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REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
High genetic variability in self-incompatible myophilousOctomeria (Orchidaceae, Pleurothallidinae) species
Ariane Raquel Barbosa • Viviane Silva-Pereira •
Eduardo Leite Borba
Received: 23 October 2012 / Accepted: 19 September 2013 / Published online: 31 October 2013
� Botanical Society of Sao Paulo 2013
Abstract Octomeria crassifolia Lindl. and O. grandiflora
Lindl. are myophilous, self-incompatible and partially
inter-compatible species. In order to better understand the
relationships between their reproductive systems, patterns
of genetic variability, and isolation mechanisms in sym-
patric populations, a genetic study using ISSR molecular
markers was carried out in natural populations growing in
southeastern Brazil. The populations of both species
demonstrated moderately high genetic variability greater
than that observed in other self-compatible melittophilous
orchid species, indicating that self-incompatibility may be
a determinant factor in maintaining higher variability levels
in myophilous Pleurothallidinae species. Contrary to what
might be expected due to behavior of their pollinators of
flying short distances, these species of Octomeria demon-
strated relatively low genetic structuring that was probably
related to gene flow by seeds or to older shared genetic
stock. Bayesian analysis of genetic structuring indicated
the presence of three genetic groups in O. crassifolia
(although without any relation to their geographical dis-
tributions) and two genetic groups in O. grandiflora (with
one of them restricted to one of the populations). No
indications were seen of hybridization or introgression
among the sympatric populations, indicating that pollinator
specificity is an important factor in guaranteeing the
identities of these inter-compatible species.
Keywords Isolation mechanisms � ISSR �Myophily �Population genetics � Self-incompatibility
Introduction
Genetic variability in plant populations is influenced by
many factors, including their modes of reproduction, seed
dispersal mechanisms, geographical distributions, popula-
tion sizes, lifecycles, and life forms, and especially their
mating systems (Loveless and Hamrick 1984; Nybom and
Bartish 2000). Species that preferentially reproduce by
allogamy usually demonstrate moderate to elevated levels
of genetic variation within their populations, with the
levels of differentiation between those populations gener-
ally being low in comparison to autogamous species
(Hamrick and Godt 1990; Sun and Wong 2001). Most
Orchidaceae are self-compatible, but pre-pollination bar-
riers help avoiding self-pollination and maintaining genetic
variability (van der Pijl and Dodson 1966; Dressler 1981;
Borba and Semir 1999; Singer and Cocucci 1999; Borba
et al. 2007; Smidt et al. 2006; Silva-Pereira et al. 2007;
Cruz et al. 2011). Pollinator behavior also influences
genetic variability in plant populations. Dipterans, which
pollinate almost all species of the subtribe Pleurothallidi-
nae (ca. 4,100 spp.) and the genus Bulbophyllum (ca. 1,200
spp.), exhibit behaviors that favor self-pollination as they
tend to make long visits to numerous flowers of the same
inflorescence or of the same individual (Borba and Semir
A. R. Barbosa
Departamento de Botanica, Instituto de Ciencias Biologicas,
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Antonio Carlos,
6627, Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, MG 31270-901, Brazil
V. Silva-Pereira
Setor de Ciencias Biologicas, Departamento de Botanica,
Universidade Federal do Parana, Centro Politecnico, Jardim das
Americas, Curitiba, PR 81531-990, Brazil
E. L. Borba (&)
Centro de Ciencias Naturais e Humanas, Universidade Federal
do ABC, Rua Santa Adelia, 166, Bangu, Santo Andre,
SP 09210-170, Brazil
e-mail: [email protected]
123
Braz. J. Bot (2013) 36(3):179–187
DOI 10.1007/s40415-013-0027-0
1998, 2001). As such, reduced genetic diversity might be
expected to be found among populations of myophilous
(pollinated by dipterans) orchids. However, populations of
Acianthera (Pleurothallidinae) species, a myophilous and
self-incompatible genus, demonstrate high genetic vari-
ability as compared to other Orchidaceae species (Borba
et al. 2001a, 2001b). Borba et al. (2011) suggested that the
maintenance of high levels of genetic diversity in these
populations has been possible due to the occurrence of self-
incompatibility, a characteristic that may have arisen in
response to pollinator behavior.
