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Annals of Botany 91: 707-716, 2003
© 2003 Annals of Botany Company

Morphological and Molecular Diversity Among Italian Populations of Quercus petraea (Fagaceae)

PIERO BRUSCHI1, GIOVANNI G. VENDRAMIN2, FILIPPO BUSSOTTI1 and PAOLO GROSSONI1

1 Dipartimento di Biologia Vegetale, Laboratorio di Botanica Forestale e ambientale, Piazzale delle Cascine, 28 – I 50144 Firenze, Italy and 2 Istituto di Miglioramento Genetico Piante Forestali, C.N.R. Via Atto Vannucci 13, 50134 Firenze, Italy

* For correspondence. Fax +39 055 360137, e-mail pbruschi{at}unifi.it

Received: 1 February 2002; Returned for revision: 3 January 2003; Accepted: 30 January 2003

Quercus petraea (sessile oak) has a scattered distribution in southern and central Italy. The objective of this work was to evaluate the level and distribution of diversity in five Italian populations of Q. petraea by using morphological markers and hypervariable molecular markers such as microsatellites. Forty-eight morphological traits and six nuclear and three plastid loci were scored for each population. Evidence for differentiation in both sets of traits was found, but patterns of differentiation of morphological traits did not coincide with microsatellite differentiation. Morphological variation was correlated with ecological conditions at the site of origin. Analysis of molecular variance revealed significant genetic variation among populations (P < 0·001), both at the nuclear and plastid levels. There was a slight, but significant, correlation between nuclear genetic distance and geographic distance. The relatively high genetic diversity in the populations analysed indicates that the maintenance of their evolutionary potential is possible if population sizes are maintained or increased. Low levels of haplotype diversity found within the small southernmost population (Piano Costantino) indicates that genetic erosion may increase the extinction risk for this population.

Key words: Quercus petraea, morphological traits, microsatellites, adaptation, gene flow.


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