Genetic Variability and Admixture Zones in the Italian Populations of Turkey Oak ( L.).

The Turkey oak ( L.) is widely distributed in Italy, where it is the ecologically dominant oak on sandy and acidic soil. In this work, we analysed 23 natural populations by means of eight SSR (microsatellite) markers, to obtain the first synthetic map of genetic variability for this species and to study its dispersion during the Holocene, due to the possibility that at least one refugium during the Last Glacial Maximum was in Italy.

A last stand in the Po valley: genetic structure and gene flow patterns in Ulmus minor and U. pumila.

Background And Aims: Ulmus minor has been severely affected by Dutch elm disease (DED). The introduction into Europe of the exotic Ulmus pumila, highly tolerant to DED, has resulted in it widely replacing native U. minor populations.