Hybridization Among Species Of Veronica Subg. Pseudolysimachium In The Altai Detected By Srap Markers

Members of Veronica subg. Pseudolysimachium are widely known and cultivated for their large and dense ornamental inflorescences. Their success as cultivated plants stems in part to the cross-compatibility of members of the subgenus and in part to their wide ecological amplitude ranging from species growing in wetlands to those of semi-deserts. Due to large morphological variation and the presence of intermediate forms growing in sympatry of their putative parents, hybridization between the species is believed to be frequent. The Russian Altai is a center of diversity for the subgenus and many hybrid taxa have been described from there based on morphology. Here, we test these hybrid hypotheses using dominant SRAP markers. The method relies on primers anchored in open reading frames and amplifying intronic regions, which are scored as fragment length polymorphisms. Using seven primer pairs, we analyzed 63 loci without missing data. Our data support a close relationship of V. x grisea, V. x schmakovii and V. taigischensis with V. longifolia while the influence from the other suggested parents V. incana, V. porphyriana and V. pinnata was weak (at most). Similarly, V. x sessiliflora shows strong genetic similarity with V. porphyriana but only slight influence from V. pinnata. Overall, the methodology worked reliably and provided a large number of variable polymorphisms. The lack of support for the hybrid hypotheses may be due to the relatively low number of loci analysed and/or possible backcrossing with one of the parents.