Analysis of genetic diversity in the endangered tropical tree species Hagenia abyssinica using ISSR markers

Abstract

Genetic diversity within and among 12 populations of the dioecious tropical tree species Hagenia abyssinica (Bruce) J.F. Gmel. in Ethiopia was examined with eight inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) primers. A total of 104 clearly scorable bands were generated, among which 84 (81%) were polymorphic. Jaccard similarity coefficient was calculated for pairwise comparisons among all 120 individuals and ranged from 0.30 to 0.88 while average withinpopulation similarity ranged from 0.53 to 0.66. Within-population variability was estimated as percentage polymorphic loci (ranging from 52% to 87%), Shannon's information index (0.30-0.50) and Nei's genetic diversity (0.21-0.35). The highest variability values were obtained for one recently planted population and for one wild population growing in an undisturbed primary forest area. Significant overall differentiation among populations was detected by both Shannon's information index (0.26) and G ST (0.25). Relatedness among samples was estimated with a principal coordinate analysis, and relatedness among populations was estimated with a cluster analysis (UPGMA). A Mantel test indicated a significant association between genetic and geographic distances, and an autocorrelation analysis showed significant evidence of gene flow over distances up to 30 km. This study is the first of its kind for H. abyssinica, which has decreased recently in Ethiopia and now must be regarded as an endangered species. Both within-population and between-population diversity estimates are typical of outcrossing, longlived and late successional species, suggesting that recent anthropogenic disturbances have not yet had much impact on population genetic parameters. DNA marker data can, however, be used to identify the most suitable sites for in situ conservation and for collection of material for establishment of genebanks and plant improvement programs.

Assessment of genetic diversity in Shorea robusta: an economically important tropical tree species

“…The tested ISSR primers were allowed the discovery of reasonably high level of polymorphism (average 63%) and are a reflection of presence of a wide range of genetic variation among the individuals examined. The present findings seem to be relatively similar when compared to the reports of previous ISSR studies on different tree species [32][33][34]. Our study demonstrates for the first time that the ISSR-PCR a suitable method for detection of genetic variability in sal.…”

“…The rates of evolution in different parts of the genome are extremely variable, allowing molecular data to be applicable at any taxonomic level. Further, an outstanding advantage of a molecular approach is the immense amount of potential data it provides [21,32,35,36] as evidenced by the current investigation.…”

Genetic diversity and population structure of the endangered argan tree (Argania spinosa L. Skeels) in morocco as revealed by SSR markers: Implication for conservation

“…Thus, in the present study, we employed thirteen pairs of microsatellites markers in order to examine the genetic diversity and patterns of population differentiation in the argan forests of Morocco. Our results suggest that the genetic diversity in this species is relatively high (Table 3, He=0.674 at population level) compared to corresponding genetic coefficients of other endangered species (Hamrick and Godt, 1996;Feyissa et al, 2007). Also the coefficient of differentiation among the 24 populations was estimated to be 0.170 using SSR marker, which is a slightly lower but comparable to previous finding Nei's (1972) genetic distance using SSR data.…”

ISSR molecular markers for the study of the genetic diversity of Mimosa caesalpiniaefolia Benth.

“…This rate of polymorphism is low compared to values obtained with other sets of ISSR primers in Hagenia abyssinica (Bruce) J. F. Gmel. (81.0%) (Feyissa et al, 2007), Spondias sp. (80.0%) (Santana et al, 2011), Thuja sutchuenensis Franch.…”