Genetic variation of wild litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn. subsp. chinensis) revealed by microsatellites

Abstract

Understanding the amount and distribution of genetic diversity in natural populations can inform the conservation strategy for the species in question. In this study, genetic variation at eight nuclear microsatellite loci was used to investigate genetic diversity and population structure of wild litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn. subsp. chinensis). Totally 215 individuals were sampled, representing nine populations of wild litchi. All eight loci were polymorphic, with a total of 51 alleles. The expected heterozygosity in the nine populations ranged from 0.367 to 0.638 with an average value of 0.526. Inbreeding within wild litchi populations was indicated by a strong heterozygote defect. Significant bottleneck events were detected in the populations from Yunnan and Vietnam, which could be responsible for lower levels of genetic diversity in these populations. Measures of genetic differentiation (F ST = 0.269) indicated strong differentiation among wild litchi populations. Significant correlation was found between genetic differentiation and geographical distance (r = 0.655, P = 0.002), indicating a strong isolation by distance in these populations. Bayesian clustering suggested genetic separation among three regional groups, namely, the western group, the central group and the eastern group. Some conservation strategies for wild litchi populations were also proposed based on our results.

Population genetic diversity and structure of two rare vernal pool grasses in central California

“…As hypothesized, Fst levels and the Bayesian clustering results indicate that range-wide genetic structure exists, and gene flow among most isolated extant populations of both species is low, and is correlated with geographic distance. However, contrary to our hypothesis, most populations of both species exhibited high within population genetic diversity in relation to other vernal pool plants, grasses and insect pollinated plants reported in the literature (Gitzendanner and Soltis 2000;Sun and Salomon 2003;Riley et al 2010;Martin et al 2010;Fan et al 2011;Sloop et al 2011;Sloop and Ayres in press;Sloop et al in review), suggesting a low potential for suffering the detrimental effects of genetic drift and severe inbreeding. Predominant outcrossing and seed germination from a persistent soil seed bank probably facilitates the localized high genetic diversity, while the slight temporal structure we identified may indicate diverse cohorts residing in the seed bank (Sloop and Ayres in press), sampling bias or genetic drift.…”

“…This conclusion is supported by high allelic richness and heterozygosity, and very few fixed loci in either species when compared to other microsatellite studies in vernal pools species (Sloop et al 2011;Sloop and Aryes in press), and other assessments of genetic variation in plants (Gitzendanner and Soltis 2000;Sun and Salomon 2003;Riley et al 2010;Martin et al 2010;Fan et al 2011). It is also consistent with the high allozyme diversity observed within two T. greenei populations (Griggs and Jain 1983).…”

Identification of a Proanthocyanidin from Litchi Chinensis Sonn. Root with Anti-Tyrosinase and Antioxidant Activity

“…javensis Leenh. [ 7 , 8 ]. The first one is mainly found in China [ 4 ], the second subspecies is native from the Philippines, New Guinea, Malay Peninsula, and Indonesia and the last one is endemic from Java.…”

Sequence-related amplified polymorphism markers – a tool for litchi breeders in Africa

“…13 Applications relating to the use of markers for genetic diversity assessment and verification of cultivar identity have dominated the literature, which is not surprising considering the confusion in litchi nomenclature. 14 These include studies on isozymes 10,15 , random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) [16][17][18][19][20] , amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) 21,22 , simple sequence repeat (SSR) [23][24][25] , expressed sequence tagged SSRs (EST-SSRs) 26,27 , inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) 9 and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) 28 markers.…”