DNA diversity in Hawaiian endemic plant Schiedea globosa

This is the first report of a study devoted to the population genetics of speciation in the endemic Hawaiian plant genus Schiedea ( Caryophyllaceae). Here, we report the estimates of DNA sequence diversity and divergence in a newly isolated nuclear gene from Maui and Oahu Schiedea globosa populations. Overall, the species-wide average heterozygosity per silent site is pi = 0.3%. The silent DNA diversity on the older island of Oahu (pi = 0.24%) is almost twice as high as on the younger Maui (pi = 0.14%). Consistent with this, the haplotype phylogeny suggests a more recent origin of the Maui populations. There is no significant isolation between the two Maui populations (F-st = 0.027), while isolation between the two islands is high (F-st = 0.57, P