Proof of a knowledge database concept. Aubrieta ekimii (Brassicaceae), a new species from NW Anatolia (Turkey): morphological and molecular support

Abstract

Aubrieta ekimii, a new species from Kocaeli Province (Turkey), is described and illustrated, and its relationship to putatively closest relatives, A. olympica and A. pinardii, is discussed. Scanning electron microscopy micrographs of the indumentum of A. ekimii and its relatives are presented. Cytology, ecology, conservation status, and geographical distribution of the novelty and related species are presented. The knowledge database BrassiBase (http://brassibase.cos.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php) is shown herein as a powerful tool to recognize potentially new species. DNA sequence data from the transcribed spacers of nuclear encoded ribosomal RNA (ITS1 and ITS2) was subjected to the respective phylogenetic placement algorithm in BrassiBase and, after adding further sequence information from the plastid trnLF region, tribal-wide phylogenetic analyses were conducted to confirm the systematic placement of the novelty. Because of limited DNA sequence variation, we did not obtain a highly resolved phylogenetic hypothesis of Aubrieta. Our study further highlights Anatolia as a craddle of species diversity with many overlooked and undescribed species.