Botany (2016) 94, 1001-1007

Matthew Augé, Marie-Claude Bon, Laurent Hardion, Thomas Le Bourgeois and René F.H. Sforza (2016)
Genetic characterization of a red colour morph of Euphorbia esula subsp. esula (Euphorbiaceae) in the floodplains of the Saône (eastern France)
Botany 94 (10), 1001-1007
Abstract: A new morph of leafy spurge, Euphorbia esula L., was discovered in the floodplains of the Val de Saône (VDS), France. In this region, this emerging weed shows two different morph colours: the common "green" variant and a rarer "red" variant. We compared the sequence data for the plastid trnT–trnF region among individuals of both morphs from the VDS, as well as other populations from Europe and North America, where this plant is invasive. In addition, we analysed the ploidy found among VDS individuals for both colours. Results showed that both morphs share two of the three chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) haplotypes found in the VDS and are both hexaploids (2n = 6x = 60). These results suggest that the red morph is only an environmental variant of E. esula subsp. esula. Our results indicate that leafy spurge infestations in this region form a genetically diverse structuring composed of three cpDNA haplotypes, two of which are shared by the two morphs.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Matthew Auge, Marie-Claude Bon, René Sforza

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
molecular biology - genes

---

Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Euphorbia virgata (weed)		France