Annals of Botany

Contrasting evolutionary patterns and historical hybridization of Anthosachne

February 24, 2017

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Polyploidization and apomixis contribute to taxonomic complexity in Anthosachne, a perennial genus native to Australia in the wheat tribe. Sha et al. performed a phylogenetic analysis to explore differentiation patterns of polyploidy amongst Australasian wheat relatives.

Scheme de monstrating the process of the colonization of Roegneria entity during the late Miocene, the speciation of Anthosachne polyploids during the Pliocene and subsequent range expansions within the A. australasica complex. — Scheme de monstrating the process of the colonization of *Roegneria* entity during the late Miocene, the speciation of *Anthosachne* polyploids during the Pliocene and subsequent range expansions within the *A. australasica* complex.

Chloroplast rbcL and trnH-psbA and nuclear Acc1 gene sequences of 60 Anthosachne taxa and 9 Roegneria species were analyzed with those of 33 diploid taxa representing 20 basic genomes in Triticeae. Anthosachne is shown to have originated as a result of historical hybridization between Australopyrum and Roegneria species. Greater diversity in island Anthosachne compared to continental Roegneria might correlate with genetic mutation, polyploidization, apomixes and expansion.