Format: ORAL

Jos Antonio Vazquez-Garcia1, Emily Coffey2, Lauren Eserman2, Amanda Carmichael2, Jean Linsky2, Maria Voguel2, Erick Tribouillier Navas3, Fredy Archila4, Francisco Hernndez Najarro5, Sangtae Kim6, Suhyeon Park6, Alma Rosa Villalobos Armbula1, Viacheslav Shalisko1

1 University of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico 2 Conservation & Research Department, Atlanta Botanical Garden, GA, USA 3 Estación Experimental de Orquídeas de la Familia Archila, Cobán, Guatemala 4 Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, Guatemala City, Guatemala 5 Universidad de Ciencias y Artes de Chiapas, Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico 6 Sungshin Women's University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

Understanding the genetic structure of populations is crucial for conservation purposes of endemic or geographically restricted species, to ensure that ex-situ propagation and conservation efforts include a representative sample of the species genetic diversity existing in nature. In the case of Magnolia, the complex physiographic environment and climatic diversity in southern Mexico and Guatemala results in the existence of species restricted in their distribution to certain mountain ranges, representing examples of either paleo- or neoendemisms. The reduction of habitats due to land use change, deforestation, and climate change consequently places some species in a particularly vulnerable state, requiring urgent implementation of conservation measures to prevent extinction. The species Magnolia faustinomirandae, M. montebelloensis, M. quetzal, are characterized by having highly restricted populations of only a few dozen individuals known in the wild, in addition to those included in propagation programs. Data obtained from the analysis of known wild populations of three species using targeted genomic sequencing revealed rather limited genetic diversity in M. quetzal. In the case of morphologically similar species M. montebelloensis and M. faustinomirandae, the population of the latter from Chiapas highlands demonstrated a genetic identity distinctively separated from the rest of the samples. It was revealed that some individuals morphologically similar to M. faustinomirandae in Guatemala are indeed part of M. montebelloensis diversity, which has been confirmed by more exhaustive morphological analysis. Therefore, authentic M. faustinomirandae is restricted to Chiapas highlands. Regarding M. montebelloensis, its populations in Lagunas de Montebello showed genetic similarity with those in Quich, Guatemala, being the most diverse species in the analysis. The analysis suggested the possibility of a cryptic Magnolia species in Guatemala, distinct in its genetic composition, known from a cultivated population in the Monastery site, that is currently under morphological revision.