Plant Ecology and Evolution 153(1): 101-107, doi: 10.5091/plecevo.2020.1648
Genetic structure and conservation status of Astragalus subrecognitus (Fabaceae): a very rare and narrow endemic species
expand article infoAli Bagheri‡, Shabnam Abbasi‡, Mohammad Mahmoodi§, Azadeh Akhavan Roofigar|, Frank R Blattner
‡ Department of Plant and Animal Biology, Faculty of Biological Science and Technology, University of Isfahan, Hezarjarib Street, P.O. Box 81746-73441, Isfahan, Iran§ Botany Research Division, Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), P.O. Box 13185-116, Tehran, Iran| Research Department of Natural Resources, Isfahan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Center, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), P.O. Box 81785-199, Isfahan, Iran¶ IPK Gattersleben, Gattersleben, Germany

Corresponding author: Ali Bagheri ( a.bagheri@sci.ui.ac.ir )

© Ali Bagheri, Shabnam Abbasi, Mohammad Mahmoodi, Azadeh Akhavan Roofigar, Frank R. Blattner.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation: Bagheri A, Abbasi S, Mahmoodi M, Akhavan Roofigar A, Blattner FR (2020) Genetic structure and conservation status of Astragalus subrecognitus (Fabaceae): a very rare and narrow endemic species. Plant Ecology and Evolution 153(1): 101-107. https://doi.org/10.5091/plecevo.2020.1648
Open Access
Abstract

Background and aims – Narrow endemics, characterized by small distribution areas and small effective population sizes are prone to extinction due to low genetic variation caused by genetic bottlenecks and drift together with the danger of habitat loss. Astragalus subrecognitus is an endemic species that only occurs in northwestern Iran in mountain steppe at higher elevations above the Qezel Ozan River in the province Zanjan.

Methods – In this study, we investigated the genetic structure of the populations of A. subrecognitus using inter simple sequence repeats (ISSR) and sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) as molecular markers.

Key results – We detected two genetic groups, which do however not concur with the geographic origins east and west of the Qezel Ozan River. Extant gene flow between these populations is rather unlikely given their distance of c. 70 km and the lack of suitable habitats for this species in lower areas of the valley in between.

Conclusions – From this we conclude that we see an older pattern of geographic isolation that was followed by an exchange of genotypes during a time when migration through the valley was possible. Still, admixture between both genetic clusters was found only in one individual, indicating that broadening of allelic diversity by hybridization between individuals belonging to different genetic clusters might be a slow process. Due to the small size of the population, sparse inhabited area, and also very slow or even lack of regeneration in some places we consider A. subrecognitus according to IUCN Red List criteria as ‘endangered’ species.

Keywords
Astragalus subrecognitus, conservation, endemic species, genetic variability, ISSR, SRAP

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