Can the spread of agriculture in Europe be followed by tracing the spread of the weed Silene latifolia. A RAPD study

Extreme Population Structure and High Interspecific Divergence of the Silene Y Chromosome

“…However, they could be explained by the observation that DD44Y appears to have undergone less gene flow among the geographical races of S. latifolia than DD44X. Isolation followed by secondary contact and gene flow between the western and eastern S. latifolia races is consistent with the hypothesis that S. latifolia colonized Western and Eastern Europe from isolated refugia in North Africa and western Asia and that these separate waves of invasion were brought into contact by the clearance of land for agriculture (Vellekoop et al 1996). Because our results suggest that the flow of Y-linked S. latifolia genes is more restricted than that of X-linked or autosomal genes, they agree more closely with the chromosomal than with the genic hypothesis.…”

“…The distribution of variation in DD44Y revealed major subdivisions coinciding with the ''geographical races'' of Mastenbroek and van Brederode (1986) and supporting the hypothesis that S. latifolia colonized Europe from several different glacial refugia in North Africa and Asia (Vellekoop et al 1996). Owing to its greater population structure, the diversity of DD44Y within each geographical area was far lower than that of DD44X.…”

“…The natural range of S. latifolia is far more extensive, stretching from Britain and Scandinavia in northwestern Europe to northern Morocco in northwestern Africa to Lake Baikal in southeastern Siberia to the Black Sea in southeastern Europe (Baker 1947). Furthermore, studies of RAPDs (Vellekoop et al 1996), allozyme (Mastenbroek et al 1984) and flavonoid variation (Mastenbroek and van Brederode 1986), and pollen and seed morphology all indicated that European S. latifolia populations are divided into nine geographical races (Mastenbroek and van Brederode 1986), possibly corresponding to colonization routes following the clearance of land for agriculture (Vellekoop et al 1996). The RAPD data of Vellekoop et al (1996) indicated that individuals from the same geographical area were more genetically similar ( Jaccard's coefficient of similarity 0.50-0.82) than individuals from different geographical areas ( Jaccard's coefficient of similarity 0.28-0.61).…”

“…Furthermore, studies of RAPDs (Vellekoop et al 1996), allozyme (Mastenbroek et al 1984) and flavonoid variation (Mastenbroek and van Brederode 1986), and pollen and seed morphology all indicated that European S. latifolia populations are divided into nine geographical races (Mastenbroek and van Brederode 1986), possibly corresponding to colonization routes following the clearance of land for agriculture (Vellekoop et al 1996). The RAPD data of Vellekoop et al (1996) indicated that individuals from the same geographical area were more genetically similar ( Jaccard's coefficient of similarity 0.50-0.82) than individuals from different geographical areas ( Jaccard's coefficient of similarity 0.28-0.61). It is therefore likely that the geographically limited samples of the previous studies (Filatov et al 2000(Filatov et al , 2001 captured only a small proportion of the total diversity of S. latifolia Y-linked genes.…”

Genetic diversity among proso millet (Panicum miliaceum) biotypes assessed by AFLP technique

“…Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) developed by Botstein et al (1980) has been used as a tool for detecting polymorphism among and within weed and cultivated species (Guttieri et al, 1992;Krugman et al, 1997). Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) has also been used to detect polymorphism as well as to develop detailed genetic maps of weed species (Katzir et al, 1996;Vellekoop et al, 1996;Rowe et al 1997). In proso millet, Colosi & Shaal (1997) found 97 RAPD genotypes (69 wild proso millet, 26 crop and feral crop weed, and 2 hybrids between crop and wild types) among 398 individuals with DNA polymorphism suggesting hybridization between wild proso millet and crop biotypes in about 10% of the genotypes.…”