Skip Navigation



AOBPreview published online on February 5, 2008
Annals of Botany, doi:10.1093/aob/mcn012
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Supplementary Data
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
101/5/633    most recent
mcn012v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Mameli, G.
Right arrow Articles by Meloni, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Mameli, G.
Right arrow Articles by Meloni, M.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Mameli, G.
Right arrow Articles by Meloni, M.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

The Genetic Structure of the Remnant Populations of Centaurea horrida in Sardinia and Associated Islands

Giulia Mameli1, Rossella Filigheddu1, Giorgio Binelli2,* and Marilena Meloni2,3

1 Dipartimento di Botanica ed Ecologia Vegetale, Università degli Studi di Sassari, via Muroni 25, 07100 Sassari, Italy
2 Dipartimento di Biotecnologie e Scienze Molecolari, Università degli Studi dell'Insubria, via J.H. Dunant 3, 21100 Varese, Italy
3 School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Science, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia

* For correspondence. E-mail giorgio.binelli{at}uninsubria.it

Received: 30 July 2007    Returned for revision: 10 September 2007    Accepted: 10 January 2008   

Background and Aims: The Mediterranean region is of prime importance to biodiversity at a global level, mainly due to the abundance of endemic plant species. However, information about these species is still scarce, especially at the genetic level. In this paper the first assessment is reported of the genetic structure of Centaurea horrida (Asteraceae), an endemic, sea-cliff-dwelling plant from Sardinia.

Methods: The study was conducted on seven populations covering the entire natural range of the species by means of SSR (microsatellite) markers.

Key Results: A considerable amount of genetic variation was found (average He = 0·603–0·854), together with a medium-high differentiation among populations, as estimated both by FST (0·123) and RST (0·158). Both Bayesian analysis and AMOVA were employed to detect genetic structuring in this species. The results suggest that the origins of the current populations of C. horrida lie in two gene pools.

Conclusions: Despite the restricted range, C. horrida displays high levels of genetic diversity, structured in such a way that three management units could be deemed viable for its conservation. The protected status of the species will probably suffice to prevent the impoverishment of its genetic resources.

Key words: Genetic diversity, Centaurea horrida, endangered species, narrow endemic, conservation, Mediterranean, Sardinia


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.