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In the eastern Adriatic flora the genus Pistacia L. (Anacardiaceae) is represented with P. lentiscus L., P. terebinthus L., their hybrid P. × saportae Burnat and the cultivated P. vera L. In addition, an endemic putative taxon from Mt. Biokovo was described in 1985 as P. calcivora Radić. Our aim was to resolve relationships between the four putative indigenous taxa of this genus in Croatia (P. lentiscus, P. terebinthus, P. × saportae and P. calcivora) based on genetic (AFLP) and morphological data. Specifically, we aimed to determine the presence of the hybrid taxon P. × saportae and to validate the controversial taxonomic status of P. calcivora at the molecular and morphological levels. Our combined results indicate the presence of two well separated groups of populations. The first group included all individuals of P. terebinthus and the individuals initially assigned to the potential taxon P. calcivora based on leaf morphology, suggesting that there is no support for the described taxon P. calcivora and that it should be considered as a synonym for P. terebinthus. The second group corresponded to P. lentiscus and included the majority of the presumed hybrid individuals of P. × saportae. However, four hybrid individuals were confirmed at the molecular level and were placed between the two parental taxa in the phylogenetic tree, confirming the presence of P. × saportae in Croatia. Although confirmed P. × saportae individuals were genetically closer to P. lentiscus, they were morphologically more similar to P. terebinthus, hindering their correct identification in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Campanula hawkinsiana and C. ramosissima are among the poorly investigated Campanula species distributed in the Balkan Peninsula. According to recent phylogenetic studies these species are closely related, and they belong to the section Decumbentes along with the two species from the Iberian Peninsula. However, none of these published studies included a larger number of populations of C. hawkinsiana and C. ramosissima, nor were they studied in detail at the morphological level. During our floristic investigations in the Balkan Peninsula, we observed a great morphological variability within the populations of C. ramosissima. The most morphologically specific and diverse are C. ramosissima populations from Montenegro. Considering all this, in this study, both molecular (AFLP fingerprinting and DNA sequencing) and classical morphometric analyses were applied with the aim to get insight into the genetic diversity and morphological variability of the populations from Montenegro and geographically close populations of both species from the section Decumbentes in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula. Significant morphological differences and a distinct position based on molecular phylogenetic evidence indicate that the plants from Montenegro should be recognized as a new subspecies, described here as Campanula ramosissima subsp. megapetala subsp. nov. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Dalmatian pyrethrum (Tanacetum cinerariifolium Trevir. /Sch./ Bip.) is an outcrossing, perennial insecticidal plant, restricted to the eastern Adriatic coast (Mediterranean). Amplified fragment-length polymorphisms (AFLP) were used to investigate the genetic diversity and structure within and among 20 natural plant populations. The highest level of gene diversity, the number of private alleles and the frequency down-weighted marker values (DW) were found in northern Adriatic populations and gradually decreased towards the southern boundary of the species range. Genetic impoverishment of these southern populations is most likely the result of human-related activities. An analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) indicated that most of the genetic diversity was attributed to differences among individuals within populations (85.78%), which are expected due to the outcrossing nature of the species. A Bayesian analysis of the population structure identified two dominant genetic clusters. A spatial analysis of the genetic diversity indicated that 5.6% of the genetic differentiation resulted from isolation by distance (IBD), while 12.3% of the genetic differentiation among populations followed the pattern of isolation by environmental distance (IBED). Knowledge of the genetic diversity patterns of the natural populations and the mechanism behind these patterns is required for the exploitation and possible conservation management of this endemic and economically important species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers were used to assess genetic relations of 32 Thymus populations belonging to seven species of genus Thymus, section Serpyllum, from Serbia. The collected species belong to three subsections: (1) Alternantes Klokov (Th. pulegioides L.), (2) Isolepides (Borbás) Halácsy (Th. glabrescens Willd., Th. marschallianus Willd., Th. pannonicus All.), and (3) Pseudomarginati (Braun ex Borbás) Jalas (Th. balcanus Borbás, Th. moesiacus Velen., Th. praecox Opiz). Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed that most of the genetic diversity was attributable to differences among individuals within populations, while the remaining variability was almost equally distributed among species and among populations within species. The pairwise AMOVA analyses further showed that species differentiation was significant in all cases, except between Th. marschallianus and Th. pannonicus. All the individuals belonging to Th. pulegioides (subsection Alternantes) formed a well-supported clade, the most divergent from all other species in this study. This genetic differentiation of Th. pulegioides is supported by its morphological features because it is the only analyzed taxon having hairs only on the stem edges, and can easily be recognized by this character. According to our results, the subsection Isolepides is polyphyletic. Th. glabrescens is clearly separated from the other two species of this subsection (Th. marschallianus, Th. pannonicus). Although morphologically distinguishable by leaf indumentum, individuals belonging to Th. marschallianus and Th. pannonicus could not be differentiated at the molecular level. The species belonging to subsection Pseudomarginati formed a monophyletic clade, although not supported by high bootstrap value. The clade is further divided into three well-supported clades representing distinct species (Th. balcanus, Th. praecox and Th. moesiacus). In our study, the AFLP markers demonstrated that they could be suitable for studying complex genetic relationships, including frequent interspecies hybridization events, although strict reticulate evolutionary history could not be determined. All the population genetic parameters in the section Serpyllum suggest that the reproductive incompatibility between the species is very weak, which indicates a strong reticulating system, especially in the case when two or more species occur sympatrically. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