The genus Octomeria, an early divergent genus in the
myophilous clade of the subtribe Pleurothallidinae (Prid-
geon et al. 2001), comprises approximately 150 Neotropi-
cal species, concentrated mainly in the northern region of
South America and in southeastern Brazil (Luer 1986).
Octomeria crassifolia Lindl. is widely distributed in Minas
Gerais State, and its taxonomic delimitation was recently
expanded as its populations demonstrated wide morpho-
logical and floral variations that overlapped with what were
previously considered to be distinct species (Forster 2007).
The morphological amplitude of O. crassifolia may be
related to its adaptations to different phytophysiognomies,
occurring as an epiphyte in gallery or humid forests or with
a rupicolous habit on granitic, quartzitic, or ferruginous
outcrops. The taxonomic delimitation of Octomeria gran-
diflora Lindl. was also revised recently. This species is
widely distributed in southeastern Brazil, but is principally
found in gallery forests along watercourses (Forster 2007).
In contrast to O. crassifolia, populations of O. grandiflora
differ among themselves only in terms of the sizes of their
flowers and ramicauls and the colors of their perianth
(which can vary from light to intense yellow) (Forster
2007).
Experimental pollinations in populations of four species
of Octomeria demonstrated the occurrence of self-incom-
patibility in the genus, with the total absence of fruit set in
self-pollinations in O. crassifolia and O. grandiflora
(Barbosa et al. 2009; Borba et al. 2011). These species,
which are occasionally sympatric and flower in partial
synchrony, are inter-compatible, although interspecific fruit
set is low. Because of this, these species could hybridize in
nature unless they had efficient pre-pollination barriers.
Barbosa et al. (2009) noted that the main pollinators of O.
crassifolia and O. grandiflora were species of Bradysia and
Pseudosciara (Diptera, Sciaridae), respectively, insects
with different body sizes and presenting high specificity
that makes interspecific pollination in sympatric popula-
tions more difficult, in spite of similarities in their floral
characteristics. Nonetheless, due to the frequently promis-
cuous behavior of many species of dipterans (van der Pijl
and Dodson 1966), hybridization could occur if this insect-
plant fidelity was compromised.
In this study, we sought to determine the genetic
structures and variability in Octomeria crassifolia and O.
grandiflora populations in order to verify if: (1) the species
and populations present high genetic variability, as
observed in other myophilous self-incompatible orchid
species (Borba et al. 2001b; Azevedo et al. 2007; Ribeiro
et al. 2008); (2) the species present moderate to high
genetic structuring, as found in some other myophilous
orchid species possibly due to the behavior of their flies
pollinators fly short distances (Borba et al. 2001b; Ribeiro
et al. 2008); and (3) there is evidence of natural hybrid-
ization between sympatric populations of the two species,
which would be avoided by the pollinator specificity
(Barbosa et al. 2009).
Materials and methods
Plant material
We sampled leaves of individuals from four populations of
Octomeria crassifolia in Minas Gerais state. A large mor-
phological variation was observed within and among the
populations, and the plants collected could grow as epi-
phytes in gallery forest or rupicolous in granite, quartzite
and ferruginous outcrops (Fig. 1; Table 1). For O. gran-
diflora, we collected leaves of individuals from three
populations in Minas Gerais and one from Rio de Janeiro
state. The habitat and morphological characteristics in the
populations of O. grandiflora were apparently more
homogeneous than those of O. crassifolia (Fig. 1; Table 1).
Populations of both species were sympatric in the Serra do
Caraca, at Catas Altas municipality in Minas Gerais state.
DNA isolation and ISSR-PCR
Approximately 100 mg of dry leaves were used for DNA
extraction according to Doyle and Doyle (1987) protocol.
The cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) protocol
uses the following buffer: 100 mM Tris pH 8.0, 20 mM
ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA), 1.4 M NaCl,
2 % CTAB, 1 % polyvinylpyrolidone (PVP), and 2 % b-
mercaptoethanol. The concentration of DNA was visually
quantified using 0.8 % agarose gel by comparison with
standard DNA concentrations. DNA was diluted in double-
distilled water to a final concentration of approximately
20 ng/lL prior to PCR amplifications.
