SLOTTA, TRACEY A. BODO* and DUNCAN M. PORTER. Department of Biology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA. - Population Genetics in Iliamna using ISSRs.
Two species in Iliamna Greene, I. corei and I.
remota, have been questioned as to their designation as separate
species. Iliamna remota, the Kankakee Mallow, is found in
several disjunct populations in eastern Illinois, Indiana, and western
Virginia. It is speculated that I. remota was introduced into
Virginia during the early 1900s via human activity and railways.
Iliamna corei, the Peters Mountain Mallow, is known from one
population located in southwest Virginia on Peters Mountain.
Currently, their populations do not overlap and their habitats differ
greatly. Both I. corei and I. remota are classified as
endangered at the state level and I. corei is federally listed
as well. Conservation efforts are underway to preserve populations in
both species. Inter-simple sequence repeats (ISSRs) have been shown to
be informative in species and population studies and for estimating
genetic diversity of rare and endangered plant species. Ten primers
were used for 36 individuals representing I. corei and I.
remota. For I. remota, four Virginia, one Indiana, and four
Illinois populations were sampled. Iliamna corei
representatives were obtained from the natural population on Peters
Mountain and the research garden at Virginia Tech. The data were
analyzed cladistically using parsimony and by UPGMA and
neighbor-joining analysis. The results correlate with the geological
distribution of the species and suggest multiple introduction events
of I. remota to Virginia.
Key words: Iliamna, ISSR, Malvaceae