Abstract Detail

Population Genetics

Attigala, Lakshmi [1], Gallaher, Timothy [1], Nason, John [2], Clark, Lynn G. [3].

Genetic diversity and population structure of threatened temperate woody bamboo Arundinaria debilis (Poaceae: Bambusoideae) populations from Sri Lanka based on microsatellite analysis.

Bamboos are significant components of forest and tropical high altitude grassland ecosystems worldwide and include approximately 1,450 species. Despite the ecological and economic importance of bamboos, basic knowledge of the biology and genetics of woody bamboos is still lacking due in part to their unusual life cycle, with the vegetative phase ranging from a few to 120 years. To date, five native Sri Lankan Arundinaria species have been reported and of those, Arundinaria debilis is the only species that can be found in several populations. Each of the other four species - A. densifolia, A. floribunda, A. scandens and A. walkeriana - are restricted to 1-2 populations. Further population sizes of all five species have recently declined due to human impacts and some populations have disappeared from previously recorded localities. The genetic effects of habitat fragmentation may be most pronounced in species that form small populations. Thus, a population level study at least for the species with several populations is essential to initiate conservation strategies for these valuable Arundinaria species. We used twelve variable microsatellite loci to assess genetic diversity and population structure in six natural populations of the tetraploid woody bamboo Arundinaria debilis (Poaceae: Bambusoideae), which is a highly threatened Sri Lankan endemic. Within and among population genetic variation was calculated using ATETRA, a program that handles allotetraploids. Further AMOVA, Mantel test and Principal Coordinate Analysis (PCoA) were performed using GenAlEx. In addition, a neighbor-joining tree for all the A. debilis populations was built using the Phylip package. Results showed that populations from the same mountain range clustered together providing some evidence of isolation by distance and further analysis is underway to evaluate several alternative hypotheses to understand these results better. As the first population genetics study of Bambusoideae in Sri Lanka, we anticipate that our results will provide a foundation for future comparative population genetics and conservation studies.

1 - Iowa State University, Department of Ecology Evolution and Organismal Biology, 251 Bessey Hall, Ames, IA, 50011, USA
2 - Iowa State University, Ecology, Evolution, And Organismal Biology, 253 Bessey Hall, Ames, IA, 50011, USA
3 - Iowa State University, Department Of Ecology, Evolution, And Organismal Biology, 251 Bessey Hall, Ames, IA, 50011-1020, USA

Keywords:
Bambusoideae
temperate woody bamboo
Arundinaria debilis
genetic diversity
population structure.

Presentation Type: Poster:Posters for Topics
Session: P
Location: Eyrie/Boise Centre
Date: Monday, July 28th, 2014
Time: 5:30 PM
Number: PPG002
Abstract ID:524
Candidate for Awards:Genetics Section Poster Award