Identification of Conocephalum conicum and C. salebrosum (Hepaticophyta) based on DNA markers
Authors/Creators
- 1. Department of Botany and Nature Protection, Univeristy of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Plac Łódzki 1, 10-727 Olsztyn, Poland.
- 2. Department of Genetics, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Plac Łódzki 3, 10-967 Olsztyn, Poland.
Description
Conocephalum conicum (L.) Dumort. is one of the most common thallose liverworts in Poland. Enzymatic protein electrophoresis allowed to identify sibling species S and L within Conocephalum conicum at the end of the 1970s. Morphological and anatomi-cal analyses resulted in determining the features permitting the identification of the species S and L and enabled to describe the species S as Conocephalum salebrosum Szweykowski, Buczkowska & Odrzykoski. Despite long-term investigations, Conocephalum species have not been analyzed with DNA markers so far. The aim of the present study was to find spe-cies-specific DNA markers, and to determine the degree of genetic similarity by analyzing several types of markers based on the PCR reaction. The following markers were used: RAPD, ISJ and sequences of the bacterial katG gene. Each of the DNA marker categories revealed differences between Conocephalum conicum and C. salebrosum. The Nei’s genetic similarity coefficient calculated on the basis of the above DNA markers was 0.49 and confir-med the distinct taxonomic status of both species.