The 5S DNA sequences in Hordeum bogdanii and in the H. brevisubulatum complex, and the evolution and the geographic dispersal of the diploid Hordeum species (Triticeae: Poaceae).

The molecular diversity of 5S rDNA from the closely related Asiatic diploid species, Hordeum bogdanii and the H. brevisubulatum complex has been catalogued and analysed. As in previous studies in Hordeum, we found that the sequences are constrained in such an manner that unit classes can be defined. The long H1 unit class, known to occur in all Eurasian species, was frequently found in these 2 taxa. In addition, we identified a new unit class, called the short H3 to reflect the H genome found in these 2 taxa. Although the 2 taxa are very close morphologically, the variation in the long H1 DNA units is constrained to such a great degree that, in many cases, the accessions in a unit class from a single species are clustered. In H. bogdanii, the majority of the sequences are grouped in this manner, whereas in the H. brevisubulatum complex, the tendency to be constrained is lower in some but not all subspecies. These results support keeping H. brevisubulatum ssp. violaceum and ssp. iranicum as 1 species with the long H1 and short H1 unit classes, while retaining ssp. nevskianum and ssp. turkestanicum in the H. brevisubulatum complex. We have summarized our work on the presence/absence of the 10 unit classes found in all diploid species of Hordeum. A phylogenetic analysis, based strictly on the presence/absence of unit classes, indicated clearly that all the South American diploids and all the North American diploids possess long H2 and long Y2 unit classes and, except for H. californicum and H. pusillum, which contain long H1 in addition to the long H2 and long Y2 classes, are devoid of the long H1 unit class. This suggests that the gene gain/loss process from a common ancestor has been concomitant with intercontinental dispersal between the Old and the New Worlds.