Abstract
Restricted gene dispersion – resulting from both self-pollination and limited capability of pollen migration, as well as seed dispersion at short distances – has been considered the main reason for spatial genetic structuring in plant populations. This study evaluated the intrapopulation genetic structure and the mating system in four populations of Solanum lycocarpum, a woody bush occurring in Brazilian Cerrado vegetation. Two hundred and twenty-four individuals were genotyped through five nuclear SSR loci (30 alleles) and six cpSSR loci (82 haplotypes). The study evidenced that the species mates predominantly by outcrossings \((\hat{t}_{\rm m}\sim1.00)\), that biparental inbreeding is not common, and that there are almost 10 trees participating as pollen donors per mother-tree. The populations were formed by many mother lineages, indicating efficient seed dispersion by the fauna and the occurrence of multiple foundation events. Spatial genetic structure was observed in three populations (average Sp=0.0184 ± 0.0030) and it resulted from both restricted seed dispersion and from vegetative reproduction. During the collection of seeds for ex situ conservation, seeds must be gathered from 150 to 200 mother trees, so that the effective size of 500 individuals is retained. The sampling must comprise the biggest possible number of populations in a wide area to enable the maintenance of the biggest possible haplotypic diversity.
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Acknowledgements
We specially thank Prof. Márcio Elias Ferreira (EMBRAPA Genetic Research and Biotechnology) by providing nSSR primer sequences and Prof. Roland Venconvsky (ESALQ-USP) by assistance in statistical analysis. We also thank the staff of the Laboratório de Reprodução e Genética de Espécies Arbóreas (LARGEA-ESALQ/USP), especially Elza Ferraz, Andréia Moreno and Gabriela Defávari for the continued support in the laboratory. This work was supported by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP/Brazil). K. Martins has received a Ph.D. fellowship from Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq/Brazil).
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Martins, K., Chaves, L.J., Buso, G.S.C. et al. Mating system and fine-scale spatial genetic structure of Solanum lycocarpum St.Hil. (Solanaceae) in the Brazilian Cerrado. Conserv Genet 7, 957–969 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-006-9140-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-006-9140-y