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Genetic Variation in Three Closely Related Minuartia (Caryophyllaceae) Species Endemic to Greece: Implications for Conservation Management

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Abstract

The genus Minuartia is highly diverse in the Mediterranean region and includes several endemic and locally restricted species. The genetic variation of three Minuartia species (M. dirphya, M. parnonia, M. wettsteinii) which are endemic to Greece was investigated, aiming to also develop effective conservation plans for their protection. Minuartia dirphya and M. wettsteinii are known to occur only at their type localities, each forming a small population, while M. parnonia is more widespread with seven populations located in the south-east Peloponnese. Genetic diversity was estimated using ten chloroplast microsatellite and five REMAP markers. The chloroplast microsatellite markers exhibited limited polymorphism among species only, while REMAP revealed a significant amount of genetic variation at the population and species level. All the analyses performed (dendrograms, PCoA, STRUCTURE) showed clear differentiation among species, highlighting M. wettsteinii as the most genetically distant. As shown by AMOVA, a degree of differentiation was detected within M. parnonia, where 41 % of the total variation was partitioned among populations and 59 % to the individuals within them. At the species level, the highest genetic diversity (PPB = 75.86 %, Hj = 0.2728, I = 0.3509) was observed in M. parnonia, followed by M. dirphya (PPB = 55.17 %, Hj = 0.2350, I = 0.2767), while the lowest was observed in M. wettsteinii (PPB = 28.74 %, Hj = 0.1449, I = 0.1498). Scarce gene flow (N m = 0.5451) was observed among M. parnonia populations. The current study is important for developing conservation management plans for the three threatened Minuartia species.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Dr E. Dionyssopoulou for her technical assistance, Professors A. Zacharopoulou and G. Kilias at the Department of Biology, University of Patras, Greece, for their generous support throughout this study and the two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments. The authors also wish to declare that the experiments performed in this study comply with the current laws of Greece.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agricultural Technology, Technological Educational Institute of Western Greece, Theodoropoulou Str, 272 00, Amaliada, Greece

    Antonios Augustinos, Kostas Sotirakis & Vassilis Papasotiropoulos

  2. Insect Pest Control Laboratory, Joint FAO/IAEA Programme of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, Seibersdorf, Vienna, Austria

    Antonios Augustinos

  3. Laboratory of Systematic Botany, Department of Crop Science, Agricultural University of Athens, Iera Odos 75, 118 55, Athens, Greece

    Panayiotis Trigas

  4. Division of Pharmacognosy - Chemistry of Natural Products, School of Pharmacy, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis, 157 71, Athens, Greece

    Eleftherios Kalpoutzakis

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  1. Antonios Augustinos
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Correspondence to Vassilis Papasotiropoulos.

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A. Augustinos and K. Sotirakis: co-first authors

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Augustinos, A., Sotirakis, K., Trigas, P. et al. Genetic Variation in Three Closely Related Minuartia (Caryophyllaceae) Species Endemic to Greece: Implications for Conservation Management. Folia Geobot 49, 603–621 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12224-014-9196-2

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