Sierra Dawn Stoneberg Holt

Indel patterns of the plastid DNA trnL–trnF region within the genus Poa (Poaceae)

The use of insertion/deletion (indel) patterns from sequences of the trnL intron and trnL–F intergenic spacer (IGS) in finding plastid genome types of the genus Poa L. was studied. New sequences for 23 taxa (P. alpina, P. badensis, P. bulbosa, P. crassipes, P. molinerii, P. annua, P. chaixii, P. granitica, P. pratensis, P. sibirica, P. remota, P. botryoides, P. cenisia, P. compressa, P. laxa, P. margilicola, P. media, P. nemoralis, P. palustris, P. pannonica, P. pirinica, P. riphaea, and P. sejuncta) and 18 previously published sequences, which represent 11 of the 13 sections listed for Poa in Flora Europaea, were investigated. Collections were made primarily in central Europe. Indel patterns, despite sampling less than 0.7% of the plastid genome, produced four taxa groupings that were congruent with the major divisions obtained in intensive, previously published restriction-site studies. Insertion/deletion events in the trnL intron and trnL–trnF IGS were in nearly all cases unique to a single pattern group and thus provided almost no information about relationships among these groups. Indels did, however, provide a meaningful infrageneric classification criterion for Poa. They can serve as useful tools in studying relationships within this genus.

CYTOGEOGRAPHICAL SURVEY OF ELEOCHARIS SUBSER. ELEOCHARIS IN EUROPE 1: ELEOCHARIS PALUSTRIS

Chromosome numbers forEleocharis palustris subsp.palustris (based on 70 samples from Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Sweden) andEleocharis palustris subsp.vulgaris (based on 74 samples from Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Sweden) are given. Also the chromosome number estimates based on relative DNA contents of plants from 8 localitiesE. palustris subsp.palustris from Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Israel, and Slovenia, and from 18 localities ofE. palustris subsp.vulgaris from the Czech Republic, Germany and Sweden are included. InE. palustris subsp.palustris, 2n=16 prevailed, the mixoploid 2n=15, 16 was rare and a lone hypoploid 2n=15 was detected. InE. palustris subsp.vulgaris 2n=38 was most frequently detected, the hyperploid 2n=39 and mixoploid 2n=38, 39 were common, and the hypoploid 2n=36 and mixoploids in which 2n ranges from 36 to 42 were rarer. Distribution maps based on plants investigated either by chromosome counting or by flow cytometry, augmented by similar data from published sources are given for both subspecies in Europe.

Experimental design in intraspecific organelle DNA sequence studies III: statistical measures of sampling success

Statistical methods are proposed for analyzing the experimental design, preliminary results, and final results of phylogenetic studies of organelle DNA sequence at low taxonomic levels. Such studies require sampling numerous individuals, many of which share identical haplotypes. The proportions of the haplotypes sampled can help answer the following questions: (1) Is one haplotype so dominant that the particular DNA region is without meaningful variation within the scope of the study? (2) Were all prevalent haplotypes found? (3) What are the proportions of each haplotype within the studied group? (4) What percentage of the studied group can be confidently asserted to belong to the haplotypes that were found? Examples are given in which the statistics techniques are applied to data drawn from the botanical literature. Tables are included as a quick reference for the researcher who wishes to circumvent calculation. A Microsoft Excel 2000 spreadsheet (titled HaploPro.xls) for performing some of the more complicated calculations is offered online. Finally, the limitations of these methods and their applicability to nuclear DNA and other characters studies are discussed.