TY - JOUR
T1 - Fine-scale genetic structure in populations of the spring ephemeral herb Megaleranthis saniculifolia (Ranunculaceae)
AU - Chung, Mi Yoon
AU - Nason, John D.
AU - López-Pujol, Jordi
AU - Chung, Jae Min
AU - Kim, Ki Joong
AU - Maki, Masayuki
AU - Chung, Myong Gi
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors thank Myeong Soon Park for laboratory assistances. Special thanks to go Dr. Susan Kalisz for providing the allozyme data from Trillium grandiflorum. This study is supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (NRF-2017R1A2B4012215) to M.G.C.
Funding Information:
The authors thank Myeong Soon Park for laboratory assistances. Special thanks to go Dr. Susan Kalisz for providing the allozyme data from Trillium grandiflorum. This study is supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education ( NRF-2017R1A2B4012215 ) to M.G.C.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Elsevier GmbH
PY - 2018/3
Y1 - 2018/3
N2 - Fine-scale genetic structure (FSGS) in plants occurs primarily through restricted seed dispersal. Analyses of FSGS have been used retrospectively to infer seed dispersal and other ecological processes. The spring ephemeral Megaleranthis saniculifolia, endemic to Korea, is insect-pollinated and has no special seed dispersal mechanism, and its seedling recruitment is quite low. Given these ecological and life-history traits, we expect that there would be significant FSGS in juveniles, which would persist into adult stage. Since M. saniculifolia is self-compatible and many adults produce 2–3 inflorescences, we expect considerable inbreeding. To test these predictions, we used allozyme-based Sp statistics to compare two undisturbed populations on Mt. Deogyu (DEO) and Mt. Taebaek (TAE), as well as between juveniles (J) and adults (A) stages. We also measured genetic diversity and inbreeding in each population. The two populations exhibited significant FSGS in both life stages. Although the strength of FSGS was reduced with increasing stage (J, Sp = 0.0313; A, Sp = 0.0178 in DEO and J, Sp = 0.0502; A, Sp = 0.0286 in TAE), differences in FSGS between stages and between populations were not significant. Within-population genetic diversity (mean %P = 27.0, A = 1.27, He = 0.116) was relatively low and comparable to reference values for both endemic and narrowly-distributed plant species. Genetic differentiation between sites, however, was high (FST = 0.465), and the two populations exhibited a significant deficit of heterozygotes (mean FIS = 0.289), primarily due to selfing and biparental inbreeding (effective selfing rate was ∼0.40). Our results revealed that the magnitude and spatial scale of FSGS in M. saniculifolia is strong and does not differ significantly with life-history stage. The strong FSGS, low within-population genetic variation, high between-population genetic differentiation, and high inbreeding are consistent with the species’ limited seed dispersal and a mixed mating system.
AB - Fine-scale genetic structure (FSGS) in plants occurs primarily through restricted seed dispersal. Analyses of FSGS have been used retrospectively to infer seed dispersal and other ecological processes. The spring ephemeral Megaleranthis saniculifolia, endemic to Korea, is insect-pollinated and has no special seed dispersal mechanism, and its seedling recruitment is quite low. Given these ecological and life-history traits, we expect that there would be significant FSGS in juveniles, which would persist into adult stage. Since M. saniculifolia is self-compatible and many adults produce 2–3 inflorescences, we expect considerable inbreeding. To test these predictions, we used allozyme-based Sp statistics to compare two undisturbed populations on Mt. Deogyu (DEO) and Mt. Taebaek (TAE), as well as between juveniles (J) and adults (A) stages. We also measured genetic diversity and inbreeding in each population. The two populations exhibited significant FSGS in both life stages. Although the strength of FSGS was reduced with increasing stage (J, Sp = 0.0313; A, Sp = 0.0178 in DEO and J, Sp = 0.0502; A, Sp = 0.0286 in TAE), differences in FSGS between stages and between populations were not significant. Within-population genetic diversity (mean %P = 27.0, A = 1.27, He = 0.116) was relatively low and comparable to reference values for both endemic and narrowly-distributed plant species. Genetic differentiation between sites, however, was high (FST = 0.465), and the two populations exhibited a significant deficit of heterozygotes (mean FIS = 0.289), primarily due to selfing and biparental inbreeding (effective selfing rate was ∼0.40). Our results revealed that the magnitude and spatial scale of FSGS in M. saniculifolia is strong and does not differ significantly with life-history stage. The strong FSGS, low within-population genetic variation, high between-population genetic differentiation, and high inbreeding are consistent with the species’ limited seed dispersal and a mixed mating system.
KW - Conservation
KW - Demographic genetics
KW - Ecological traits
KW - Genetic structure
KW - Inbreeding
KW - Limited seed dispersal
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U2 - 10.1016/j.flora.2017.12.006
DO - 10.1016/j.flora.2017.12.006
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85039458715
SN - 0367-2530
VL - 240
SP - 16
EP - 24
JO - Flora: Morphology, Distribution, Functional Ecology of Plants
JF - Flora: Morphology, Distribution, Functional Ecology of Plants
ER -