ABSTRACT

Introduction.

Initial morphometric investigations into the differences between Leucobryum glaucum (Hedw.) Ångstr. and L. juniperoideum (Brid.) Müll.Hal. in Britain showed that some populations could not be clearly assigned to either species. An intensive morphological and molecular study was therefore undertaken to understand the diagnostic characters of the European species of the genus, including L. albidum (Brid. ex P.Beauv.) Lindb., whose reported presence in Europe was surrounded by uncertainty. There has been little agreement among previous authors on the relative taxonomic importance of the different morphological characters, or on their metrics.

Methods.

Molecular sequencing using nuclear and chloroplast markers, in conjunction with previously accessioned data, allowed judgement of the taxonomic importance of various methods for morphological discrimination. These methods included both existing published techniques and newly discovered diagnostic characters. This integrated process was cyclical, the morphological analysis being directed and confirmed by the sequencing of selected specimens.

Results and discussion.

Data are presented demonstrating the correlation between molecular identification and certain morphological characters in the three European species of Leucobryum. Leucobryum albidum is confirmed as a locally frequent member of the British flora and it is also shown to be present in Ireland and western part of continental Europe. Leucocyst pore morphology is described and its value as a diagnostic character is discussed. An identification key is provided for the three species. Plants from two sites are shown to have a discordance between nuclear and plastid molecular markers and we consider the possibility that horizontal gene transfer could explain the observed patterns.

中文翻译：

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英国和欧洲 Leucobryum 的分子和形态学研究：L. albidum (P.Beauv.) Lindb 的存在。确认的

摘要

介绍。

对Leucobryum glaucum (Hedw.) Ångstr . 之间差异的初步形态学调查。和L. juniperoideum (Brid.) Müll.Hal。英国的研究表明，一些种群无法明确归入任何一个物种。因此，进行了深入的形态学和分子研究，以了解该属欧洲物种的诊断特征，包括L. albidum (Brid. ex P.Beauv.) Lindb.，据报道其在欧洲的存在被不确定性所包围。以前的作者对不同形态特征的相对分类学重要性或其度量标准几乎没有达成一致。

方法。

使用核和叶绿体标记的分子测序，结合先前加入的数据，可以判断各种形态学区分方法的分类学重要性。这些方法包括现有已发表的技术和新发现的诊断特征。这个综合过程是循环的，形态学分析由所选标本的测序指导和确认。

结果与讨论。

所提供的数据证明了三种欧洲Leucobryum物种的分子鉴定与某些形态特征之间的相关性。Leucobryum albidum已被确认为英国植物群的当地常见成员，并且它也被证明存在于爱尔兰和欧洲大陆的西部地区。描述了白细胞孔形态，并讨论了其作为诊断特征的价值。为这三个物种提供了识别码。来自两个地点的植物被证明在核分子标记和质体分子标记之间存在不一致，我们认为水平基因转移可以解释观察到的模式的可能性。