Integration of genomic phylogeography, morphological variation and
climatic niche reveal speciation mechanisms across southern Andean
lilies (Phycella, Hippeastreae, Amaryllidaceae)
Abstract
Phycella (Amaryllidaceae) is a clade of lilies endemic to the
Mediterranean-type ecosystem of Chile. To approach the evolutionary
history of Phycella, we sampled a total of 137 individuals from 47
populations, including all described taxa throughout the geographic
range of the group, and sampled 893 nuclear genes (1135 exons) through
hybrid capture. These data largely resolved the phylogeny of Phycella
with high support and demonstrated substantial phylogenetic resolution
at the population level. Near-complete plastomes were extracted from raw
reads and assembled for all samples to compare with the nuclear
framework and examine complex evolutionary processes. Using phylogenetic
network and modeling approaches, we identified major cytonuclear
discord, attributable to proximity-based gene flow among recently
diverged species through the speciation process, largely involving
cytoplasmic DNA. Analyses of niche overlap among species and nuclear
clades suggest that the diversification of Phycella was associated with
niche divergence, supporting a predominantly geographic mode of
speciation in the group, likely driven by the mountainous landscape
characteristic of diversity and endemism center of this clade in central
Chile. The combination of high-resolution molecular data Finally, we
present a major integrative taxonomic proposal that divides Phycella
into 18 species on the basis of molecular, morphological, and ecological
data. Overall, our findings highlight the value of strong sampling of
both populations/individuals and genetic loci for speciation studies,
which in combination with morphological and ecological data was key to
identifying both evolutionary processes and a confident taxonomic
framework for contextualizing these processes.