title: Genetic structure of Cerasus jamasakura, a Japanese flowering cherry, revealed by nuclear SSRs: implications for conservation.
abstract: The genetic resources of a particular species of flowering cherry, Cerasus jamasakura, have high conservation priority because of its cultural, ecological and economic value in Japan. Therefore, the genetic structures of 12 natural populations of C. jamasakura were assessed using ten nuclear SSR loci. The population differentiation was relatively low (F (ST), 0.043), reflecting long-distance dispersal of seeds by animals and historical human activities. However, a neighbor-joining tree derived from the acquired data, spatial analysis of molecular variance and STRUCTURE analysis revealed that the populations could be divided into two groups: one located on Kyusyu Island and one on Honshu Island. Genetic diversity parameters such as allelic richness and gene diversity were significantly lower in the Kyushu group than the Honshu group. Furthermore, STRUCTURE analysis revealed that the two lineages were admixed in the western part of Honshu Island. Thus, although the phylogeographical structure of the species and hybridization dynamics among related species need to be evaluated in detail using several marker systems, the Kyusyu Island and Honshu Island populations should be considered as different conservation units, and the islands should be regarded as distinct seed transfer zones for C. jamasakura, especially when rapid assessments are required.
authors.affiliation: Tree Genetics Laboratory, Department of Forest Genetics, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8687, Japan. ytsuda@ffpri.affrc.go.jp
authors.forename: Yoshiaki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tsuda
authors.forename: Madoka
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: Shuri
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: Toshio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Katsuki
authors.forename: Yuzuru
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mukai
authors.forename: Yoshihiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tsumura