Variation and evolution of sexual and asexual races in Mexican Stevia

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Mexica Stevia is represented by 99 species among which asexual races are found in 42 species. Among them, sexual races are mostly restricted to small area. However, S. origanoides is an interesting exception in which sexual and asexual races are widely distributed. We carried out transect studies in six area where sexual and asexual races of S. origanoides are found. As a result, we found that sexual populations in three area include cryptic species that are differentiated in morphological traits and habitat preferences. To examine whether these cryptic species differentiated in each area or in defferent area, we sequenced ITS for various samples of S. oritanoides. The results obtained seem to support the differentiation in each area, but resolution of the tree was not sufficient to be conclusive. Now, AFLP analysis is on going. The ITS tree showed that most of asexual triploids clustered together, indicating their monophyly. On the other hand, sexual populations of S. origanoides are differentiated to at least six cryptic species. These findings suggest that sexual reproduction is advantageous when populations are rapidly differentiating under spatially heterogeneous environments.