Genetic diversity of relictual and endangered plant Abies ziyuanensis (Pinaceae) revealed by AFLP and SSR markers.
Abies ziyuanensis is a highly endangered fir species endemic to South China. Unlike other Abies species that are distributed in areas with cold climates, A. ziyuanensis is restricted to several isolated island-like localities at subtropical mountains. In this study, we used dominant amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) and co-dominant simple sequence repeats (SSR) markers to infer the genetic structure of A. ziyuanensis. Seven populations consisting of 139 individuals were sampled across their whole distribution. A. ziyuanenesis has a relatively low level of genetic variation, with a mean genetic diversity per population (He) of 0.136 (AFLP) and 0.337 (SSR), which is lower than that of other reported endemic species based on the same kind of marker. We observed high population differentiation, with Gst = 0.482 (AFLP) and Fst = 0.250 (SSR), among the seven populations. AMOVA also detected significant differentiation among populations (Phist (AFLP) = 0.550 and Phist (SSR) = 0.289) and among regions (Phict (AFLP) = 0.139 and Phict (SSR) = 0.135) in both marker types. Both ongoing evolutionary forces (e.g., genetic drift resulting from small population size) and historical events (e.g., population contraction and fragmentation during and after the Quaternary glacial cycles) may have contributed to the genetic structure in A. ziyuanensis.
Tang
Shaoqing
S
School of Life Sciences, Guangxi Normal Univertsity, Guilin 541004, China.
Dai
Wenjuan
W
Li
Mingshun
M
Zhang
Ying
Y
Geng
Yupeng
Y
Wang
Li
L
Zhong
Yang
Y
D028202:Abies / Q000235:genetics*; D054458:Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005819:Genetic Markers / Q000235:genetics; D014644:Genetic Variation; D018745:Genome, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D023281:Genomics; D018598:Minisatellite Repeats / Q000235:genetics*; D013045:Species Specificity
D005819:Genetic Markers