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Refining and defining the genus Psammopyrum (Triticeae, Poaceae): taxonomic evaluation of Ps. fontqueri with implications for the validity of the genus

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Abstract

Psammopyrum is a small genus of Triticeae (Poaceae) whose taxonomic validity, circumscription, and infra-generic classification remain unclear. In this study, we evaluate the taxonomic status of Ps. fontqueri, the species on which the cytogenetic boundaries of the genus were established. We have analysed its genomic composition by in situ hybridization and compare its lodicule morphology, leaf anatomy, and macro-morphology with those of the remaining species of Psammopyrum represented in the Iberian Peninsula. In addition, for comparative purposes, we consulted lectotypes and materials relevant for the typification of the names of the taxa involved. The in situ hybridization results indicated that Ps. fontqueri has a genomic composition quite similar to that proposed by other authors for Ps. pungens. Although no significant differences relative to lodicule morphology and leaf anatomy were detected among the taxa studied, they clearly differ from the representative species of Elymus s.s., Pauneroa, and Thinopyrum present in the study area. These findings support the contention that Ps. fontqueri has little taxonomic value, either cytogenetically or morphologically, and should be considered a synonym of Ps. pungens subsp. campestre. Since the taxonomic validity of the genus is still far from being established, further investigations are needed regarding its nomenclature, taxonomy, morphology, and cytogenetics, combined with thorough phylogenetic studies.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr. Björn Salomon (Swedish Agricultural University, Alnarp, Sweden) for kindly providing the samples used in the GISH probes; Dr. Tidarat Puangpairote (Mahidol University, Thailand) for the technical support in the cytogenetic experiments; Dr. Consuelo Cebolla Lozano (Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain) for the technical assistance and recommendations on leaf anatomy; Francisco Javier Hernández García, curator of Herbarium of the University of Salamanca (Salamanca, Spain) for loans of plant materials analysed; Dr. Sara Barrios, Dr. Santiago Andrés-Sánchez, Noemí López-González, Pablo Marcos and Daniel Pinto (University of Salamanca, Spain) for their help with the fieldwork; and finally, we are also thankful to the editors and the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments on the manuscript. This work has been partially financed by the Spanish Government (Secretaría de Estado de I + D+i, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad) through the research projects CGL2008-02982-C03-02, CGL2011-28613-C03-03, and CGL2014-52787-C3-2-P. The first author was supported by the research Grants BES-2009-012226, EEBB-I-2012-05778, and EEBB-I-13-07757 financed also by the Spanish Government.

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Correspondence to Víctor Lucía.

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Handling Editor: Christian Parisod.

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Online Resource 1. Herbarium specimens used for cytogenetic experiments, lodicule morphology, and leaf anatomy analyses.

Online Resource 2. Comparison of the length of chromosomes shown in Figs. 1a and 2 versus those of Figs. 3 and 4.

Online Resource 3. GISH experiments on mitotic metaphases of Psammopyrum fontqueri.

Online Resource 4. GISH re-probing after FISH experiment on mitotic metaphase of Psammopyrum fontqueri.

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Lucía, V., Anamthawat-Jónsson, K., Martínez-Ortega, M.M. et al. Refining and defining the genus Psammopyrum (Triticeae, Poaceae): taxonomic evaluation of Ps. fontqueri with implications for the validity of the genus. Plant Syst Evol 306, 32 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-020-01664-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-020-01664-w

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