PCR amplifications were carried out in a total volume of
20 lL, containing 2.0 lL 109 PCR buffer (including
1.5 mM MgCl2), 0.20 mM dNTPs, 0.32 lM primer, 0.5
unit Taq polymerase (Phoneutria), and 20 ng DNA tem-
plate. The program consisted of an initial denaturation at
94 �C for 4 min, followed by 37 cycles of 1 min at 94 �C,
180 A. R. Barbosa et al.
123
2 min at 46, 47.6, or 50 �C depending on the primer
(Table 2), 2 min at 72 �C and a final extension of 7 min at
72 8C. Amplification products were electrophoretically
separated at a constant voltage of 60 V for 4 h in 1.5 %
agarose gels with 0.59 TAE buffer, stained with ethidium
bromide and photographed under UV light. A 100-bp DNA
ladder was used to estimate the molecular size of the
fragments. Thirty-one primers were tested to identify those
that produce reproducible markers. Eight primers were
selected for use in the amplification of 65 individuals of
Octomeria crassifolia and 54 individuals of O. grandiflora.
Six coincident primers for both species were selected for
sympatric populations (Table 2). The replicability of the
primers was tested by redoing several individuals.
Data analyses
The phenotypic profile of all individuals for each primer was
determined through the comparative analysis of images of
agarose gels. The fragments amplified were scored as 1
(presence) or 0 (absence) and converted into a binary data
matrix. The software GenAlEx 6.0 (Peakall and Smouse
2006) was used to obtain estimates of genetic diversity
parameters for each species: total number of loci in each
population (N), mean Shannon’s index of phenotypic
diversity (I), percentage of polymorphic loci (P), and mean
expected heterozygosity (HE-pop). The expected heterozy-
gosity values for the species were calculated with the soft-
ware PopGene v. 1.32 (Yeh et al. 1997). A Principal
Coordinate Analysis (PCO) was carried out using the matrix
of Nei’s genetic distance (1978), using Genealex 6. Three
Analyses of Molecular Variance (AMOVAs) were per-
formed in Genealex 6, two considering all populations of
each species, and one for the two sympatric populations. The
Bayesian algorithm in AFLP-SURV (Vekemans 2002) was
used to generate 1,000 dissimilarity matrices with Nei’s
genetic distance and the FST values, which were used to
construct 1,000 neighbor-joining trees using the NEIGH-
BOR module in PHYLIP 3.69 (Felsenstein 2006). Bootstrap
values were obtained computing a majority-rule consensus
tree at the CONSENSE module in PHYLIP. Trees obtained
were visualized and edited in FigTree 1.2 (Rambaut 2008).
Three Bayesian structure analyses were performed using
the software STRUCTURE 2.2 (Pritchard et al. 2000) to
infer the number of genetic clusters (K) in each species and
for sympatric populations. The number of presumed pop-
ulations (K) was set of K = 1 to K = 5 for each species
and of K = 1 to K = 5 for the two sympatric populations.
Ten independent runs were performed for each K. Each run
was pursued for 500,000 Markov Chain Monte Carlo
(MCMC) iterations, with an initial burn-in of 100,000
iterations, with the admixture model with alleles correlated
among populations. To infer the number of genetic clus-
ters, we calculated the average of each K likelihood value,
‘‘log of probability’’ (LnP(D)), through all runs as sug-
gested by Pritchard et al. (2000) and the statistic Delta
K according to Evanno et al. (2005) with STRUCTURE
HARVESTER 0.6.8 (Earl and von Holdt 2012).
