Genetic diversity and differentiation of populations of Anthyllis vulneraria along elevational and latitudinal gradients

The abundant centre model (ACM) predicts that the suitability of environmental conditions for a species decreases from the centre of its distribution towards its range periphery and consequently its populations will become scarcer, smaller and more isolated, resulting in lower genetic diversity and increased differentiation. However, little is known about whether genetic diversity shows similar patterns along elevational and latitudinal gradients with similar changes in important environmental conditions. Using microsatellite markers we studied the genetic diversity and structure of 20 populations each of Anthyllis vulneraria along elevational gradients in the Alps from the valleys to the elevational limit (2500 m), and along a latitudinal gradient (2500 km) from Central Europe to the range margin in northern Scandinavia. Both types of gradients corresponded to a 11.5 °C difference in mean annual temperature. Genetic diversity strongly declined and differentiation increased with latitud..., Genotyping using microsatellite markers
We extracted genomic DNA using a DNeasy Plant Mini Kit (QIAGEN, Hilden, Germany) starting from approximately 10 mg of dried material. Samples were genotyped at 17 microsatellite loci (AV2, AV3, AV7, AV8, AV10, AV12, AV14, AV23, AV-000290, AV-002128, AV-004868, AV-005692, AV-015354, AV-020270, AV-021012, AV-021224, AV-021803, for references see Van Glabeke et al. 2007 and Kesselring et al. 2013) in four multiplex reactions using the QIAGEN Multiplex PCR Kit (QIAGEN, Hilden, Germany).
Multiplex 1 contained loci AV23 (Van Glabeke et al., 2007), AV-000290 and AV-015354 (Kesselring et al., 2013). Multiplex 2 contained loci AV2, AV3, AV12 (Van Glabeke et al., 2007), AV-021012 and AV-021224 (Kesselring et al., 2013). Multiplex 3 contained loci AV7, AV8, AV10 (Van Glabeke et al. 2007) and AV-004868 (Kesselring et al., 2013). Multiplex 4 contained loci AV14 (Van Glabeke et al., 2007), AV-002128, AV-005692, AV-020270 and AV-021803 (Kesselring et al., 2013)..., Spreadsheet programm (e.g. Excel)