Genista anglica s.l. (Fabaceae): genetic similarities between Iberian and Italian populations

Abstract

Genista anglica L. (Fabaceae) is a Western European plant, widespread from Northern Morocco to Southern Sweden, with two geographically isolated populations in Calabria (Italy). Based on morphological characters, some authors considered the southern Italian populations as two different species: Genista silana and Genista brutia. Recent phylogeographical studies reveal that the G. silana and G. brutia populations share genetic similarities with some populations of the widespread G. anglica from Northwestern of Iberian Peninsula, despite a distance of approximately 2000 km. Previously, other authors suggested anthropogenic introduction of these plants in the South of Italy, but this hypothesis has not been thoroughly investigated. To unravel the uncertain origin of the isolated Italian populations, we conducted a more detailed study about the genetic relationships between southern Italian populations and Northwestern of Iberian Peninsula populations of G. anglica s.l., using plastid DNA sequences. Our results show identical and similar haplotypes in some of the populations of the Northwestern of Iberian Peninsula and the Italian populations, which supports the hypothesis of a recent anthropogenic introduction.