Genetic diversity and population structure of Opisthopappus longilobus and Opisthopappus taihangensis (Asteraceae) in China determined using sequence related amplified polymorphism markers.

Abstract: The genetic diversity and structure of four Opisthopappus longilobus and nine Opisthopappus taihangensis populations from Mts. Taihang were analyzed using SRAP markers. The results showed that O. longilobus (PPB = 95.16%, H = 0.349, I = 0.517) and O. taihangensis populations (PPB = 94.58%, H = 0.332, I = 0.504) had high genetic diversity. The genetic diversity within populations varied according to two species. Low genetic differentiation was detected among O. longilobus (Φ ST = 0.105) and O. taihangensis (Φ ST = 0.188) populations, respectively. Significantly genetic variation was found between O. longilobus and O. taihangensis (Φ ST = 0.232). The dendrogram generated from pairwise genetic distance among all populations showed two distinct clusters, each corresponding to one species. A Mantel test revealed insignificant positive correlation between genetic distances and geographic distances (r O. longilobus = 0.3021; r O. taihangensis = 0.3658; P > 0.05). Those results indicated that self-compatibility, effective gene flow, biological traits, and historical factors may be the main factors causing geographical differentiation in the structure of O. longilobus and O. taihangensis populations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]