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Low genetic variation and high differentiation across sky island populations of Lupinus alopecuroides (Fabaceae) in the northern Andes

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Abstract

The tropical alpine flora in the northern Andes has caught the attention of evolutionary biologists and conservationists because of the extent of its diversity and its vulnerability. Although population genetics studies are essential to understand how diversity arises and how it can be maintained, plant populations occurring above 4100 m a.s.l. in the so-called super-páramo have rarely been studied at the molecular level. Here, we use 11 microsatellite DNA markers to examine genetic structure in populations of Lupinus alopecuroides, a long-lived semelparous giant rosette known from only 10 geographically isolated populations. Each population is located on a different mountain top, of which three are in Colombia and seven in Ecuador. We analysed 220 individuals from all the ten known populations. We find low genetic variation in all but one of the populations. Four populations are completely monomorphic, and another five show only one polymorphic locus each. On the other hand, we find extremely high genetic differentiation between populations. We discuss the mechanisms that might cause this pattern, and we suggest that it is related to founder effects, lack of gene flow, and autogamy. The genetic relationships among the populations, and the lack of correlation between the genetic and geographic distances also point to the importance of founder effects and colonization history in driving differentiation among the populations.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks to Eva Dušková and Lenka Flašková for laboratory assistance, and to Jan Brotánek and Vojtěch Zeisek for help with fieldwork. We also thank Filip Kolář for helpful discussions and the Fond Mobility of Charles University in Prague for financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, Charles University, Benátská 2, 128 01, Prague 2, Czech Republic

    Diana L. A. Vásquez & Petr Sklenář

  2. Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 116, Building 1540, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark

    Henrik Balslev & Michael Møller Hansen

  3. Escuela de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Av. 12 de Octubre y Roca Apdo. 2184, Quito, Ecuador

    Katya Romoleroux

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  1. Diana L. A. Vásquez
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Correspondence to Diana L. A. Vásquez.

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Additional supporting information in the online version of this article (see “Supplementary Material”) contains the following: ESM_1 – Allele frequencies

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Vásquez, D.L.A., Balslev, H., Hansen, M.M. et al. Low genetic variation and high differentiation across sky island populations of Lupinus alopecuroides (Fabaceae) in the northern Andes. Alp Botany 126, 135–142 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00035-016-0165-7

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