RAPD and ISSR markers indicate diminished gene flow due to recent fragmentation of Polylepis australis woodlands in central Argentina.

JULIO, N.B.; SOBRAL, A.; RONDAN DUEÑAS, J.; DI RIENZO, J.; RENISON, D.; HENSEN, I.

BIOCHEMICAL SYSTEMATICS AND ECOLOGY

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

Año: 2008 vol. 36 p. 329 - 335

0305-1978

Two Polylepis australis BITT. populations differing in size were examined with the aims of determining future sampling strategies; assessing levels of genetic diversity and checking whether trees of different age might vary in their genetic structure due to the effects of fragmentation. RADP and ISSR gave similar values of diversity. A re-sampling technique showed that for P. australis, 10 trees and 20 markers were enough to produce an unbiased estimator of heterozygosity. AMOVA suggested differences in allele frequencies between young and old trees in the small population (p=0.052), but not in a large population (p=0.864); suggesting that gene flow between the areas diminished in relatively recent times. This assumption is supported by the fact that allele frequencies among both woodlands were significantly different between the young (p