Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 April 2009
Geographic variation was studied at 15 electrophoretic loci (40 alleles) in Italian populations of Ornithogalum montanum Cyr. ex Ten. (Liliaceae). Homogeneity of allele frequencies was assessed by G tests; gene-frequency patterns were described by spatial autocorrelation statistics; matrices of genetic and environmental distance were compared through a series of Mantel's tests, and the zones of highest overall gene-frequency change per unit distance (steep multi-locus clines, or genetic boundaries) were identified. Nineteen allele frequencies appear heterogeneously distributed, but only 3 of them show significant spatial structure. Only 2 allele frequencies are correlated with 1 environmental parameter. Large genetic differences are observed between spatially close populations. These findings support a model of differentiation in which the genetic relationships between isolates do not depend on their spatial distances, but reflect mainly population subdivision and restricted gene flow.