title: The African baobab (Adansonia digitata, Malvaceae): genetic resources in neglected populations of the Nuba Mountains, Sudan.
abstract: •
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Adansonia digitata L. is one of the most important indigenous fruit trees of mainland Africa. Despite its significance for subsistence and income generation of local communities, little is known about the genetic and morphological variability of East African populations of A. digitata, including those of Sudan. The aim of the current study, therefore, was to analyze genetic and morphological variability of different baobab populations in Kordofan, Sudan and to estimate the effect of human intervention on genetic differentiation and diversity.•
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 306 trees were randomly sampled from seven spatially separated locations in the Nuba Mountains, Sudan, to cover a wide range of differing environmental gradients and management regimes ('homesteads' and 'wild'). Genetic analyses were conducted using nine microsatellite markers. Because of the tetraploid nature of A. digitata, different approaches were applied to estimate patterns of genetic diversity. Investigations were completed by measurements of dendrometric and fruit morphological characters.•
  
  
  RESULTS
  Genetic diversity was balanced and did not differ between locations or management regimes, although tendencies of higher diversity in 'homesteads' were observed. A Bayesian cluster approach detected two distinct gene pools in the sample set, mainly caused by one highly diverse population close to a main road. The variability of tree characters and fruit morphometries was high, and significantly different between locations.•
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results indicated a rather positive effect with human intervention. The observed populations provide a promising gene pool and likely comprise ecotypes well-adapted to environmental conditions at the northern distribution range of the species, which should be considered in conservation and management programs.
authors.affiliation: Organic Plant Production and Agroecosystems Research in the Tropics and Subtropics (OPATS), University of Kassel, Steinstraße 19, D-37213 Witzenhausen, Germany.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wiehle
authors.affiliation: Institute of Systematic Botany with Herbarium Haussknecht and Botanical Garden, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, D-07743 Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Prinz
authors.affiliation: Tree Diversity, Domestication and Delivery, World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), United Nations Avenue, Gigiri, P.O. Box 30677 00100 Nairobi, Kenya.
authors.forename: Katja
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kehlenbeck
authors.affiliation: Organic Plant Production and Agroecosystems Research in the Tropics and Subtropics (OPATS), University of Kassel, Steinstraße 19, D-37213 Witzenhausen, Germany.
authors.forename: Sven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Goenster
authors.affiliation: Department of Horticulture, University of Khartoum, P.O. Box 321, Shambat, Khartoum North, Sudan.
authors.forename: Seifeldin Ali
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Mohamed
authors.affiliation: Forest Genetics and Forest Tree Breeding, Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Buesgenweg 2, D-37077 Goettingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Reiner
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Finkeldey
authors.affiliation: Organic Plant Production and Agroecosystems Research in the Tropics and Subtropics (OPATS), University of Kassel, Steinstraße 19, D-37213 Witzenhausen, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Buerkert
authors.affiliation: Sustainable Agricultural Production Systems with Special Focus on Horticulture, Faculty of Life Sciences, Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences, Marie-Curie-Straße 1, D-47533 Kleve, Germany.
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gebauer
mesh_terms: D035162:Adansonia / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000235:genetics*; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D060146:Ecotype; D004777:Environment; D005638:Fruit / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005788:Gene Pool; D040961:Genetic Drift; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D010641:Phenotype; D011123:Polyploidy; D013397:Sudan; D014197:Trees / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000235:genetics*
keywords: Admixture; South Kordofan; distribution; diversity; fruit trait; microsatellite; molecular marker; phenotype; tetraploidy