Fig. 1 Distribution of
Octomeria crassifolia and O.
grandiflora (Orchidaceae)
populations sampled. For
population names see Table 1
Genetic variability of Octomeria (Orchidaceae) species 181
123
Results
Octomeria crassifolia
Oc-NEG showed the smallest number of fragments per
population (81), while Oc-PIE (89) showed the largestTa
ble
1L
oca
tio
n,
hab
itan
dh
abit
at,
leaf
mo
rph
olo
gy
,an
dn
um
ber
of
ind
ivid
ual
s(N
)sa
mp
led
inp
op
ula
tio
ns
of
Oct
om
eria
cra
ssif
oli
aan
dO
.g
ran
difl
ora
(Orc
hid
acea
e)u
sed
inth
isst
ud
y,
occ
urr
ing
inM
inas
Ger
ais
(MG
)an
dR
iod
eJa
nei
ro(R
J)st
ates
Sp
ecie
s/lo
cali
tyP
op
ula
tio
nM
un
icip
alit
yC
oo
rdin
ates
Hab
itan
dh
abit
atL
eaf
mo
rph
olo
gy
N
Oct
om
eria
cra
ssif
oli
a
Ser
rad
oC
arac
aO
c-C
AR
Cat
asA
ltas
-MG
20�0
50 3
600 S
,4
3�2
80 2
900 W
Ep
iph
yte
ing
alle
ryfo
rest
or
rup
ico
lou
s
on
gra
nit
eo
utc
rop
s
Co
riac
eou
s,ca
.1
5cm
lon
g(e
pip
hy
tes)
or
fles
hy
,ca
.1
0cm
lon
g(r
up
ico
lou
s)
15
Ser
rad
aP
ied
ade
Oc-
PIE
Cae
te-M
G1
9�4
90 1
700 S
,4
3�4
00 5
300 W
Ru
pic
olo
us
on
ferr
ug
ino
us
ou
tcro
ps
Ver
yfl
esh
y,
ca.
8cm
lon
g1
9
Ser
rad
oP
apag
aio
Oc-
PA
PA
iuru
oca
-MG
2280
40 5
700 S
,4
483
90 3
200 W
Ep
iph
yte
inra
info
rest
Sli
gh
tly
fles
hy
,ca
.1
2cm
lon
g2
0
Ser
raN
egra
Oc-
NE
GIt
amar
and
iba-
MG
1880
00 1
40 ’
S,
4282
60 3
60 ’
WE
pip
hy
tein
rain
fore
stV
aria
ble
size
and
mo
rph
olo
gy
11
Oct
om
eria
gra
nd
iflo
ra
Ser
rad
oC
arac
aO
g-C
AR
Cat
asA
ltas
-MG
20�0
50 3
600 S
,4
3�2
80 2
900 W
Ep
iph
yte
ing
alle
ryfo
rest
Co
riac
eou
s,ca
.2
0cm
lon
g1
0
Ser
rad
oB
rig
adei
roO
g-B
RI
Ara
po
ng
a-M
G2
084
30 1
400 S
,4
282
80 4
600 W
Ep
iph
yte
ing
alle
ryfo
rest
Co
riac
eou
s,ca
.2
0cm
lon
g1
7
Mac
aed
eC
ima
Og
-MA
CN
ov
aF
rib
urg
o-R
J2
282
20 1
700 S
,4
282
90 2
300 W
Ep
iph
yte
ing
alle
ryfo
rest
Co
riac
eou
s,ca
.3
0cm
lon
g1
5
Ser
rad
oA
mb
rosi
oO
g-A
MB
Itam
aran
dib
a-M
G1
785
30 0
500 S
,4
284
30 1
200 W
Ep
iph
yte
ing
alle
ryfo
rest
Co
riac
eou
s,ca
.2
0cm
lon
g1
2 Table 2 Primers used for ISSR amplification of Octomeria crassi-
folia, O. grandiflora (Orchidaceae) populations, and two sympatric
populations of both species
Primer
name
Primer
sequenceaO.
crassifolia
O.
