title: Population Structure of and Conservation Strategies for Wild Pyrus ussuriensis Maxim. in China.
abstract: Pyrus ussriensis Maxim. is native to the northern part of China, but whose habitats are currently being destroyed by environmental changes and human deforestation. An investigation of population structure and genetic diversity of wild Ussurian pear is a priority in order to acquire fundamental knowledge for conservation. A total of 153 individuals of wild Ussurian pear from the main habitats, Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Inner Mongolia in China, possessed low genetic diversity as a result of habitat fragmentation. The genetic diversity of the populations in Inner Mongolia and north east of Heilongjiang was especially low and there was the possibility of inbreeding. Wild Ussurian pears were divided into 5 groups based on the Bayesian clustering method using 20 nuclear SSRs (nSSRs) and 5 groups by haplotype distributions using 16 chloroplast SSRs (cpSSRs), and the populations in Inner Mongolia and north east of Heilongjiang represented unique genotypes. AMOVA indicated there was a 20.05% variation in nSSRs and a 44.40% variation in cpSSRs among populations. These values are relatively high when compared to those of other tree species. Haplotype E, positioned in the center of the cpSSR analysis network and showed the largest number of connections with other haplotypes, represented the most important haplotype. Inner Mongolia and the north east of Heilongjiang are two areas that need urgent conservation because of their genetic vulnerability and peculiarity. We determined 4 conservation units based on the clustering by nSSRs and cpSSRs, and geographic factor. This information is helpful in deciding the conservation strategies for wild Ussurian pear in China.
authors.affiliation: Paulownia Research and Development Center of China, Non-timber Forestry Research and Development of CAF, Weiwu Road, Zhengzhou City 450003, China.
authors.forename: Tana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wuyun
authors.affiliation: Food Resources Education and Research Center, Faculty of Agriculture, Kobe University, Hyogo 675-2103, Japan.
authors.forename: Hitomi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Amo
authors.affiliation: Forestry technology Popularization Station of Beihai City, Beihai 536000, Guang Xi, China.
authors.forename: Jingshi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Cultivation and Protection for Non-Wood Forest Trees and Non-wood Forest Products of SFA, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha, Hunan 410004, China.
authors.forename: Teng
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Botanical Gardens, Graduate School of Science, Osaka City University, Osaka 576-0004, Japan.
authors.forename: Chiyomi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Uematsu
authors.affiliation: Food Resources Education and Research Center, Faculty of Agriculture, Kobe University, Hyogo 675-2103, Japan.
authors.forename: Hironori
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Katayama
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D002736:Chloroplasts / Q000235:genetics; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D016002:Discriminant Analysis; D035264:Flowers / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D005638:Fruit / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D005843:Geography; D006239:Haplotypes; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D031989:Pyrus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development