The use of MSAP reveals epigenetic diversity of the invasive clonal populations of Arundo donax L.

Among the most widespread plant species with clonal reproduction Arundo donax L. represents one of most studied one characterized by very low genetic biodiversity. Although it is a perennial rhizomatous tall grass native to eastern and southern Asia, it spreads only asexually in the invaded range all over the world thriving very well in a large array of pedo-climatic conditions. This ability to morphologically or physiologically adapt to a broad array of conditions could be attributed to epigenetic mechanisms. To shade light on this relevant issue, 96 stems of A. donax from spontaneous populations distributed across the Italian invaded range (island of Sardinia, Northern and Southern Italy) were analysed. Leaf DNAs were extracted and processed through AFLPs and MSAPs for defining either genetic and epigenetic profiles. Both analyses clearly showed that the A. donax populations of Sardinia island are genetically distinct from those of Italian mainland; AFLPs showed an extremely low genetic biodiversity due to vegetative reproduction, whilst, epi-biodiversity, estimated through MSAP marker, increased within the analyzed populations. These results suggest that the capability of A. donax to invade and thrive in diverse environmental conditions can be, at least, partially attributed to a higher epigenetic variability. Therefore, the different DNA methylation status may have significant and important biological meaning, in particular, in the case of invasive clonal plants such as A. donax, also for the biodiversity definition, and MSAP marker can be considered an useful and cost effective marker to reveal it.