Phylogenetic implications of nuclear rRNA IGS variation in Stipa L. (Poaceae)

The article takes up the problem of deficiency of molecular marker, which could illustrate molecular variability as well as phylogenetic relation within the genus of Stipa L. (Poaceae). Researches made so far hadn't delivered sufficient information about relationships between particular taxa from the genus of Stipa. In the present study, we analyzed variability and phylogenetic informativeness of nuclear ribosomal DNA in six species from the genus against five other species from Poaceae including a division of this region into functional elements and domains. Our results showed that the intergenic spacer region, and especially its part adjacent to 26 S nrDNA, is a molecular marker giving a real chance for a phylogeny reconstruction of Stipa. The region seems to be the most phylogenetically informative for Stipa from all the chloroplast and nuclear markers tested so far. Comparative analysis of nrDNA repeat units from Stipa to other representatives of Poaceae showed that their structure does not deviate from the general scheme. However, the rate of evolution within the inter-repeats in the IGS region is extremely high and therefore it predestines the region for phylogenetic analyses of Stipa at genus level or in shallower taxonomic scale.