grandiflora
Sympatric
populations
T �C N
loci
T �C N
loci
T
�C
N
loci
AW3 (GT)6RG 50 9 – – – –
DAT (GA)7RG – – 50 13 – –
JOHN (AG)7YC 50 11 50 15 50 21
MANNY (CAC)4RC 46 14 47.6 16 47.6 14
MAO (CTC)4RC 50 12 50 16 50 20
UBC 840 (GA)8YT 47.6 15 46 8 47.6 22
UBC 880 (GGAGA)3 47.6 13 46 9 47.6 17
UBC 898 (CA)6RY 46 10 – – – –
UBC 899 (CA)6RG 46 8 47.6 14 47.6 14
UBC 901 (GT)6YR – – 47.6 7 – –
TOTAL 92 98 108
T �C annealing temperature, N loci number of loci analyzed for each
primera Y = C or T; R = A or G
Table 3 Estimates of genetic diversity parameters of four popula-
tions of Octomeria crassifolia and four populations of O. grandiflora
(Orchidaceae), based on 92 and 98 ISSR loci, respectively
Species/population N I P (%) HE
O. crassifolia
Oc-CAR 87 0.404 (0.022) 92.39 0.267 (0.017)
Oc-PIE 89 0.392 (0.022) 93.48 0.256 (0.017)
Oc-PAP 88 0.406 (0.021) 93.48 0.265 (0.016)
Oc-NEG 81 0.400 (0.023) 86.96 0.271 (0.018)
Species – 0.530 (0.133) – 0.352 (0.114)
O. grandiflora
Og-CAR 83 0.402 (0.025) 80.61 0.279 (0.019)
Og-BRI 91 0.420 (0.023) 87.76 0.283 (0.018)
Og-MAC 87 0.353 (0.023) 84.69 0.231 (0.017)
Og-AMB 84 0.353 (0.025) 76.53 0.238 (0.019)
Species – 0.508 (0.171) – 0.338 (0.138)
N total number of loci in each population, I mean Shannon’s index of
diversity, P percentage of polymorphic loci, HE mean expected
heterozygosity
Standard deviation in parentheses
For population names see Table 1
182 A. R. Barbosa et al.
123
(Table 3). None of the populations showed exclusive
fragments. Shannon Index values varied from 0.392 (Oc-
PIE) to 0.406 (Oc-PAP). The proportions of polymorphic
loci in the populations varied from 86.96 % (Oc-NEG) to
93.48 % (Oc-CAR and Oc-PAP). The expected heterozy-
gosity of this species was 0.352, with Oc-PIE having the
smallest HE value (0.256) and Oc-NEG the largest (0.271)
(Table 3). Interpopulational variability estimated by ana-
lysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) demonstrated high
variation within the populations (92 %) and low diver-
gence among them (8 %).
The genetic structuring value calculated by UST was
0.076, and the dendrogram constructed using Nei’s genetic
distance did not demonstrate existence of clear subgroups
among the four populations. There was, however, a linkage
presenting between the populations Oc-NEG and Oc-PAP
(0.020) and subsequent chaining of the other populations,
with Oc-PAP and Oc-PIE showing the largest genetic dis-
tance (0.048) (Fig. 2a). The first two axes explained
43.01 % of the variation in the Principal Coordinate Ana-
lysis (PCO) and corroborated the clustering analysis, indi-
cating a structure in gradient with partial to almost complete
overlapping of the populations (Fig. 3a). This same pattern
was observed in Bayesian structure analysis, with the
average probability values LnP(K) and DK indicating three
distinct genetic groups, but no population presented an
exclusive genetic pool (Fig. 4a). All the populations pre-
sented a mix of the three genetic pools in different pro-
portions, corroborating the structuring scene in PCO.
Octomeria grandiflora
Og-CAR population had the smallest number of fragments
(83), while the largest number was found in population Og-
BRI (91) (Table 3). The polymorphism values were lower
than those found for O. crassifolia, with the lowest value
found in Og-AMB (76.53 %) and the highest in Og-BRI
(87.76 %). The expected heterozygosity for the species was
0.338, with the smallest value found in Og-MAC (0.231)
Fig. 2 Neighbor-joining dendrogram showing the phenetic relation-
ships among a four populations of O. crassifolia (based on 92 ISSR
loci); b four populations of O. grandiflora (based on 98 ISSR loci),
constructed using the matrix of genetic distances (Nei 1978; unbiased
estimate). Bootstrap percentages (50 % or more) are presented in the
branches for FST (above) and genetic distances (below). For
population names see Table 1
Fig. 3 Representation of the scores on the first two axes of the
principal coordinate analysis (PCO) from the matrix of genetic
distances based on ISSR loci of individuals from a four populations of
Octomeria crassifolia (axis 1 = 23.68 % and axis 2 = 19.34 % of
variance); b four populations of O. grandiflora (axis 1 = 26.35 %
and axis 2 = 17.50 % of variance); c sympatric populations of both
species (axis 1 = 29.47 % and axis 2 = 22.79 % of variance). For
population names see Table 1
Genetic variability of Octomeria (Orchidaceae) species 183
123
and the highest in Og-BRI (0.283) (Table 3). O. grandi-
flora showed a higher UST value (0.119) than O. crassifo-
lia. The values of genetic variability within the populations
were high (88 %) and divergence between the populations
was moderate (12 %).
