Genetic diversity and inter-specific relations of western Mediterranean relic Abies taxa as compared to the Iberian A. alba
| Type | Article | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | 2014-07 | ||||||||||||||||
| Language | English | ||||||||||||||||
| Author(s) | Dering Monika1, Sekiewicz Katarzyna1, Boratynska Krystyna1, Litkowiec Monika1, Iszkulo Gregorz1, 2, Romo Angel3, Boratynski Adam1 | ||||||||||||||||
| Affiliation(s) | 1 : Polish Acad Sci, Inst Dendrol, PL-62035 Kornik, Poland. 2 : Univ Zielona Gora, Fac Biol Sci, PL-65516 Zielona Gora, Poland. 3 : CSIC, Inst Bot, Barcelona, Spain. |
||||||||||||||||
| Source | Flora (0367-2530) (Elsevier Gmbh, Urban & Fischer Verlag), 2014-07 , Vol. 209 , N. 7 , P. 367-374 | ||||||||||||||||
| DOI | 10.1016/j.flora.2014.03.011 | ||||||||||||||||
| WOS© Times Cited | 28 | ||||||||||||||||
| Keyword(s) | A. pinsapo, A. alba, Genetic diversity, Phylogeography, Gibraltar Strait, West Mediterranean firs | ||||||||||||||||
| Abstract | Several Abies species are currently present in the Mediterranean region and most of them are endemic taxa and tertiary relicts. Using six nuclear microsatellites, we studied the genetic structure and interspecific relationships among West Mediterranean firs, A. pinsapo (Spain), A. maroccana and A. tazaotana (Morocco). Based on the hypothesis that A. pinsapo could historically exchange genes with A. alba growing in the Pyrenees via secondary contact, we investigated the level of genetic admixture between these species using a Bayesian approach. The studied populations showed moderate genetic diversity (mean H-E=0.598) and a high level of genetic differentiation (F-ST=0.225) that was especially pronounced between A. alba and the African firs. All populations experienced a strong bottleneck effect that was likely induced by climatic changes occurring in the West Mediterranean during the last glacial cycle and the Holocene. According to Bayesian clustering, both African taxa grouped together in a single cluster, the two A. pinsapo populations formed a second cluster, and two additional clusters were detected within A. alba. Our results indicate that A. tazaotana is genetically very close to A. maroccana, and hence these two taxa should probably not be considered as separate species. We found no genetic admixture between A. pinsapo and A. alba and only minor between A. pinsapo and the African fir populations suggesting an isolation effect of the Gibraltar Strait. Current limited distributions of firs in the Mediterranean region together with changing climate may lead to further deterioration of the genetic diversity levels. Hence, future efforts should focus on monitoring the demography and genetic threats to existing populations. | ||||||||||||||||
| Full Text |
|