engleski

Patterns of genetic diversity in wild and cultivated populations of dalmatian sage (Salvia officinalis L., Lamiaceae)

Salvia officinalis L., Dalmatian sage, is an outcrossing, subshrubby medicinal and aromatic perennial. The natural distribution area of S. officinalis is coastal region of the western Balkan and southern Apennine Peninsulas but due to its medicinal, culinary and ornamental properties it has been widely cultivated since ancient times. The aim of this study was to investigate the genetic diversity and population structure of the wild, cultivated and naturalized populations of S. officinalis across the Balkan Peninsula. We used eight microsatellite markers to genotype 709 samples from 30 populations. As expected, non-native populations exhibited significantly lower allelic richness as well as gene diversity in comparison to native populations. The neighbour-joining tree showed that the most of the populations grouped together in accordance to geographical position of their collecting sites, from Slovenia in the North-West of the region to Greece in the South-East, with the exception of seven non-native populations that grouped separately from the rest, suggesting the common origin of the cultivated plant material. A Bayesian analysis of the population structure identified two dominant genetic clusters clearly separating indigenous and cultivated/naturalized populations. The indigenous populations further formed three subclusters indicating geographical structuring.

Salvia; genetic diversity; microsatellites

Croatian Science Foundation Project No 09.01/246: Epigenetic vs. genetic diversity in natural plant populations: A case study of Croatian endemic Salvia species