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GENETIC STRUCTURE OF POPULATIONS OF GEOGRAPHICALLY RESTRICTED AND WIDESPREAD SPECIES OF ASTRAGALUS (FABACEAE)
Author(s) -
Karron Jeffrey D.,
Linhart Yan B.,
Chaulk Christine A.,
Robertson Cliff A.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
american journal of botany
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.218
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1537-2197
pISSN - 0002-9122
DOI - 10.1002/j.1537-2197.1988.tb08823.x
Subject(s) - biology , fabaceae , taxon , genetic structure , genetic variation , genetic variability , population genetics , population , ecology , evolutionary biology , zoology , genetics , genotype , demography , sociology , gene
Evolutionary theory predicts that species with small ranges and few individuals will exhibit low levels of genetic polymorphism. We investigated the population genetic structure of two locally endemic and two geographically widespread species of Astragalus . To facilitate direct comparisons among these congeners, three populations of each species were sampled in a consistent manner and scored for allozyme polymorphisms at 12 loci. Genetic polymorphism was lower in restricted A. linifolius and A. osterhouti than in widespread A. pectinatus . However, the restricted species do exhibit a moderate level of isozyme variation, comparable to that of widespread A. pattersoni and higher than has been detected in several other rare plant taxa. As measured by Wright's F statistics, there were no consistent differences between the restricted and widespread taxa with respect to the organization of genetic variation. F ST values were low in all taxa, indicating little heterogeneity among populations.