Fine-scale spatial genetic  structure of an endangered marsh herb, Caldesia grandis (Alismataceae).
The  endangered marsh herb, Caldesia grandis, is native to China. We  investigated the spatial structure of the genetic variation of three  populations of C. grandis using RAPD markers and spatial  autocorrelation analysis, based on the method of equal distance interval. A  total of 157 individuals were sampled from four patches collected from the  region of Hunan and Yunnan Provinces, China. Among the polymorphic bands  generated by seven selective primers, polymorphic bands with frequencies  ranging from 20 to 80% were used to calculate Moran's I spatial  autocorrelation coefficient for each patch. We found significant spatial  structure of genetic variation in the three patches in Bei Hai (BH) (patches  BH-1 and BH-2) and Guai Hu (GH) (patch GH-1) populations of C. grandis (with significant positive autocorrelation within the short distance  class). In contrast, the genetic variation in the Lang Pan Hu (LPH) population  (patch LPH-1) was found to be randomly distributed. The different spatial  distribution patterns may be attributed to environment differences. These  results have implications for the conservation and management of this species,  especially for sampling strategies for ex situ conservation.
Laboratory of Plant Systematics and Evolutionary Biology, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
X-L
XL
Yue
J-M
JM
Chen
Y-H
YH
Guo
Q-F
QF
Wang
D034901:Alismataceae / Q000235:genetics*; D002681:China; D056727:Endangered Species; D014644:Genetic Variation; D019105:Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Technique; D053833:Wetlands