Genetic differentiation that is exceptionally high and unexpectedly sensitive to geographic distance in the absence of gene flow: Insights from the genus Eranthis in East Asian regions

Abstract

Genetic differentiation between populations is determined by various factors, including gene flow, selection, mutation, and genetic drift. Among these, gene flow is known to counter genetic differentiation. The genus Eranthis , an early flowering perennial herb, can serve as a good model to study genetic differentiation and gene flow due to its easily detectable population characteristics and known reproductive strategies, which can be associated with gene flow patterns. Eranthis populations are typically small and geographically separated from the others. Moreover, previous studies and our own observations suggest that seed and pollen dispersal between Eranthis populations is highly unlikely and therefore, currently, gene flow may not be probable in this genus. Based on these premises, we hypothesized that the genetic differentiation between the Eranthis populations would be significant, and that the genetic differentiation would not sensitively reflect geographic distance in the absence of gene flow. To test these hypotheses, genetic differentiation, genetic distance, isolation by distance, historical gene flow, and bottlenecks were analyzed in four species of this genus. Genetic differentiation was significantly high, and in many cases, extremely high. Moreover, genetic differentiation and geographic distance were positively correlated in most cases. We provide possible explanations for these observations. First, we suggest that the combination of the marker type used in our study (chloroplast microsatellites), genetic drift, and possibly selection might have resulted in the extremely high genetic differentiation observed herein. Additionally, we provide the possibility that genetic distance reflects geographic distance through historical gene flow, or adaptation in the absence of historical gene flow. Nevertheless, our explanations can be more rigorously examined and further refined through additional observations and various population genetic analyses. In particular, we suggest that other accessible populations of the genus Eranthis should be included in future studies to better characterize the intriguing population dynamics of this genus.

Chromosome-Level Genome Assembly and Population Genomic Analyses Reveal Geographic Variation and Population Genetic Structure of Prunus tenella

“…This observation is consistent with the study on genetic diversity using chloroplast sequences [4]. Additionally, the results indicated a high genetic differentiation among the natural distribution of P. tenella, as the pairwise genetic differentiation (Fst) in a different region is 0.23-0.32, especially within the Tacheng and Yumin group where Fst reached 0.29-0.32, values much higher than wright's high differentiation coefficient [39][40][41]. However, there is little differentiation between subgroups within the Tuoli and Yumin group (0.05-0.1).…”