Biological Invasions (2014) 16, 353-363

Michael F. Nelson, Neil O. Anderson, Michael D. Casler and Andrew R. Jakubowski (2014)
Population genetic structure of N. American and European Phalaris arundinacea L. as inferred from inter-simple sequence repeat markers
Biological Invasions 16 (2), 353-363
Abstract: Phalaris arundinacea L. (reed canarygrass) has become one of the most aggressive invaders of North American wetlands. P. arundinacea is native to temperate N. America, Europe, and Asia, but repeated introductions of European genotypes to N. America, recent range expansions, and the planting of forage and ornamental cultivars complicate the resolution of its demographic history. Molecular tools can help to unravel the demographic and invasion history of populations of invasive species. In this study, inter-simple sequence repeat markers were used to analyze the population genetic structure of European and N. American populations of reed canary grass as well as forage and ornamental cultivars. We found that P. arundinacea harbors a high amount of genetic diversity with most of the diversity located within, as opposed to among, populations. Cluster analyses suggested that current populations are admixtures of two formerly distinct genetic groups.
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Link to article at publishers website

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
molecular biology - genes

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Phalaris arundinacea (weed)