Prosopis laevigata microsatellite and sequence alignment data

Patterns of genetic and phylogeographic structure and recent population history of plant species in the Mexican arid zones has been scarcely investigated. Prosopis laevigata is the most widely spread species of mesquite in Mexico, with extensive populations in the arid and semi-arid zones of the central and northern plateaus and scattered presence in southern Mexico. We evaluated the genetic and phylogeographic structure of this species to infer its recent demographic history. We genotyped six nuclear microsatellite loci and sequenced the psbA3´-trnH chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) region in individuals from 21 populations covering the whole distribution of the species. Nuclear genetic diversity was moderately high (HE=0.527) and genetic differentiation was moderate (FST=0.16). A positive correlation between genetic diversity and latitude was observed. The cpDNA analyses indicated a lack of phylogeographic structure in P. laevigata (GST=0.090, NST=0.101; P=0.497). Historical demography statisti...