The relationship of two geographically and ecologically separated populations of Turraea socotrana Styles and F. White (Meliaceae), a vulnerable and scattered shrub from the island of Socotra (Yemen), was explored using preliminary molecular data. The nuclear ribosomal ITS region was used to screen the level of genetic divergence of T. socotrana from ecologically distant localities in comparison to a few other species of Turraea and closely related genera. The individuals from the inland (Diksam) differed from the western coastal ones (Ma’alah) by vegetative characters and by the rbcL gene. This may be due to the fact that the population from Ma’alah grows on lithosoil slopes directly exposed to moist winds coming from the sea, whereas the population of Diksam occurs on arid cliffs overlooking the inland of the island. The ITS sequences grouped the studied populations from Socotra together and separated them from other species of Turraea that are morphologically similar and occurring in East Africa. Considering the differences recorded in the rbcL gene, we suggest that the populations of T. socotrana investigated here on only a few specimens from two different areas on the island, deserve more research. Our preliminary study potentially indicates that there may be independent evolutionary significant units in this species, however, more research including a wider sampling and comparison to other taxa is needed.

中文翻译：

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索科特拉岛（也门）Turcoea socotrana（M科）的分子条形码数据的初步见解

使用初步的分子数据，研究了两个地理和生态上分离的Turraea socotrana Styles种群和F. White（M科）的脆弱性，这些种群来自索科特拉岛（也门），是脆弱和分散的灌木。与其他一些Turraea物种和密切相关的属相比，使用核糖核糖体ITS区域来筛选T. socotrana从生态遥远地区的遗传差异水平。从西部沿海的人（Ma'alah）通过无性字符不同内陆（Diksam）和由个人RBCL基因。这可能是由于Ma'alah的人口生长在直接暴露于来自海洋的潮湿风的石坡上，而Diksam的人口则出现在俯瞰该岛内陆的干旱悬崖上。ITS序列将来自索科特拉岛的研究种群归为一类，并将其与其他形态相似且在东非发生的图拉亚物种分离。考虑到rbc L基因中记录的差异，我们建议T. socotrana的种群在这里仅对岛上两个不同区域的几个标本进行了调查，值得进一步研究。我们的初步研究可能表明该物种中可能存在独立的进化重要单位，但是，需要更多的研究，包括更广泛的采样和与其他分类单元的比较。