Population structure and phylogeography of the mistletoes Tristerix corymbosus and T. aphyllus (Loranthaceae) using chloroplast DNA sequence variation

The mistletoe Tristerix corymbosus (Loranthaceae) is present in the temperate forest and Chilean matorral biomes of Chile and northwest Patagonia. The closely related cactus-specific species, T. aphyllus, occurs only in the matorral biome. The population structure of these mistletoes was examined to determine whether the distribution of haplotypes corresponds mostly to geographic zone, biome, or other biotic factors. Samples from 108 individuals in 26 localities of T. corymbosus and 13 individuals in four localities of T. aphyllus were collected. Sequences were obtained from two chloroplast genome regions: the atpB-rbcL spacer and the trnL-F region. Haplotypes were analyzed using parsimony and Bayesian trees as well as parsimony networks. All methods placed the haplotypes in four clades, one of which corresponded to T. aphyllus and the others to T. corymbosus. Within T. corymbosus, the different clades did not correlate with biome, geographical region, host, or any apparent morphological feature of the mistletoe. The morphologically distinct cactus parasite T. aphyllus likely arose in sympatry from an unspecialized tree parasite, T. corymbosus, after a host switch. The present day haplotype distribution is complex and resulted from post-glaciation migrations from multiple Pleistocene refugia.