Karyotypic variation and pollen stainability in resynthesized allopolyploids Tragopogon miscellus and T. mirus

Abstract

© 2017 Botanical Society of America. PREMISE OF THE STUDY: Polyploidy has extensively shaped the evolution of plants, but the early stages of polyploidy are still poorly understood. The neoal-lopolyploid species Tragopogon mirus and T. miscellus are both characterized by widespread karyotypic variation, including frequent aneuploidy and in-tergenomic translocations. Our study illuminates the origins and early impacts of this variation by addressing two questions: How quickly does karyotypic variation accumulate in Tragopogon allopolyploids following whole-genome duplication (WGD), and how does the fertility of resynthesized Tragopogon allopolyploids evolve shortly after WGD? METHODS: We used genomic in situ hybridization and lactophenol-cotton blue staining to estimate the karyotypic variation and pollen stainability, respectively, of resynthesized T. mirus and T. miscellus during the first five generations after WGD. KEY RESULTS: Widespread karyotypic variation developed quickly in synthetics and resembled that of naturally occurring T. mirus and T. miscellus by generation S4. Pollen stainability in resynthesized allopolyploids was consistently lower than that of natural T. mirus and T. miscellus, as well as their respective diploid progenitor species. Logistic regression showed that mean pollen stainability increased slightly over four generations in resynthesized T. mirus but remained at equivalent levels in T. miscellus. CONCLUSIONS: Our results clarify some of the changes that occur in T. mirus and T. miscellus immediately following their origin, most notably the rapid onset of karyotypic variation within these species immediately following WGD.