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Determinants of Genetic Structure in a Highly Heterogeneous Landscape in Southwest China

Intra-specific genetic diversity is a fundamental component of biodiversity, and is key to species adaptation and persistence. However, significant knowledge gaps still exist in our understanding of the patterns of genetic diversity and their key determinants. Most previous investigations mainly uti...

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Autores principales: Wambulwa, Moses C., Luo, Ya-Huang, Zhu, Guang-Fu, Milne, Richard, Wachira, Francis N., Wu, Zeng-Yuan, Wang, Hong, Gao, Lian-Ming, Li, De-Zhu, Liu, Jie
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9097793/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35574120
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.779989
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author Wambulwa, Moses C.
Luo, Ya-Huang
Zhu, Guang-Fu
Milne, Richard
Wachira, Francis N.
Wu, Zeng-Yuan
Wang, Hong
Gao, Lian-Ming
Li, De-Zhu
Liu, Jie
author_facet Wambulwa, Moses C.
Luo, Ya-Huang
Zhu, Guang-Fu
Milne, Richard
Wachira, Francis N.
Wu, Zeng-Yuan
Wang, Hong
Gao, Lian-Ming
Li, De-Zhu
Liu, Jie
author_sort Wambulwa, Moses C.
collection PubMed
description Intra-specific genetic diversity is a fundamental component of biodiversity, and is key to species adaptation and persistence. However, significant knowledge gaps still exist in our understanding of the patterns of genetic diversity and their key determinants. Most previous investigations mainly utilized single-species and/or a limited number of explanatory variables; so here we mapped the patterns of plastid genetic diversity within 15 plant species, and explored the key determinants shaping these patterns using a wide range of variables. Population-level cpDNA sequence data for 15 plant species from the Longitudinal Range Gorge Region (LRGR), southwest China, were retrieved from literature and used to estimate haplotype diversity (H(D)) and population pairwise genetic differentiation (F(ST)) indices. Genetic diversity and divergence landscape surfaces were then generated based on the H(D) and F(ST), respectively, to clarify the patterns of genetic structure in the region. Subsequently, we analyzed the relationships between plastid genetic diversity and 16 explanatory variables (classified as anthropogenic, climatic, and topographic). We found that the highest genetic diversity occurred in the Yulong Mountain region, with a significant proportion (~74.81%) of the high diversity land area being located outside of protected areas. The highest genetic divergence was observed approximately along the 25°N latitudinal line, with notable peaks in the western and eastern edges of the LRGR. Genetic diversity (H(D)) was weakly but significantly positively correlated with both Latitude (lat) and Annual Mean Wet Day Frequency (wet), yet significantly negatively correlated with all of Longitude (long), Annual Mean Cloud Cover Percent (cld), Annual Mean Anthropogenic Flux (ahf), and Human Footprint Index (hfp). A combination of climatic, topographic, and anthropogenic factors explained a significant proportion (78%) of genetic variation, with topographic factors (lat and long) being the best predictors. Our analysis identified areas of high genetic diversity (genetic diversity “hotspots”) and divergence in the region, and these should be prioritized for conservation. This study contributes to a better understanding of the features that shape the distribution of plastid genetic diversity in the LRGR and thus would inform conservation management efforts in this species-rich, but vulnerable region.
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spelling pubmed-90977932022-05-13 Determinants of Genetic Structure in a Highly Heterogeneous Landscape in Southwest China Wambulwa, Moses C. Luo, Ya-Huang Zhu, Guang-Fu Milne, Richard Wachira, Francis N. Wu, Zeng-Yuan Wang, Hong Gao, Lian-Ming Li, De-Zhu Liu, Jie Front Plant Sci Plant Science Intra-specific genetic diversity is a fundamental component of biodiversity, and is key to species adaptation and persistence. However, significant knowledge gaps still exist in our understanding of the patterns of genetic diversity and their key determinants. Most previous investigations mainly utilized single-species and/or a limited number of explanatory variables; so here we mapped the patterns of plastid genetic diversity within 15 plant species, and explored the key determinants shaping these patterns using a wide range of variables. Population-level cpDNA sequence data for 15 plant species from the Longitudinal Range Gorge Region (LRGR), southwest China, were retrieved from literature and used to estimate haplotype diversity (H(D)) and population pairwise genetic differentiation (F(ST)) indices. Genetic diversity and divergence landscape surfaces were then generated based on the H(D) and F(ST), respectively, to clarify the patterns of genetic structure in the region. Subsequently, we analyzed the relationships between plastid genetic diversity and 16 explanatory variables (classified as anthropogenic, climatic, and topographic). We found that the highest genetic diversity occurred in the Yulong Mountain region, with a significant proportion (~74.81%) of the high diversity land area being located outside of protected areas. The highest genetic divergence was observed approximately along the 25°N latitudinal line, with notable peaks in the western and eastern edges of the LRGR. Genetic diversity (H(D)) was weakly but significantly positively correlated with both Latitude (lat) and Annual Mean Wet Day Frequency (wet), yet significantly negatively correlated with all of Longitude (long), Annual Mean Cloud Cover Percent (cld), Annual Mean Anthropogenic Flux (ahf), and Human Footprint Index (hfp). A combination of climatic, topographic, and anthropogenic factors explained a significant proportion (78%) of genetic variation, with topographic factors (lat and long) being the best predictors. Our analysis identified areas of high genetic diversity (genetic diversity “hotspots”) and divergence in the region, and these should be prioritized for conservation. This study contributes to a better understanding of the features that shape the distribution of plastid genetic diversity in the LRGR and thus would inform conservation management efforts in this species-rich, but vulnerable region. Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-04-25 /pmc/articles/PMC9097793/ /pubmed/35574120 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.779989 Text en Copyright © 2022 Wambulwa, Luo, Zhu, Milne, Wachira, Wu, Wang, Gao, Li and Liu. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Plant Science
Wambulwa, Moses C.
Luo, Ya-Huang
Zhu, Guang-Fu
Milne, Richard
Wachira, Francis N.
Wu, Zeng-Yuan
Wang, Hong
Gao, Lian-Ming
Li, De-Zhu
Liu, Jie
Determinants of Genetic Structure in a Highly Heterogeneous Landscape in Southwest China
title Determinants of Genetic Structure in a Highly Heterogeneous Landscape in Southwest China
title_full Determinants of Genetic Structure in a Highly Heterogeneous Landscape in Southwest China
title_fullStr Determinants of Genetic Structure in a Highly Heterogeneous Landscape in Southwest China
title_full_unstemmed Determinants of Genetic Structure in a Highly Heterogeneous Landscape in Southwest China
title_short Determinants of Genetic Structure in a Highly Heterogeneous Landscape in Southwest China
title_sort determinants of genetic structure in a highly heterogeneous landscape in southwest china
topic Plant Science
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9097793/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35574120
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.779989
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