The dendrogram obtained from Nei’s genetic distances
did not indicate structuring into subgroups among the four
populations of O. grandiflora, with the Og-MAC population
being more divergent than the others (Fig. 2b). The PCO,
however, demonstrated structuring in a circular gradient,
where Og-MAC and Og-AMB appeared as the most
genetically distinct populations in relation to each other,
with Oc-CAR totally overlapping Og-BRI and Og-AMB
(Fig. 3b). Approximately 44 % of the species variation was
explained in the first two axes of the PCO. The LnP(K) and
DK values obtained by Bayesian structure analysis indi-
cated the presence of two gene pools, one composed prin-
cipally of the Og-MAC population and distinct from the
others, especially from Og-AMB (Fig. 4b).
Sympatric populations in the Serra do Caraca
First two axes of the PCO explained 52.26 % of the varia-
tion, with the two populations being strongly separated on
axis 1 (Fig. 3c). Octomeria crassifolia demonstrated greater
dispersion than O. grandiflora, apparently reflecting the
higher genetic variability present in that population
(Table 3). AMOVA indicated that 18 % of the genetic
variability was due to differentiation between the species,
while 82 % was due to intrapopulational variation. The
LnP(K) and DK values derived from Bayesian structure
analysis indicated the existence of two genetic groups with
clear differentiation between the populations, and without
any evidence of hybridization between the species (Fig. 4c).
Discussion
Variability and genetic structure
The estimates of genetic variability parameters (P, HE, and
I) encountered for the populations of Octomeria crassifolia
and O. grandiflora were moderate to elevated as compared
to many species of orchids (e.g., Sun and Wong 2001; Smith
et al. 2002; Wallace 2002; Silva 2008; George et al. 2009;
Cruz et al. 2011). In a study using co-dominant markers
(allozymes), however, Borba et al. (2001b) reported very
high levels of heterozygosity in species of Acianthera
Fig. 4 Graphic representation
of the different genetic pools
based on ISSR loci obtained by
Bayesian structure analysis of
individuals from a four
populations of Octomeria
crassifolia (65 individuals), for
K = 3; b four populations of O.
grandiflora (54 individuals), for
K = 2; c two sympatric
populations of both species (36
individuals), for K = 2.
Populations are separated by
vertical bars. For population
names see Table 1
184 A. R. Barbosa et al.
123
(Pleurothallidinae), which, like O. crassifolia and O.
grandiflora, are self-compatible and myophilous (princi-
pally if one considers the small variation levels character-
istic of allozyme markers). The genetic diversity levels of
various myophilous species of Bulbophyllum were likewise
observed to be larger than those of the species studied here
(Azevedo et al. 2006, 2007; Ribeiro et al. 2008). The pro-
portions of polymorphic loci and expected heterozygosity
encountered in the populations of O. crassifolia and O.
grandiflora were similar to the averages reported for other
plant species with similar characteristics: herbaceous
perennials, with sexual reproduction, animal pollinated, and
wind-dispersed (Nybom and Bartish 2000; Nybom 2004).
A relatively high genetic structuring was expected in
both Octomeria crassifolia and O. grandiflora, due, in
large part, to pollinator behavior (Loveless and Hamrick
1984). Both orchids are pollinated by dipteran species of
the family Sciaridae (Barbosa et al. 2009) that generally
promote pollination among flowers of the same individual
or in nearby plants (Chase 1985; Borba and Semir 1998).
