Phytochemical Characterisation of Species: Unveiling Flavonoid Profiles Related to Ploidy and Hybrid Origin.

The genetic, morphological and taxonomic diversity of the genus is due to homoploid and polyploid hybridisation, autopolyploidy and apomixis, which also influence the production and diversity of secondary metabolites, especially flavonoids. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships and variations of flavonoids in terms of hybrid origin and ploidy level between the parental species and their hybrid derivatives. The sampling design included leaf material of the following accessions from ten natural localities: parental taxa (di-, tri- and tetraploids of ; diploid and ) and their di-, tri- and tetraploid hybrid derivatives from crosses of × (subg.

Apomictic Mountain Whitebeam (, Rosaceae) Comprises Several Genetically and Morphologically Divergent Lineages.

The interplay of polyploidisation, hybridization, and apomixis contributed to the exceptional diversity of (Rosaceae), giving rise to a mosaic of genetic and morphological entities. The species complex from the mountains of Central and South-eastern Europe represents an allopolyploid apomictic system of populations that originated following hybridisation between and . However, the mode and frequency of such allopolyploidisations and the relationships among different, morphologically more or less similar populations that have often been described as different taxa remain largely unexplored.

Genome Size, Cytotype Diversity and Reproductive Mode Variation of (Rosaceae) from the Balkans.

represents a multiploid and facultative apomictic system of widely distributed mountain populations. We used flow cytometry to determine genome size, ploidy level, and reproduction mode variation of the Balkan populations, supplemented by analysis of nuclear microsatellites in order to address: (i) geographic distribution and variation of cytotypes among the populations; (ii) variation of reproduction mode and the frequency of sexuality; (iii) pathways of endosperm formation among the sampled polyploids and their endosperm balance requirements; (iv) genotypic diversity and geographic distribution of clonal lineages of polyploids. The prevalence of apomictic tetraploid cytotype followed by sexual diploids and extremely rare triploids was demonstrated.