Conservation significance of the genetic structure of regressive populations of Lobelia dortmanna L. in Belarus

The article analyzes the genetic diversity of populations of Lobelia dortmanna L. (Dortmann’s lobelia) performed using molecular iPBS markers. All known populations in Belarus from lakes Beloye (Luninetsky district), Svityaz (Novogrudsky district), Belyanets and Bredno (Rossonosky district), located in island localities far from the south-east border of the range, were studied. The research results showed that Nei’s greatest genetic distance is characteristic of the Belyanets population (0.15), and the least one is characteristic of the Bredno population (0.10). For this species, no relationship has been identified between the position of the population within the range, its size, plant vitality and the level of genetic diversity.

For Belarusian populations of Lobelia dortmanna L., a predominance of interpopulation variability (54 %) over intrapopulation variability (46 %) was established, which indicates a high level of their genetic differentiation. The gene flow for populations of the species under study is 0.35, which confirms the low level of gene exchange between populations and is consistent with an extremely low population size of the species in the territory of Belarus, as well as the isolation of populations both from the main fragment of the species’ range and among themselves. Data of the cluster analysis of Lobelia dortmanna L. populations demonstrate their division into 2 genetically distinct groups, the geographical location of which confirms their genetic connection with the Fennoscandian and Atlantic-European fragments of the species’ range in the northern part of Europe.

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