| Summary: | The link between polyploidy and the disjunct arctic-alpine European distribution of Potentilla crantzii was studied with particular reference to the role of serpentine habitats. Flow cytometry, AFLPs and cpDNA sequencing provided insights into ploidy level variation and the genetic structure of European populations. We recorded a ploidy differentiated arctic-alpine disjunction with tetraploids limited to the central- and southern-European mountain chains and hexaploids dominating in the Subarctic. Two lowland serpentine populations in the Czech Republic and Austria exhibited contrasting genetic patterns suggesting different evolutionary histories, with the tetraploid Czech population showing a conspicuously high genetic diversity. Finally, our genetic and cytological data did not support a distinct taxonomic status for the serpentine populations that were traditionally differentiated as P. crantzii subsp. serpentini.
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