Nuclear phylogeography of the temperate tree species Chiranthodendron pentadactylon (Malvaceae): Quaternary relicts in Mesoamerican cloud forests

Background

The Mexican hand tree or Canac (Chiranthodendron pentadactylon) is a temperate tree species of cloud and pine-oak forests of southern Mexico and Guatemala. The characteristic hand-shaped flower is used in folk medicine and has constituted the iconic symbol of the Sociedad Botánica de México since 1940. Here, the evolutionary history was estimated through phylogeographic analyses of nuclear DNA sequences obtained through restriction site associated DNA sequencing and ecological niche modeling. Total genomic DNA was extracted from leaf samples obtained from a representative number (5 to 10 per sampling site) of individuals distributed along the species geographic range. In Mexico, population is comprised by spatially isolated individuals which may follow the trends of cloud forest fragmentation. Whether in Guatemala, Chiranthodendron may constitute a canopy dominant species near the Acatenango volcano. The distributional range encompasses geographic provinces separated by th...