DNA fingerprinting (AFLP) and chemical analyses of essential oils were utilized to define the extent of variation existing in the genus Ocimum. Research was carried out on 22 Ocimum accessions representing seven species. Concerning the essential oil composition of all investigated accessions, 115 compounds were identified. UPGMA cluster analysis, based on Euclidian distances of essential oil constituents between all pairs of accessions, showed four well-supported clusters ( O. tenuiflorum, O. basilicum/O. africanum, O. basilicum, and O. americanum/O. africanum). Relating to the essential oil composition of all of the investigated accessions, 17 compounds were identified as the main ones, and according to them 13 chemotypes were determined. AFLP relationships were determined by neighbor-joining (NJ) cluster analysis based on Dice's distance matrix and by maximum parsimony (MP) analysis. O. basilicum, O. americanum/O. africanum, O. tenuiflorum, and O. gratissimum represented four clusters supported with high bootstrap values. A neighbor-net diagram allowed the visualization of apparently conflicting data by revealing relationships between genotypes and chemotypes. Concerning the O. africanum species, two distinct chemotypes, geranial/neral (accession 11) and estragol (accession 10), have been established, while all the studied O. americanum accessions belong to the geranial/neral chemotype. This could be additional evidence that O. americanum is one of the parents of O. africanum. Furthermore, the fact that the O. africanum accession (10) as well as O. basilicum 'Purpurascens' and O. basilicum 'Erevanskii' accessions belong to the estragol chemotype supports the theory that O. africanum is one of the parents of these two O. basilicum accessions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sideritis scardica Giseb. is a subalpine/alpine plant species endemic to the central part of the Balkan Peninsula. In this study, we combined Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) and environmental data to examine the adaptive genetic variations in S. scardica natural populations sampled in contrasting environments. A total of 226 AFLP loci were genotyped in 166 individuals from nine populations. The results demonstrated low gene diversity, ranging from 0.095 to 0.133 and significant genetic differentiation ranging from 0.115 to 0.408. Seven genetic clusters were revealed by Bayesian clustering methods as well as by Discriminant Analysis of Principal Components and each population formed its respective cluster. The exception were populations P02 Mt. Shara and P07 Mt. Vermio, that were admixed between two clusters. Both landscape genetic methods Mcheza and BayeScan identified a total of seven (3.10%) markers exhibiting higher levels of genetic differentiation among populations. The spatial analysis method Samβada detected 50 individual markers (22.12%) associated with bioclimatic variables, among them seven were identified by both Mcheza and BayeScan as being under directional selection. Four bioclimatic variables associated with five out of seven outliers were related to precipitation, suggesting that this variable is the key factor affecting the adaptive variation of S. scardica. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Genetic variability of wild red raspberry populations. • Relationship with the most common cultivated cultivars. • Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers. • AFLP markers show that the cultivars are clearly distinct from wild populations. • The most of the genetic diversity is attributable to differences between individuals. The red raspberry (Rubus idaeus L.) is one of the most important fruit species in Serbia; there are currently approximately 11000 ha under cultivation. Wild red raspberry populations can be an important source of genes for breeding new raspberry varieties. This study was carried out to determine the genetic variability of wild populations, as well as their relationship with the most common cultivated cultivars using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers. In this study were included 128 individuals from seven wild populations and seven cultivar specimens from a nursery ('Mekeer', 'Willamette', 'Polka', 'Polana', 'Loganberry', 'Tayberry', 'Black Jewel'). Four AFLP combinations yielded a total of 247 polymorphic bands in 135 R. idaeus specimens. Analysis of AFLP markers showed that the cultivars are clearly distinct from wild populations. Population P4 (Mt. Ozren) had the highest gene diversity, the highest number of private markers and the highest rarity index. Analysis of molecular variance among and within wild populations showed that the most of the genetic diversity was attributable to differences between individuals within populations. A Mantel test showed that differences in altitude play the crucial role in structuring of the genetic diversity of red raspberry populations. Altitude contributed more to the population differentiation than spatial distance. Populations of wild raspberry from the territory of Serbia are characterized by high diversity, and should be protected and used as a resource in selection and breeding processes for the production of new varieties, with improved properties in terms of better yield and stronger resistance to external factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]