A Study on the Genetic Variability of Biatora Helvola using Rapd Markers

Abstract

Biatora helvola is a corticolous crustose lichen occurring in boreal and montane spruce and spruce-fir-beech forests. After the last glaciation, spruce reinvaded Europe from three refugia situated in the Carpathians, southeastern parts of the Alps and the Ural Mts., resulting in a slightly disjunct distribution. Our aim was to find out whether the glacial fragmentation of the distributional area of spruce is reflected by genetic differences in a typical spruce-forest lichen. Collections of Biatora helvola from Scandinavia and various parts of Central Europe were investigated using RAPD analysis. Algal free periclinal sections of the apothecia were obtained using a freezing microtome and transferred directly into PCR tubes. Six different RAPD primers were used. The data were analysed using PAUP*. It was shown that genetic differences between samples of B. helvola reflect the glacial disjunction of spruce in Europe.