Pleistocene climatic changes affected the current distribution and genetic structure of alpine plants. Some refugial areas for the high elevation species have been proposed in the Alps, but whether they could survive on nunataks, is still controversial. Here, the spatial genetic structure in Salix serpillifolia revealed by chloroplast (cpSSR) and nuclear (nSSR) microsatellites was compared with the MaxEnt-modelled geographic distributions under current and past (Last Glacial Maximum) climate conditions. Our results suggest that the genetic pattern of differentiation detected in S. serpillifolia may be explained by the existence of Pleistocene refugia, including nunataks. The geographical patterns of variation obtained from the chloroplast and nuclear markers were not fully congruent. The spatial genetic structure that was based on nSSRs was more homogenous, while the cpSSR-based pattern pointed at strong genetic structure along the Alps. Five populations from the Central Alps had a combination of local and unique cpSSR clusters and admixture of those occurring in the Western and Eastern Alps. These findings may indicate the local survival of small populations of S. serpillifolia that were subsequently populated by new colonists in the postglacial period.

中文翻译：

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地方性高山植物柳柳的空间遗传结构：由于次生定殖而在nunataks上出现了基因沼泽？

更新世的气候变化影响了高山植物的当前分布和遗传结构。在阿尔卑斯山已经提出了一些高海拔物种的避难所，但是它们是否可以在un上生存仍然是有争议的。在这里，我们比较了叶绿体（cpSSR）和核（nSSR）微卫星揭示的柳柳的空间遗传结构与在当前和过去（上一次冰河末期）气候条件下用MaxEnt模拟的地理分布。我们的结果表明，在S. serpillifolia中检测到分化的遗传模式。可能由更新世的庇护所（包括nunataks）解释。从叶绿体和核标记获得的变异的地理格局并不完全一致。基于nSSRs的空间遗传结构更加同质，而基于cpSSR的模式指出了阿尔卑斯山沿岸的强大遗传结构。来自中部阿尔卑斯山的五个种群结合了局部和独特的cpSSR簇，并结合了西部和东部阿尔卑斯山中的种群。这些发现可能表明，在冰河后期，由新殖民者组成的小链球菌小种群在当地生存。