engleski

Adaptive genetic diversity in Dalmatian sage (Salvia officinalis L., Lamiaceae)

One of the main challenges in molecular ecology and population genetics is the detection of genes, or genomic regions, that have been targeted by natural selection. The aim of this study was to quantify the relative contribution of natural selection in shaping the genetic variation observed among Dalmatian sage (Salvia officinalis L.) populations. Genetic diversity of 25 Dalmatian sage populations from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, each consisting of 20 to 25 plants, was assessed using AFLP markers. Two alternative methods for the identification of FST outlier loci have been used: the frequentist methods implemented in Mcheza and the Bayesian method implemented in BayeScan. Moreover, the spatial analysis method as implemented in Samada was used to compute multiple univariate logistic regressions to test the probability of presence of an allelic variant for a polymorphic marker given the environmental conditions of the sampling locations. The climate data for the sampling locations were obtained from the WorldClim database. The ecological characteristics were described using 19 bioclimatic variables representing the annual trends, seasonal variations and extremes in temperature and precipitation. The comparison of the outlier marker loci detected by the three approaches could help to identify the factors that are responsible for the observed spatial structuring of genetic diversity in Dalmatian sage populations.

Salvia; genetic diversity; AFLP

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