Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Availability

Open Access Thesis

Keywords

Plant hybridization;

Abstract

Putative hybrids between Lysimachia guadriflora and L. hybrida were discovered in a marsh in Dickinson County in northwest Iowa. No previous reports of interspecific hybridization between these species were found in the literature. Ecological barriers usually separate the parental species; however, at this population, disturbances by grazing animals and yearly fluctuations in the water level allow them to exist sympatrically. The parental species have concurrent flowering periods, similar floral morphology and pigmentation, and are pollinated by non-specific pollinators. The disturbances also provide a wide range of microhabitats intermediate to those of the parents. Thus, hybridization has resulted because of the absence of external isolating mechanisms. The hybrids are morphologically intermediate to either parent. Two-dimensional paper chromatography of leaf flavonoids of the parental species showed a great number of compounds common to both species and a small number of species-specific compounds. The putative hybrids exhibited chromatograms with some species-specific compounds from both parents present, but there was no total complementation. No synthetic F1 individuals were available for chromatographic analysis. Reciprocal artificial crosses between L. guadriflora and L. hybrida produced seeds, but germination attempts were not successful. The pollen mother cells of the hybrids have irregularities at meiosis and reduced fertility. These internal barriers limit the amount of hybridization and backcrossing, thus allowing the parental species to maintain their identity. There is evidence that L. hybrida has been slightly introgressed by L. quadriflora, but there is little indication of gene flow from L. hybrida to L. quadriflora. The great similarities of L. guadriflora and L. hybrida in morphological characteristics and in leaf and flower flavonoid complements suggest close phylogenetic linkage between the two.

Year of Submission

1972

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Department of Biology

First Advisor

Lawrence Eilers

Second Advisor

Erwin Richter

Third Advisor

Daryl D. Smith

Comments

If you are the rightful copyright holder of this thesis and wish to have it removed from the Open Access Collection, please submit a request to scholarworks@uni.edu and include clear identification of the work, preferably with URL.

Date Original

1972

Object Description

1 PDF file (53 leaves)

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

Included in

Biology Commons

Share

COinS