic analyses revealed that Italian slow worms form a distinct deeply differentiated mtDNA clade, which presumably diverged during or shortly after the basal radiation within the genus Anguis. In addition, the specimens assigned to this clade bear distinct haplotypes in nuclear PRLR gene and show morphological differentiation from A. fragilis. Based on the differentiation in all three independent markers, we propose to assign the Italian clade species level under the name Anguis veronensisPollini, 1818. The newly recognized species is distributed throughout the Italian Peninsula to the Southern Alps and south-eastern France. We hypothesize that the Tertiary Alpine orogeny with subsequent vicariance might have played a role in differentiation of this species. The current genetic variability was later presumably shaped in multiple glacial refugia within the Italian Peninsula, with the first splitting event separating populations from the region of the Dolomite Mountains.

• MeSH
• Bayesova věta MeSH
• biologická evoluce * MeSH
• buněčné jádro genetika   MeSH
• fylogeneze * MeSH
• genetická variace MeSH
• haplotypy MeSH
• ještěři anatomie a histologie   klasifikace   genetika   MeSH
• mitochondriální DNA genetika   MeSH
• pravděpodobnostní funkce MeSH
• sekvenční analýza DNA MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Itálie MeSH