Genetic and morphological diversity in populations of Annona senegalensis Pers. occurring in Western (Benin) and Southern (Mozambique) Africa

PeerJ

article

Janine Conforte Fifonssi Donhouedé¹  Isabel Marques⁴  Kolawolé Valère Salako³  Achille Ephrem Assogbadjo¹  Natasha Ribeiro²  Ana IF Ribeiro-Barros⁴ 

[1] Laboratoire d’Écologie Appliquée, Faculty of Agronomic Sciences, University of Abomey-Calavi;Department of Forest Engineering, Faculty of Agronomy and Forest Engineering, Eduardo Mondlane University;Laboratoire de Biomathématiques et d’Estimations Forestières, Faculty of Agronomic Sciences, University of Abomey-Calavi;Forest Research Center ,(CEF), School of Agriculture, University of Lisbon

关键词: Annona senegalensis;    Bioclimatic variables;    Genetic diversity;    Morphological diversity;    Tropical plants;    Environment;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.15767

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundUnderstanding morpho-genetic diversity and differentiation of species with relatively large distributions is crucial for the conservation and sustainable management of their genetic resources. The present study focused on Annona senegalensis Pers., an important multipurpose wild plant, distributed exclusively in natural ecosystems but facing several threats. The study assessed the genetic and morphological diversity, structure, and differentiation of the species in populations from Western (Benin) and Southern (Mozambique) Africa. The material was evaluated to ascertain the environmental (climatic) determinants of the variation within this species.MethodsFour sub-populations comprised of 154 individuals were phenotyped based on nineteen plant, fruit, and leaf morphological traits and further genotyped using ten polymorphic nuclear microsatellite (nSSR) markers.ResultsThe results indicated strong differences in plant, fruit, and leaf morphological traits between Western and Southern populations. Furthermore, the studied populations were characterized by high genetic diversity, with an average genetic diversity index of 1.02. Western populations showed higher heterozygosity values (0.61–0.71) than Southern populations (0.41–0.49). Western and Southern populations were clearly differentiated into two different genetic groups, with further genetic subdivisions reflecting four sub-populations. Genetic variation between regions (populations) was higher (69.1%) than among (21.3%) and within (9.6%) sub-populations. Four distinct morphological clusters were obtained, which were strongly associated with the four genetic groups representing each sub-population. Climate, mainly precipitation and temperature indexes, explained the relatively higher variation found in morphological traits from Western (40.47%) in relation to Southern (27.98%) populations. Our study suggests that both environmental and genetic dynamics play an important role in the development of morphological variation in A. senegalensis.

【 授权许可】

CC BY