Pollen-mediated gene flow promotes low nuclear genetic differentiation among populations of Cycas debaoensis (Cycadaceae)

Cycas debaoensis is a critically endangered cycad species endemic to China. This species is found on two kinds of habitats according to the edaphic differences, sand and karst. A previous chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) study indicated that C. debaoensis had low genetic variation within populations and high...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Tree genetics & genomes 2016-10, Vol.12 (5), p.1, Article 93
Main Authors: Gong, Yi-Qing, Gong, Xun
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anthropogenic factors
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biotechnology
Chloroplasts
Endangered species
Endemic species
Evolution & development
Flowers & plants
Forestry
Gene flow
Genes
Genetic diversity
Genetic engineering
Genetic structure
Genomes
Haplotypes
Karst
Life Sciences
Morphology
Original Article
Plant Breeding/Biotechnology
Plant Genetics and Genomics
Plant reproduction
Pollen
Pollinators
Population
Population structure
Sand
Seeds
Tree Biology
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Summary:Cycas debaoensis is a critically endangered cycad species endemic to China. This species is found on two kinds of habitats according to the edaphic differences, sand and karst. A previous chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) study indicated that C. debaoensis had low genetic variation within populations and high genetic differentiation among populations. Because maternally inherited cpDNA does not fully characterize genetic structure of the species, we screened seven low-copy nuclear genes and 17 nuclear microsatellite loci to detect the nuclear genetic diversity, differentiation, and the population structure of C. debaoensis . The nuclear genes revealed higher level of genetic diversity. There were both the same and region-specific haplotypes or alleles between the karst and sand regions. Nuclear gene flow among all the populations was much greater than that of cpDNA, which indicated that pollen-mediated gene flow was much greater than seed-mediated gene flow. This promoted low nuclear genetic differentiation among populations of C. debaoensis . The study suggests that both genetic and anthropogenic disturbances have resulted in the critically endangered status of C. debaoensis .
ISSN:1614-2942
1614-2950
DOI:10.1007/s11295-016-1051-6