trnL intron variation in New Zealand taxa of the Asplenium obtusatum Chloroplast Group: Tuhinga 15

Tuhinga 15: 1 - 5

ABSTRACT: Previous attempts to distinguish the tetraploid ferns Asplenium oblongifolium and A. obtusatum subsp. obtusatum with chloroplast DNA sequence data have been unsuccessful, although they have implicated one or other of these taxa as the chloroplast parents of the putative allopolyploids A. lyallii and A. scleroprium. Here we report new chloroplast DNA sequence data from the trnL intron, which are able to distinguish genetically the samples of A. oblongifolium and A. obtusatum subsp. obtusatum investigated. However, these data are insufficient to resolve which of the tetraploids were involved in the allopolyploid events producing A. lyallii and A. scleroprium.

KEYWORDS: Asplenium, A. obtusatum, A. oblongifolium, A. lyallii, A. scleroprium, New Zealand, chloroplast, DNA sequence, trnL intron, allopolyploidy.