Abstract:
Endemic species are especially vulnerable to biodiversity loss caused by isolation or habitat
specificity, small population size, and anthropogenic factors. Endemic species biodiversity analysis
has a critically important global value for the development of conservation strategies. The rare
onion Allium ledebourianum is a narrow-lined endemic species, with natural populations located in
the extreme climatic conditions of the Kazakh Altai. A. ledebourianum populations are decreasing
everywhere due to anthropogenic impact, and therefore, this species requires preservation and
protection. Conservation of this rare species is associated with monitoring studies to investigate the
genetic diversity of natural populations. Fundamental components of eukaryote genome include
multiple classes of interspersed repeats. Various PCR-based DNA fingerprinting methods are used
to detect chromosomal changes related to recombination processes of these interspersed elements.
These methods are based on interspersed repeat sequences and are an effective approach for assessing the biological diversity of plants and their variability. We applied DNA profiling approaches
based on conservative sequences of interspersed repeats to assess the genetic diversity of natural
A. ledebourianum populations located in the territory of Kazakhstan Altai. The analysis of natural
A. ledebourianum populations, carried out using the DNA profiling approach, allowed the effective
differentiation of the populations and assessment of their genetic diversity. We used conservative
sequences of tRNA primer binding sites (PBS) of the long-terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposons as
PCR primers. Amplification using the three most effective PBS primers generated 628 PCR amplicons,
with an average of 209 amplicons. The average polymorphism level varied from 34% to 40% for all
studied samples. Resolution analysis of the PBS primers showed all of them to have high or medium
polymorphism levels, which varied from 0.763 to 0.965. Results of the molecular analysis of variance
showed that the general biodiversity of A. ledebourianum populations is due to interpopulation (67%)
and intrapopulation (33%) differences. The revealed genetic diversity was higher in the most distant
population of A. ledebourianum LD64, located on the Sarymsakty ridge of Southern Altai. This is the
first genetic diversity study of the endemic species A. ledebourianum using DNA profiling approaches.
This work allowed us to collect new genetic data on the structure of A. ledebourianum populations in
the Altai for subsequent development of preservation strategies to enhance the reproduction of this
relict species. The results will be useful for the conservation and exploitation of this species, serving
as the basis for further studies of its evolution and ecology.
Keywords: Allium ledebourianum Schult.; molecular marker; genetic diversity; iPBS amplification;DNA profiling