XVI International Botanical Congess

Plant conservation genetics has been hampered by a lack of markers for studies of levels and patterns of variation in rare species. We have investigated the levels of variation in several rare and widespread species of the western North American genus Lomatium using two relatively new molecular markers: AFLPs and SSCPs. For each species, approx. 150 AFLP loci have been scored, yielding estimates of species-level percent polymorphic loci in rare species ranging from near zero to over 80%. We also examined nucleotide diversity at several single-copy nuclear DNA loci. PCR-amplified segments were analyzed for allelic variation using SSCPs, then each allele was sequenced from representative individuals. These loci show intrapopulational nucleotide polymorphisms. The utility of these two methods for conservation studies is compared.