AFLP‐based differentiation in north Atlantic species of Carex sect. Phacocystis

• Published in: Nordic Journal of Botany
• Main Authors: Nakamatte, Esther, Arnstein Lye, Kåre
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2007
• Subjects: Canada; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.0107-055x.2007.00116.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.0107-055X.2007.00116.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.0107-055X.2007.00116.x

A total of 59 plants from 30 populations of 15 species of Carex sect. Phacocystis (including Carex bicolor as outgroup) from eastern Canada and northern Europe were investigated for genetic differentiation of taxa using AFLP. Seven species were studied with material from both Europe and America, three species were investigated with North American material only and five species with European material only. The neighbour joining analysis (NJ) indicates that Carex bicolor may not belong to section Phacocystis , while all other investigated species clearly belong to this section. The sorting of the species according to NJ and UPGMA is mostly in accordance with accepted taxonomy, but with the exceptions that the American C. bigelowii ssp. bigelowii may be specifically distinct from European C. bigelowii ssp. rigida , and C. stans should perhaps not be considered a subspecies or variety of C. aquatilis , but either as a separate species or as a hybrid between C. aquatilis and C. bigelowii . North American C. aquatilis is heterogenic and may contain more than one species.