No Correlation Between Heterozygosity and Vegetative Fitness in the Narrow Endemic and Critically Endangered Clematis acerifolia (Ranunculaceae)

Abstract

The relationship between heretozygosity and vegetative fitness was explored in the narrow endemic and threatened Clematis acerifolia (Ranunculaceae), both at individual and population levels. The relationships between fitness, habitat factors, and population size were also analyzed. Allozyme electrophoresis was used to quantify the levels of heterozygosity of nearly 200 surveyed individuals belonging to the nine extant populations of this species. Six parameters of vegetative fitness were measured: plant height, shrub diameter, length of the largest leaf, width of the largest leaf, mean number of leaves/stem, and total number of stems. The percentage of tree cover (light availability) was measured as an indicator of habitat quality. A principal component analysis reduced the original fitness variables to two uncorrelated principal components. None of these correlated significantly with both heterozygosity and population size, in contrast to the expected result. Nevertheless, one of the principal components showed a positive relationship with light availability, which may indicate that habitat quality may have significant effects on the performance of this species. Thus, to ensure the viability of this endangered species, maintenance of adequate habitat quality (by avoiding further fragmentation) may be more important than maximizing genetic diversity within populations.

Comparison of the effectiveness of ISJ and SSR markers and detection of outlier loci in conservation genetics ofPulsatilla patenspopulations

“…Various categories of genetic markers are used for this purpose: allozymes (Krzakowa & Michalak, 2007; López-Pujol, Zhang & Ge, 2008; Trapnell, Hamrick & Negrón-Ortiz, 2012; Dostálek, Münzbergová & Plačková, 2014), amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers (Jian et al, 2010; Cires, Cuesta & Fernández Prieto, 2013; Wróblewska, 2013), random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers (Wróblewska et al, 2003; Hensen, Oberprieler & Wesche, 2005; Hensen et al, 2010), restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) markers (Schlögl, Souza & Nodari, 2007; Jadwiszczak et al, 2012; Jian & Zhu, 2013), inter simple sequence repeats (ISSR) markers (Buczkowska et al, 2010; Cires, Cuesta & Fernández Prieto, 2013; Gaafar, Al-Qurainy & Khan, 2014; Lopes et al, 2014) and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers (Bradley et al, 2013; Cipollini et al, 2013; Olsson & Korpelainen, 2013). These markers enable estimation of important genetic variation parameters (allelic richness, heterozygosity H , fixation index F is , pairwise F ST ).…”

Genomic heterozygosity and hybrid breakdown in cotton (Gossypium): different traits, different effects

“…Relationships between individual genomic-wide general heterozygosity and phenotypic traits have been studied both in both animals and plants [ 8 , 9 , 24 , 29 , 50 ]. According to previous studies, the relationships between individual genome-wide general heterozygosity and traits were very sophisticated and might differ with respect to sampling species and assessment procedure.…”

Searls Prairie Clover (Dalea searlsiae) for Rangeland Revegetation: Phenotypic and Genetic Evaluations

“…Although a general trend of a significant positive correlation was reported between genetic diversity and population fitness in meta‐analysis studies (Reed and Frankham, 2003; Leimu et al, 2006), no correlation was observed between genetic diversity and population fitness in Clematis acerifolia Maxim. (Lopez‐Pujol et al, 2008). For the Searls prairie clover collections, correlation coefficients between PC scores obtained from phenotypic measurements and the within‐collection genetic similarity (the opposite of genetic diversity) obtained from AFLP analysis were not significant.…”