Genetic Differentiation and Conservation of 14 Surviving Individuals of Euryodendron excelsum Endemic to China

Abstract

Random amplification polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers were used to assess the genetic variations and the evolutionary relationships among all 14 individuals of a critically endangered Euryodendron excelsum (Theaceae) population distributed in Ba Jia Zhen, Yangchun, Guangdong, China. Twenty-three random primers detected 156 sites, out of which 95 (60.26%) were polymorphic loci. The number of the observed alleles was 1.6090, and the number of the effective alleles was 1.3471. Nei's gene diversity was 0.1993, and Shannon index was 0.1534. A relatively high level of genetic variation was identified in E. excelsum. An unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) tree established from Jaccard similarity coefficients suggested that 14 individuals were clustered into two subgroups and that the No. 2 plant was genetically distant from the rest of the individuals. The UPGMA clustering was also supported by a principle components analysis of RAPD phenotypic data. The management and conservation strategy of E. excelsum was proposed based on our results.

Structure and dynamics of natural populations of the endangered plant Euryodendron excelsum H. T. Chang

“…In order to find out the endangering causes and mechanisms, some studies on E. excelsum have been conducted (He et al, 2001;Wang et al, 2002a;Wang et al, 2002b;Wang et al, 2006), most of which focused on the distribution, biological and ecological characteristics and conservation genetics of the plant. No study of its stand characteristics, including the population structure and quantity dynamics, was reported, probably because that its extremely limited distribution and population size make it almost impossible to be studied that way.…”

SSR markers for a critically endangered species Euryodendron excelsum and a distantly related species Ternstroemia gymnanthera (Ternstroemiaceae)

“…It has only one population remaining in Ba Jia Zhen of Yangchun, Guangdong Province (Ye et al, 2002). Euryodendron excelsum belongs to the monotypic genus Euryodendron in Ternstroemiaceae (Chang, 1963;Wu et al, 2007;Su et al, 2011).…”

“…It has only one population remaining in Ba Jia Zhen of Yangchun, Guangdong Province (Ye et al, 2002). Euryodendron excelsum belongs to the monotypic genus Euryodendron in Ternstroemiaceae (Chang, 1963;Wu et al, 2007;Su et al, 2011). Its fine texture and colorful wood are good for furniture and construction industries (Ying and Zhang, 1994), and the extensive deforestation further deteriorates the decline of population size.…”

“…Previous RAPD and ISSR studies have shown that E. excelsum maintains a high level of genetic diversity (Wang et al, 2006;Su et al, 2009). However, knowledge on how E. excelsum adapts to local environments remains unknown.…”

Distribution, stand characteristics and habitat of a critically endangered plant Euryodendron excelsum H. T. Chang (Theaceae): implications for conservation

“…However, no detailed ecological studies on E. excelsum have been conducted, although preliminary studies examining ecological features, propagation and genetic variation (Wang et al. 2002; Wang et al. 2006) were carried out at only one locality with less than 80 individual plants.…”