A study on the genetic variability of Biatora helvola using RAPD markers

Biatora helvola is a corticolous crustose lichen occurring in boreal and mo ntane spruce and spruce-fir-beech forests. After the last glaciation, spruc e reinvaded Europe from three refugia situated in the Carpathians, southeas tern parts of the Alps and the Ural Mts., resulting in a slightly disjunct distribution. Our aim was to find out whether the glacial fragmentation of the distributional area of spruce is reflected by genetic differences in a typical spruce-forest lichen. Collections of Biatora helvola from Scandinav ia and various parts of Central Europe were investigated using RAPD analysi s. Algal free periclinal sections of the apothecia were obtained using a fr eezing microtome and transferred directly into PCR tubes. Six different RAP D primers were used. The data were analysed using PAUP(star). It was shown that genetic differences between samples of B. helvola reflect the glacial disjunction of spruce in Europe. (C) 1999 The British Lichen Society.