We studied the phylogeography of Swertia tetraptera Maxim, which is an annual herbaceous plant endemic to the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP), by sequencing one intergenic chloroplast spacer, trnL-trnF (773 bp). The sampling design included 35 populations and 399 individuals, and spanned the entire distribution of the species. Forty-four haplotypes were characterized, and one of them was widely distributed in all of the populations. The level of differentiation among the populations studied was relatively low (GST = 0.128). Estimates of NST -GST for populations of S. tetraptera indicated that no phylogeographical structure exists, which was supported by the distribution of haplotypes. The neutrality test, mismatch distribution and a ‘star-like’ genealogy all suggested that this species experienced population expansion. According to the number of rare haplotype and geological evidence, this study suggested that two potential refugia existed during the last glaciation: the first refugium was identified in a restricted semi-continuous area around the eastern margin of the plateau; the second refugium was located in the central of QTP. In fact, the findings of our study are somewhat similar as the third phylogeographical structure occurring in the QTP, that is, alpine plants have refugia not only in the edge area but also in the Plateau platform. However, the location of plateau edge and plateau platform refugia is very different among them due to the difference of species-specific characteristic such as distributional range and life history traits.
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