engleski

Morphological and molecular differentiation of Croatian populations of Quercus pubescens Willd

Taxonomy of the genus Quercus L. is very complicated and often controversial because of its great variability and intense gene flow among the related species. The purpose of this research was to determine morphological and molecular variation, relationships and taxonomic status of Croatian populations of the Quercus pubescens Willd. using morphological analysis of the leaves and RAPD-PCR technique. The results of the morphological and molecular analyses were very similar, both showing differentiation of the southern (Mediterranean) from the northern (Continental) pubescent oak populations. These two groups were clearly separated and the gene flow among the populations that belong to different group is significantly less then among the populations that belong to the same group. The obtained results were compared to the available studies. This study confirms a high variability of the Q. pubescens populations, but differences were not so big to confirm the opinion of existing of several species in this area. The conclusion is that the southern Croatian populations could be pure Q. pubescens populations, while the peculiarities of the northern Croatian populations originate probably because of the Q. petrea introgression.

population differentiation; morphology; RAPD; introgression

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