RESEARCH ARTICLE New data and phylogenetic placement of the enigmatic Old World lupin: Lupinus mariae-josephi H. Pascual Fre ´de ´ric Mahe ´ • Higinio Pascual • Olivier Coriton • Virginie Huteau • Albert Navarro Perris • Marie-The ´re `se Misset • Abdelkader Aı ¨nouche Received: 19 October 2009 / Accepted: 25 May 2010 / Published online: 20 July 2010 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010 Abstract Lupinus mariae-josephi H. Pascual is an intriguing lupin species recently discovered in the Mediterranean region. New data from seed coat micromorphology, cytology, and DNA sequences were generated in order to extend our knowledge on this species and to examine its evolutionary relationships within Lupinus. This species shows morphological similarities with the Mediterranean smooth seeded species of sections Micranthi and Lutei. It shares the same chromosome number 2n = 52 with the latter Old World taxa, but also with unifoliolate lupins from Florida. Besides, L. mariae-josephi exhibited a seed coat micromor- phology ‘‘intermediate’’ between the rough and the smooth seed coat types. Phylogenetic analyses using ITS and ETS nrDNA spacers, and the LEGCYC1A locus supported L. mariae-josephi as a distinct Old World line, placed out of the Scabrispermae, but without clear placement amongst the Mediterranean smooth-seeded lineages. Unexpectedly, LEGCYC1A data revealed phylogenetic affinities between L. mariae-josephi and L. villosus, a unifoliolate North American lupin that might have experienced a reticulated evolutionary process. All together, the data underline the phylogenetic interest of L. mariae-josephi in Lupinus and the need of additional investigations in order to definitely elu- cidate its enigmatic status. Moreover, as L. mariae- josephi is one of the rare Old World lupins strictly restricted to poor basic soils, it opens new perspec- tives of ecological and agronomic interests in the wide areas of poor calcareous soils in the Mediter- ranean region. Keywords Chromosome number Á Lupinus mariae-josephi Á Old World lupins Á Phylogenetic placement Á Seed coat microstructure This work was funded by the Regional Council of Brittany (France) grant ARED 2055/GENADAPT, and UMR-CNRS 6553 Ecobio (University of Rennes-1, France). Dedicated to Dr. habil. P. Hanelt at the occasion of his 80th birthday. F. Mahe ´ Á M.-T. Misset Á A. Aı ¨nouche (&) UMR CNRS 6553 Ecobio, Universite ´ de Rennes-1, Campus scientifique de Beaulieu Ba ˆt 14A, 35042 Rennes cedex, France e-mail: kader.ainouche@univ-rennes1.fr H. Pascual Instituto Madrilen ˜o de Investigacio ´n Agraria y Alimentaria (IMIA), Apartado 127, 28800 Alcala ´ de Henares, Spain O. Coriton Á V. Huteau UMR118 INRA-AgroCampus Rennes INRA Centre de Rennes BP 35327, 35653 Le Rheu Cedex, France A. Navarro Perris Centro de Investigacio ´n y Experimentacio ´n Forestal (CIEF), Avda. Comarques del Paı ´s Valencia `, 114, 46930 Quart de Poblet, Spain 123 Genet Resour Crop Evol (2011) 58:101–114 DOI 10.1007/s10722-010-9580-6