Analysis of Genetic Diversity of Two Mangrove Species with Morphological Alterations in a Natural Environment

Abstract

Mangrove is an ecosystem subjected to tide, salinity and nutrient variations. These conditions are stressful to most plants, except to mangrove plants that are well-adapted. However, many mangrove areas have extremely stressful conditions, such as salt marshes, and the plants nearby usually present morphological alterations. In Sepetiba Bay, two species of mangrove plants, Avicennia schaueriana and Laguncularia racemosa, have poor development near a salt marsh (SM) compared to plants at the riverside (RS), which is considered a favorable habitat in mangroves. The level of genetic diversity and its possible correlation with the morphological divergence of SM and RS plants of both species were assessed by AFLP molecular markers. We found moderate genetic differentiation between A. schaueriana plants from SM and RS areas and depleted genetic diversity on SM plants. On the other hand, Laguncularia racemosa plants had no genetic differentiation between areas. It is possible that a limited gene flow among the studied areas might be acting more intensely on A. schaueriana plants, resulting in the observed genetic differentiation. The populations of Laguncularia racemosa appear to be well connected, as genetic differentiation was not significant between the SM and RS populations. Gene flow and genetic drift are acting on neutral genetic diversity of these two mangrove species in the studied areas, and the observed

Short‐distance barriers affect genetic variability of Rhizophora mangle L. in the Yucatan Peninsula

“…Lira‐Medeiros et al () reported epigenetic differences in morphologically contrasting populations (1.9–7.5 m) of Laguncularia racemosa. Also, genetic differences using AFLP markers were reported among salt marsh and riverside A. schaueriana (Lira‐Medeiros, Cardoso, Fernandes, & Gomes‐Ferreira, ). Nevertheless, to date, no studies have considered the physiognomic type of R. mangle mangrove, environmental variables, or ecological characteristics of our study.…”

Assessing Genetic Diversity after Mangrove Restoration in Brazil: Why Is It So Important?

“…The dataset was cleaned by excluding loci with high amounts of missing data. The binary matrix created was used in Hickory v-1.1 [42], which is a Bayesian method that calculates deviation of the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium by the Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC), so it does not calculate using allele frequency (details in [41]). The Bayesian differentiation index, θ ST , was calculated with the f -free model: 250,000 runs and 50,000 burn-ins in the Hickory software.…”

“…The DNA extraction followed the protocol of Lira-Medeiros et al [41]. After the extraction, the samples were checked and quantified using 1% agarose gel and Nanodrop TM 2000 (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA), then diluted into 12.5 ng/µL.…”

Molecular approaches for genetic improvement of seed quality and characterization of genetic diversity in soybean: a critical review

“…Morphological markers are limited in number; their expression is often influenced by environment fluctuation, and many of them are not closely linked with economic traits and even have adverse effects on the development and growth of plants. However, morphological markers have been used for diversity analysis in various plant species (Lira-Medeiros et al 2015).…”