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Plant Biol (Stuttg) 2002; 4(6): 711-719
DOI: 10.1055/s-2002-37402
Original Paper
Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart ·New York

Genetic Variation of Sesleria albicans Kit. ex Schultes (Poaceae): Lack of Evidence for Glacial Relict Endemism in Central Europe

C. Reisch 1 , P. Poschlod 1 , R. Wingender 2
  • 1 Universität Regensburg, Lehrstuhl für Botanik, 93040 Regensburg, Germany
  • 2 Universität Bonn, Institut für Landwirtschaftliche Botanik, Karlrobert-Kreiten-Straße 13, 53115 Bonn, Germany
Weitere Informationen

Publikationsverlauf

Received: March 11, 2002

Accepted: October 11, 2002

Publikationsdatum:
24. Februar 2003 (online)

   Lizenzen und Reprints

Abstract

The populations of Sesleria albicans Kit. ex Schultes in central Europe are supposed to be glacial relicts. The genetic structure of these populations can provide evidence for the reliability of this hypothesis, since a distinct geographical clustering of populations and high levels of interpopulational genetic variation can be expected in the case of relict endemism. In the study presented here, we used Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis to describe the genetic structure of 25 Sesleria albicans populations from west and central Germany, southwest Germany and the Alps. In the RAPD analysis 344 fragments could be amplified, of which 95.9 % were polymorphic. The percentage of polymorphic bands per population ranged from 29.7 % to 56.7 % and correlated significantly with population size, indicating a higher level of inbreeding in small and isolated populations. An analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed that 61.22 % of the variation resided within populations, whereas 34.25 % was found among populations within regions and only 4.53 % among regions. Genetic distance among populations (ΦST) varied between 0.63 and 0.13, and in a Neighbour-Joining dendrogram based on the genetic distances between the investigated individuals, all populations could be discriminated from each other. The populations from the northern and southern Alps were clearly separated from the central European populations. These, however, did not form geographic clusters. Considering these results, Sesleria albicans showed a high level of intra- but only a low level of interpopulational genetic variation and very weak regional differentiation. The genetic pattern detected in this study, therefore, gives no evidence for glacial relict endemism of Sesleria albicans in central Europe.

Key words

Glacial relict plants - genetic diversity - RAPD - isolation - fragmentation

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C. Reisch

Universität Regensburg
Lehrstuhl für Botanik

93040 Regensburg
Germany

eMail: christoph.reisch@biologie.uni-regensburg.de

Section Editor: F. Salamini