Genetic structure of Saxifraga tridactylites (Saxifragaceae) from natural and man-made habitats

Abstract

In contrast to many declining plant species Saxifraga tridactylites extended its distribution range in the man-made landscape of central Europe. The species naturally colonizes rocks and calcareous grasslands, but has also spread enormously in anthropogenic habitats such as railway constructions during the last decades. To analyze the genetic structure of the species 216 individuals from 8 populations in natural and 5 populations in man-made habitats were studied using AFLPs. The molecular analysis resulted in 250 scorable fragments. Population variability, measured as Nei's gene diversity, Shannon's Information Index and percentage of polymorphic bands, was slightly but not significantly higher in populations from natural habitats and was not correlated with population size. Mantel test indicated no significant correlation between pairwise genetic (F PT ) and geographic distances. An analysis of molecular variance revealed significant differentiation between the two habitat types. About 9% variability were observed between natural and man-made habitats, 21% among populations within these two habitats and 70% within populations. In a neighbour joining cluster analysis populations from natural and man-made habitats were clearly separated from each other. Populations of S. tridactylites from man-made habitats do, therefore, not suffer from reduced genetic diversity. The observed genetic differentiation between populations from man-made and natural habitats could be due to reduced gene flow and/or habitat specific selection.However, the results of the study clearly demonstrate human impact on the genetic structure of plant populations in man-made landscapes.

Phylogeographic structure of Terminalia franchetii (Combretaceae) in southwest China and its implications for drainage geological history

“…The broken lines indicate past river flow routes before river capture DNA extraction and AFLP protocol Genomic DNA was extracted using a modified cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) method (Doyle and Doyle 1987). The AFLP procedure was carried out according to the Beckman Coulter protocol, with only minor modifications, as described by Reisch (2007). Double digestion of genomic DNA was performed for 2 h at 37°C in a 20 lL mix, using 2 units (U) of MseI and 10 U of EcoRI.…”

Analyses of the flora of railway stations in the Mediterranean and sub-Mediterranean areas of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“…In addition, some taxa (e.g., Geranium purpureum, Lepidium virginicum, Saxifraga tridactylites, etc.) have different current statuses including the history of their migration in different parts of Europe ( Van der Ham, 1981;Reisch, 2007;Eliáš, 2011). However, the most frequent taxa in our study have also been found in railway stations in the continental region of Croatia (Marković, 1977) and in neighbouring Hungary (Pál & Csiky, 2002).…”

Subcanopy genetics —The relationship between canopy tree size and genetic variation of the savanna species <i>Pollichia campestris</i> Aiton (Illecebraceae)

“…AFLP procedure was carried out according to the Beckman Coulter protocol with only minor modifications as described before [20,21]. Genomic DNA (~50 ng) was used for restriction and ligation reaction with MseI and EcoRI restriction enzymes and T4 DNA Ligase (all Fermentas products) conducted in a thermal cycler for 2 h at 37˚C.…”