Microsatellite DNA variation within and among invasive populations of Ambrosia artemisiifolia from the southern Pannonian Plain |
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| Authors: | N Ko?i? Tubi? M Djan N Veli?kovi? G Ana?kov D Obreht |
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| Institution: | Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia |
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| Abstract: | Although the Pannonian Plain presents one of the areas in Europe most highly infested by Ambrosia artemisiifolia, previously reported population genetic studies of the invasive species have included only a few populations from this region. Our goal was to determine the level of genetic diversity and genetic structure of A. artemisiifolia populations from the southern Pannonian Plain using microsatellite DNA markers. We documented a high level of genetic diversity within the Pannonian populations, as compared with the genetic diversity parameters previously published for the other invasive populations of A. artemisiifolia in Europe. The mean number of alleles per locus (NA) ranged between 6.8 and 9.4, allelic richness (r) between 6.59 and 8.53 and mean number of rare alleles per locus (NR) ranged between 3.4 and 6.4 per analysed population. A low level of among‐population differentiation was detected, with percentage of variation between populations of 3.3%, generally low pairwise FST values (ranged from ?0.007 to 0.152) and also according to principal coordinate analysis. A Bayesian approach revealed that most individuals did not strongly associate with any single genetic cluster, confirming a lack of genetic structuring in the analysed region. Together with the results of quantification of the level of gene flow (Nm = 5.671), these observations indicated a presence of extensive gene exchange and admixture between the populations. Therefore, A. artemisiifolia in the Pannonian Plain region has the potential for rapid expansion. |
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| Keywords: | common ragweed invasive weed genetic variability genetic structure |
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