Spatial patterns and intraspecific diversity of the glacial relict legume species Vavilovia formosa (Stev.) Fed. in Eurasia

Abstract

Vavilovia formosa is one of five genera in tribe Fabeae, (Fabaceae, Leguminosae) with close phylogenetic relationships to Pisum. It grows in subalpine and alpine levels in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Russia and Turkey and is recognized as an endangered and protected plant. This study was conducted to reveal its intraspecific variability, as well as to predict the past, extant and future species distribution range. We analysed 51 accessions with common phylogenetic markers (trnF-trnL, trnS-trnG, matK, rbcL, psbA-trnH and ITS). These represent in total up to 2551 bp of chloroplast and 664 bp of nuclear sequences per sample. Two populations from Turkey and Armenia were analysed for genetic diversity by AFLP.