Genetic variation and population genetic structure in Trifolium pratense

Trifolium pratense (red clover) is a short-lived herbaceous plant native to southeastern Europe and Asia Minor. Widel used in agriculture, T. pratense is cultivated as an annual, winter annual, or biennial. It blooms from mid-spring to early fall and is insect pollinated and self-incompatible. Seeds are mammal and bird dispersed. Naturalized populations of T. pratense occur along roadsides and in old fields as well as native grasslands. Allozyme diversity and population genetic structure were determined for nine populations of T. pratense. Results from 13 allozyme loci indicate that genetic diversity is higher and population divergence is lower than expected based on the life-history characteristics of the species. We conclude that the high levels of genetic diversity found within populations of T. pratense suggest that these are not newly established founder populations, and that the low levels of genetic divergence seen among populations are probably due to high rates of gene flow among populations as a result of seed and pollen movement.