Molecular and quantitative signatures of biparental inbreeding depression in the self-incompatible tree species Prunus avium

Abstract

Genetic diversity strongly influences populations' adaptability to changing environments and therefore survival. Sustainable forest management practices have multiple roles including conservation of genetic resources and timber production. In this study, we aimed at better understanding the variation in genetic diversity among adult and offspring individuals, and the effects of mating system on offspring survival and growth in wild cherry, Prunus avium. We analysed adult trees and open pollinated seed-families from three stands in Germany at eight microsatellite loci and one incompatibility system locus and conducted paternity analyses. Seed viability testing and seed sowing in a nursery allowed further testing for the effects of pollen donor diversity and genetic similarity between mates on the offspring performance at the seed and seedling stages. Our results were contrasting across stands. Loss of genetic diversity from adult to seedling stages and positive effect of mate diversity on offspring performance occurred in one stand only, whereas biparental inbreeding depression and significant decrease in fixation index from adults to seedlings was detected in two stands. We discussed the effects of stand genetic diversity on the magnitude of biparental inbreeding depression at several life-stages and its consequences on the management of genetic resources in P. avium.

Mating dynamics of Scots pine in isolation tents

“…This estimator has been commonly employed as an indirect quantification of the reduction in genetic diversity due to unbalanced mating success among contributing parents (e.g., Garcia et al 2005;Jolivet et al 2013). …”

Limited effect of a highway barrier on the genetic structure of a gypsum soil specialist

“…This probably is due to crossing with close relatives within patches (dispersal is very inefficient, see Escudero et al, 2000), causing an increase of kinship and, therefore, inbreeding (Fischer, Hock & Paschke, 2003). It is well known that inbreeding (or high kinship similarity) has a negative effect on population dynamics because it reduces the reproductive success of the species (Jolivet, Rogge & Degen, 2013;Hermansen et al, 2015) and the frequency of heterozygosity, fixing more easily any deleterious alleles (Mattey & Smiseth, 2015) which potentially decrease the adaptive ability of the species (Porcher & Lande, 2016). However, as the loci number is low, these F inbreeding coefficient values could be due to presence of null alleles.…”

Genetic structure of populations of several endangered and endemic Dianthus species revealed by microsatellite markers

“…It is well known that small populations isolated in fragmented habitats contain less genetic diversity than larger populations because over time, individuals will become more homozygous due to the low amounts of available genetic diversity within the population and increased inbreeding (Duminil et al 2007). There are also complex interactions between small population size, genetic diversity and individual fitness (Aguilar et al 2008) with several consequences, such as inbreeding depression (Jolivet et al 2013). Human activity and land use changes was followed by smallscale fragmentation of grassland habitats in most regions of central Europe, thus small populations are facing extinction due to local maladaptation in remnant habitats (Busch et al 2016).…”