Genetic structure of populations of several endangered and endemic Dianthus species revealed by microsatellite markers

In order to develop a proper conservation programme for several endangered, rare or endemic species of Dianhtus from Romania, molecular characterization by simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers has been accomplished. Amplification of SSR loci in individuals belonging to different populations of D. callizonus, D. glacialis ssp. gelidus, D. henteri, D. nardiformis and D. tenuifolius revealed 23 polymorphic alleles. D. callizonus and D. tenuifolius showed particular sets of SSR alleles. D. glacialis ssp. gelidus, D. henteri and D. nardiformis proved to share almost the same alleles in most of the loci. The highest genetic diversity was observed in D. glacialis ssp. gelidus and D. tenuifolius in locus MS-DINMADSBOX. Allelic patterns across Dianthus species indicate that the mean number of different alleles was highest in D. glacialis ssp. gelidus, while the number of effective alleles was highest in D. tenuifolius. There are no particular differences in individuals belonging to the same species. Genetic diversity is generally low, ranging from 0.18 (D. callizonus) to 0.44 (D. henteri). Regarding the genetic diversity within populations of the same species, no differences were revealed by the use of the SSR markers tested in the present study.