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Revealing hidden species diversity in closely related species using nuclear SNPs, SSRs and DNA sequences – a case study in the tree genus Milicia

Species delimitation in closely related plant taxa can be challenging because (i) reproductive barriers are not always congruent with morphological differentiation, (ii) use of plastid sequences might lead to misinterpretation, (iii) rare species might not be sampled. We revisited molecular-based species delimitation in the African genus Milicia, currently divided into M. regia (West Africa) and M. excelsa (from West to East Africa). We used 435 samples collected in West, Central and East Africa. We genotyped SNP and SSR loci to identify genetic clusters, and sequenced two plastid
regions (psbA-trnH, trnC-ycf6) and a nuclear gene (At103) to confirm species’ divergence and compare species delimitation methods. We also examined whether ecological niche differentiation was congruent with sampled genetic structure

Details
  • Kasso Daïnou Céline Blanc-Jolivet Bernd Degen Priscilla Kimani Dyana Ndiade-Bourobou Armel S. L. Donkpegan Félicien Tosso Esra Kaymak Nils Bourland Jean-Louis Doucet Olivier J. Hardy
  • BMC Evolutionary Biology
  • 2016
  • https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-016-0831-9