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Population genetic structure in six sympatric and widespread aquatic plants inhabiting diverse lake environments in China
- Source :
- Ecology and Evolution
- Publication Year :
- 2017
- Publisher :
- Wiley, 2017.
-
Abstract
- Many aquatic plant species are distributed over large areas and diverse environments with populations interconnected by abiotic and biotic mediators. Here, we examined differences and similarities in the population genetic structure of six sympatric and widespread aquatic plant species. We sampled the aquatic species from six Chinese lakes found on plateaus, plains, and different river systems and analyzed them using inter‐simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers. Samples originating from each lake tended to cluster together. Of the six species, only Nymphoides peltata and Myriophyllum spicatum could be divided into plateau and plain groups, once Taihu Lake individuals were excluded. Genetic similarities between populations connected by the Yangtze River were not consistently higher than unconnected populations. Populations from Taihu Lake and/or Weishanhu Lake were distant from other lake populations for all species except Potamogeton lucens. The Taihu and Weishanhu populations clustered for Ceratophyllum demersum and Typha latifolia. Hydrophilous C. demersum had the lowest gene flow (Nm = 0.913), whereas the entomophilous Hydrocharis dubia (Nm = 2.084) and N. peltata (Nm = 2.204) had the highest gene flow. The genetic relationships among distant populations of aquatic plants reflect the comprehensive effects of environmental selection pressure and biotic and abiotic connectivity. Differences in environmental factors between plateau and plain lakes and long distance hydrochory have limited importance on aquatic plant genetic structures. Among multiple evolutionary forces, gene flow mediated by birds may play the most important role in the formation of genetic patterns in the six species examined. For example, the close genetic relationship between Taihu Lake and Weishanhu Lake populations, each in different river systems and with different climates, may be related to the migration routes of birds. Differences in gene flow among the six aquatic plants may be attributable to different bird‐transport and the fruit traits of each species.
- Subjects :
- 0106 biological sciences
Population
010603 evolutionary biology
01 natural sciences
Gene flow
Aquatic plant
education
hydrologic connectivity
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Original Research
Nature and Landscape Conservation
Abiotic component
education.field_of_study
plateau lake
Ecology
biology
Myriophyllum
010604 marine biology & hydrobiology
Ceratophyllum demersum
biology.organism_classification
Sympatric speciation
Genetic structure
gene flow
environment
bird‐mediated dispersal
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 20457758
- Volume :
- 7
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Ecology and Evolution
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....5e762ac2f1fdb7fd9cf812c5bb9566d0