Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Nov 7;11(21):3006.
doi: 10.3390/plants11213006.

A Morphometric and Karyological Study of the Anthemis macedonica Group (Asteraceae, Anthemideae) Reveals a New Species from Greece

Katerina Goula  1 , Konstantinos Touloumis  2 , Panayotis Dimopoulos  3 , Theophanis Constantinidis  1
Affiliations

A Morphometric and Karyological Study of the Anthemis macedonica Group (Asteraceae, Anthemideae) Reveals a New Species from Greece

Katerina Goula et al. Plants (Basel). .

Abstract

A recent study of the Anthemis collections in the Balkans indicated that the taxa of the Anthemis macedonica group (A. macedonica subsp. macedonica, A. macedonica subsp. thracica, A. meteorica, A. orbelica) exhibit noteworthy morphological patterns not evaluated before. We applied morphometric approaches (principal components analysis, PCA; factor analysis on mixed data, FAMD) by considering 19 qualitative and 20 quantitative morphological characters, together with three ratios, in 26 populations of this group. Furthermore, the chromosome numbers and karyotype morphology were investigated in eight populations of the group, covering the taxa participating in the study. Our results revealed that the southernmost populations of the group represent a hitherto unknown species confined to serpentine: it is described here as Anthemis serpentinica Goula & Constantinidis. The morphological evidence supports the proximity of A. macedonica and A. orbelica, which would be better considered as subspecific entities of the same species. On the contrary, A. meteorica and A. thracica are retained as independent entities at species level. All taxa share the same diploid chromosome number of 2n = 2x = 18 with similar but not identical karyotypes. A brief description of all taxa, based on recent new collections, and a dichotomous key are presented. Lectotypes are designated for Anthemis macedonica and A. meteorica.

Keywords: Anthemis; Asteraceae; karyology; morphometry; new species; systematics; ultramafic substrates.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Principal component analysis (PCA) of the Anthemis macedonica group, based on 20 quantitative characters and three ratios.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Factor analysis (FAMD) of the Anthemis macedonica group, based on 20 quantitative characters, three ratios and 19 qualitative characters.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Relative contribution of the morphological characters to the PCA of Figure 1.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Relative contribution of the quantitative (a) and qualitative (b) morphological characters to the FA of Figure 2.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Factor analysis (FAMD) of Anthemis macedonica subsp. macedonica, A. meteorica and A. orbelica, based on 20 quantitative characters, three ratios and 19 qualitative characters.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Relative contribution of the quantitative (a) and qualitative (b) morphological characters to the FAMD of Figure 5.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Metaphase plates and idiograms of Anthemis macedonica subsp. macedonica (a,b), A. macedonica subsp. thracica (c,d), A. meteorica (e,f), A. orbelica (g,h) and Anthemis 1 from the ultramafic areas of Central Greece (i,j). Red parts of the idiograms indicate satellites. Scale bars = 10 μm.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Box plots presenting the variation of the total haploid length (THL) in five different taxa of the Anthemis macedonica group. The coloured points present the individuals’ values for each taxon.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Scatter plot showing the karyotype indices of the intrachromosomal (MCA) and interchromosomal (CVCL) asymmetry for all the studied taxa in the Anthemis macedonica group.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Distribution map of Anthemis macedonica group, showing the localities of the specimens collected by the authors (yellow and sky-blue colour) and those of the examined herbarium specimens (red colour). Triangles: A. macedonica subsp. macedonica; circles: A. macedonica subsp. orbelica; squares: A. meteorica; stars: A. serpentinica; reversed triangles: A. thracica; rhombus: A. macedonica subsp. stribrnyi; sky-blue triangle: possible hybrid between A. macedonica subsp. macedonica and A. meteorica; sky-blue circle: possible hybrid between A. macedonica subsp. orbelica and A. pindicola. (Background map data: Google, SIO, NOAA, U.S. Navy, NGA, GEBCO.)
Figure 11
Figure 11
Comparative photographic material of the involucres (a,d,g,j,m), receptacles (b,e,h,k,n) and disc floret achenes (c,f,i,l,o) of the five taxa presented in this study: Anthemis macedonica subsp. macedonica (a,b,c), A. macedonica subsp. orbelica (d,e,f), A. meteorica (g,h,i), A. serpentinica (j,k,l) and A. thracica (m,n,o). Square sides = 1 mm. (Note: The d capitulum has an unusual low number of ray florets).
Figure 12
Figure 12
Anthemis serpentinica habit (a), leaves (b), involucre (c), capitula (d) and achenes (e). Scale bar = 2 mm.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Oberprieler C., Himmelreich S., Källersjö M., Vallès J., Watson L.E., Vogt R. Anthemideae. In: Funk V.A., Susanna A., Stuessy T.F., Bayer R.J., editors. Systematics, Evolution, and Biogeography of Compositae. IAPT; Vienna, Austria: 2009. pp. 631–666.
    1. Lo Presti R.M., Oppolzer S., Oberprieler C. A molecular phylogeny and a revised classification of the Mediterranean genus Anthemis s.l. (Compositae, Anthemideae) based on three molecular markers and micromorphological characters. Taxon. 2010;59:1441–1456. doi: 10.1002/tax.595010. - DOI
    1. Oberprieler C. Phylogenetic relationships in Anthemis L. (Compositae, Anthemideae) based on nrDNA ITS sequence variation. Taxon. 2001;50:745–762. doi: 10.2307/1223705. - DOI
    1. Oberprieler C. Temporal and spatial diversification of Circum-Mediterranean Compositae-Anthemideae. Taxon. 2005;54:951–966. doi: 10.2307/25065480. - DOI
    1. Oberprieler C. The Systematics of Anthemis L. (Compositae, Anthemideae) in W and C North Africa. Bocconea. 1998;9:1–328.

LinkOut - more resources