Management units of the endangered herb Primula sieboldii based on microsatellite variation among and within populations throughout Japan

Abstract

To promote programs for the conservation and restoration of the endangered species Primula sieboldii, we examined genetic variation at eight microsatellite loci among and within 32 remnant wild populations throughout Japan. Total allelic diversity within a population was higher in larger populations, but not so after rarefaction adjustment. The positive relationship between population size and the inbreeding coefficient may suggest that more heterozygous genets tend to survive the habitat contraction possibly because of the higher fitness associated with heterozygosity. By principal coordinate analysis and Bayesian analysis, we detected four genetic groups (Hokkaido, northern Honshu, central Honshu, and western Japan), which could be recognized as management units of P. sieboldii. If supplementation with plants from other populations were planned, it should be conducted among populations which belong to the same management unit and which are likely to represent the same adaptive variation.

Origins of traditional cultivars of Primula sieboldii revealed by nuclear microsatellite and chloroplast DNA variations

“…Asama to the Tokyo area until about 3000 years ago (Hirai 1983), and the species' capability for dispersal by water flow has been reported (Kitamoto et al 2005a, Nishihiro andWashitani 2006). Furthermore, historical connectivity between these populations has been supported by genetic clustering based on nuclear microsatellites (Honjo et al 2008a) and the sharing of cpDNA haplotypes (Honjo et al 2004). In the assignment test of this study, most cultivars were assigned to the Asama-Arakawa metapopulation as the origin (Table 2).…”

“…The samples were genotyped at the following eight microsatellite loci, which were used in a previous analysis of wild populations (Honjo et al 2008a): PS2 (Isagi et al 2001), ga0235, ga0381, ga0668, ga01277 (Ueno et al 2003), ga0653, ga0666 (Ueno et al 2005), and Pri0146 (Kitamoto et al 2005b). PCR and electrophoresis using a 3100 Genetic Analyzer (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, USA) were performed as described by Honjo et al (2008a).…”

“…In a previous study, we analyzed nuclear microsatellite variation in representative wild populations of P. sieboldii from the Hokkaido to Kyushu regions of Japan (Honjo et al 2008a); that study revealed significant genetic differentiation among populations. We considered that this regional feature of genetic variation may allow the origins of cultivated stocks of P. sieboldii to be deduced by assignment tests, and we therefore performed a self-assignment test to confirm whether the genotypic information of wild populations was sufficient to estimate the origins of the stocks (Honjo et al 2008b).…”

Reconsideration for conservation units of wildPrimula sieboldiiin Japan based on adaptive diversity and molecular genetic diversity

“…We have already developed many microsatellite markers for this species ), but we have no information on linkage between these markers and quantitative traits. We determined the genotypes of the 110 genets using the eight pairs of microsatellite PCR primers (Table 2) used by Honjo et al (2009). The PCR conditions for each primer followed the protocol described by Honjo et al (2009).…”

Genetic variation and differentiation of floral morphology in wild Primula sieboldii evaluated by image analysis data and SSR markers

“…Previously, we evaluated genetic variation based on cpDNA (Honjo et al 2004) and microsatellite (SSR) markers (Honjo et al 2008a) to determine the conservation unit and delineate the ancestral region of cultivated P. sieboldii. Genetic differentiation among populations corresponded to the geographic distance between populations, and genetic variation within populations was related to the size of the populations.…”