Additionally, it was expected that Octomeria crassifolia
would demonstrate greater genetic structuring than O.
grandiflora, as populations of the former species occur in
distinct phytophysiognomic environments and show high
morphological differentiation as compared to the morpho-
logical and environmental homogeneity associated with the
latter species. Interestingly, our results demonstrated a high
genetic similarity among the conspecific populations of
both O. crassifolia and O. grandiflora. This high genetic
similarity was similar to that frequently seen in allopatric
populations (Nybom and Bartish 2000) and may be asso-
ciated with the absence (or low numbers) of specific
fragments in the populations, and is consistent with the
allogamic reproduction patterns of these species (Nybom
and Bartish 2000).
In spite of the high genetic similarity among the popu-
lations of O. crassifolia, the greater differentiation of the
Oc-PIE population may be related to the habitat of these
plants, as they grow on ferruginous outcrops and probably
experience environmental pressures distinct from epiphytic
populations. Similar results for plant populations occurring
on ferruginous outcrops were reported by Borba et al.
(2001b) for Acianthera teres (Orchidaceae) and by Lous-
ada et al. (2013) for Vellozia compacta (Velloziaceae). The
greater genetic structuring seen in O. grandiflora is due to
the high genetic differentiation of Og-MAC population,
which is also seen in the genetic distance and other anal-
yses. This population also shows distinct morphological
characters, with larger leaves and flowers than the other
populations.
The high similarity among populations within each of the
two species might be explained by maintenance of gene
flow among the conspecific populations. However, dipteran
pollinators exhibit restricted movement patterns that do not
readily contribute to homogenizing populations (Proctor
et al. 1996; Borba and Semir 2001). One factor that can
contribute to efficient gene flow is seed dispersal, especially
in orchids because of their very light, small, and numerous
seeds (dust diaspora; Dressler 1993). Moreover, it is pos-
sible that a shared historical genetic stock with low differ-
entiation between populations is partly responsible for the
observed similarities between the populations, with incipi-
ent differentiation generating the patterns similar to those
observed in Bulbophyllum species (Ribeiro et al. 2008).
Reproductive isolation between sympatric populations
The observed degree of genetic differentiation between the
Octomeria species is due to the occurrence of exclusive
loci in the two populations, as a consequence of the
absence of gene flow between them which is fostered by
their pollinator specificity (Barbosa et al. 2009). Four
species of Bradysia (Sciaridae) are known pollinators of O.
crassifolia, while only one species of Pseudosciara
(Sciaridae) pollinates O. grandiflora. The species of these
two insect genera are quite distinct in terms of their body
sizes, which probably help guarantee reproductive isolation
of these sympatric plants in cases of pollinator-plant
fidelity lapses (Barbosa et al. 2009). In spite of the fact that
generalist systems are considered the rule in angiosperms
(Herrera 1988; Ollerton 1996; Waser et al. 1996), spe-
cialized pollination systems are frequent in the Orchida-
ceae (Tremblay 1992; Johnson and Steiner 2000). Studies
with multiple conspecific populations have demonstrated
that there can be spatial–temporal variations in pollinator
guilds (Herrera 1988; Dilley et al. 2000), but a multi-
populational study undertaken by Borba and Semir (2001)
reported high pollinator specificity in conspecific popula-
tions of five species of Acianthera that were maintained
throughout the distribution ranges of the species. In the
case of the Octomeria species, in spite of the fact that field
observations were undertaken during only a single season
(Barbosa et al. 2009), the data presented here indicates that
the pollinator specificity observed in these sympatric pop-
ulations is high enough to maintain species’ identities—in
spite of the fact that pollination by dipterans (myophily) is
considered one of the most generalist and promiscuous
pollination syndromes (van der Pijl and Dodson 1966;
Proctor et al. 1996).
Acknowledgments We thank Marcos C. de Melo and Pedro P.
G. Taucce for help with population sampling, and Junia M. Lousada
for help in some laboratory tasks. This work was funded by projects
from the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientıfico e Tec-
nologico (CNPq) and the Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado
de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG), Brazil. ARB received a fellowship
from CNPq. ELB is supported by a productivity grant from CNPq.
Genetic variability of Octomeria (Orchidaceae) species 185
123
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