International audienc

Abstract. Adenophora liliifolia is a relict plant species, endangered at European level. Its occurrence in Romania is limited to a very few sites. The amount of genetic diversity of plant species is a valuable indicator of population, being the baseline in developing proper strategies for their conservation. Inter-simple sequence repeats (ISSRs) markers were used to analyze polymorphism in A. liliifolia genome and to evaluate the genetic diversity and accordingly, the state of a recently identified population. Five ISSR primers, specially designed for plants, and containing different simple sequence repeat motifs were tested. A total of 52 ISSR fragments were generated of which 41 were polymorphic (78.84%) and 32 (61.53%) specific to Adenophora genus. The value of Shannon's index of genotypic diversity was 0.812. Jaccard similarity coefficient was calculated for pair wise comparisons among all individuals and ranged from 0.17 to 0.83. The genetic variability between individuals was 78.84% which suggests a relative high genetic differentiation. Although the level of genetic variability is moderate to high, the population is declining and exposed to demographic stochasticity. A possible cause is species germination requirements hampered by modification in vegetation structure and abundance. The population survival and reinforcement is conditioned by urgent measures for forest management in order to reduce herbaceous and shrubby vegetation and to limit mowing and grazing. Ex situ conservation measures are also proposed.

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Nitraria schoberi L. (Nitrariaceae) is a halophytic plant with a continuous range in Central Asia and with only two populations in the westernmost distribution limit of species, in Romania. Currently, there is no documented explanation for the species’ presence in Europe, outside the main distribution area. Considering that marginal populations genetics are important in establishing range limits and species adaptative potential, genetic diversity was assessed using Inter-simple sequence repeat markers (ISSR). Both the Shannon’s Information Index (I) and Expected Heterozygosity (He) suggested a relatively low level of genetic diversity within the two populations. However, the Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Mean (UPGMA) dendrogram and Principal Coordinates Analysis clearly distinguished the two populations. Our presumptions, based on current results, are that the marginal westernmost population of N. schoberi was established due to the unique conditions from the “islands of desert” developed in a temperate continental climate. The European establishment of this species was likely accidental and probably due to ornithochory. Genetic relatedness between populations could be a consequence of their common origin, presumably from proximal Asian N. schoberi populations, while the separation can be explained by the lack of genetic material exchange between the two populations.