Arctic-alpine plant communities host many endemic and relict species. Many such species are sensitive to habitat changes and have been already affected by climate change, which makes their study especially relevant. The current study focuses on the circumpolar arctic-alpine relict diploid subshrub / dwarf shrub Dryas octopetala (Rosaceae) in Ukraine. Four known and currently available populations were assessed and sampled. Three sets of 50 different AFLP markers each were used to investigate genetic diversity, population structure, and other parameters. STRUCTURE analyses, in conjunction with the phylogenetic network, indicate no significant differences in genetic structure among populations. However, the population on Mt. Brebeneskul shows a very marginal difference in comparison to three other dryad populations in Ukraine. Geographic isolation, differing migration paths, and the potential for interbreeding could explain this outcome. Additional studies using various methods (e.g., SSR, genome-wide SNP analysis, GWAS, WGS) are needed to obtain a clearer picture.

Supplementary Material. Supplementary Materials (Matrices S1–S4, Figures S1–S4, and Haplotype networks S5–S8) are available on this website: ukrbotj83-03-161-S1-S8.zip (137 KB).

Keywords: AFLP, Carpathians, Dryas octopetala, STRUCTURE, PCoA, populations, Ukraine

Full text: PDF (Eng) 1.86M

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