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Conservation Genetics of UK Plants

Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) fingerprints of Sorbus taxa from the UK.

The Conservation Genetics Unit (now a group within the Genetics Section in the Jodrell Laboratory) was established in the mid 1990s as an additional area taking advantage of the techniques and equipment that had become available at Kew as a result of the formation of the Molecular Systematics Section.  Whereas the Molecular Systematics Section has focused largely on phylogenetic studies based on DNA sequence data, much of the work done by the Conservation Genetics group uses genetic fingerprinting techniques for investigating questions relating to, for example, improved conservation management and species delimitation.  Many of the projects undertaken have been on UK plants, although some plants from other countries (Spain, Portugal, St Helena, among others) have also been studied when funding is available.

The UK projects are chosen in close collaboration with the statutory conservation agencies, notably English Nature and Countryside Council for Wales, and the taxa targeted are ones for which genetic data will have a clear application in deciding management strategies. Current subjects for study include Carex muricata subsp. muricata, Cypripedium calceolus, Hieracium species, Limonium species, Ophrys fuciflora, Ophrys sphegodes, Orchis militaris, Orchis purpurea, Orchis simia, Scleranthus perennis and Sorbus species.  Work on Orchidaceae is covered under a separate project in more detail.  Results from our studies are then fed back to the relevant agency/agencies in the form of conservation genetics reports, with recommendations for management changes in light of the genetic data when appropriate.  Some studies are also published in peer-reviewed journals.

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