<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><italic>Taxus yunnanensis,</italic> which is an endangered tree that is considered valuable because it contains the effective natural anticancer metabolite taxol and heteropolysaccharides, has long suffered from severe habitat fragmentation. In this study, the levels of genetic diversity in two populations of 136 individuals were analyzed based on eleven polymorphic microsatellite loci. Our results suggested that these two populations were characterized by low genetic diversity (<italic>N</italic>E = 2.303/2.557; <italic>H</italic>O = 0.168/0.142; <italic>H</italic>E = 0.453/0.517), a population bottleneck, a low effective population size (<italic>N</italic>e = 7/9), a high level of inbreeding (<italic>F</italic>IS = 0.596/0.702), and a weak, but significant spatial genetic structure (<italic>S</italic>p = 0.001, <italic>b</italic> = −0.001*). Habitat fragmentation, seed shadow overlap and limited seed and pollen dispersal and potential selfing may have contributed to the observed gene tic structure. The results of the present study will enable development of practical conservation measures to effectively conserve the valuable genetic resources of this endangered plant.</abstract>

Taxus yunnanensis, which is an endangered tree that is considered valuable because it contains the effective natural anticancer metabolite taxol and heteropolysaccharides, has long suffered from severe habitat fragmentation. In this study, the levels of genetic diversity in two populations of 136 individuals were analyzed based on eleven polymorphic microsatellite loci. Our results suggested that these two populations were characterized by low genetic diversity (NE = 2.303/2.557; HO = 0.168/0.142; HE = 0.453/0.517), a population bottleneck, a low effective population size (Ne = 7/9), a high level of inbreeding (FIS = 0.596/0.702), and a weak, but significant spatial genetic structure (Sp = 0.001, b = −0.001*). Habitat fragmentation, seed shadow overlap and limited seed and pollen dispersal and potential selfing may have contributed to the observed gene tic structure. The results of the present study will enable development of practical conservation measures to effectively conserve the valuable genetic resources of this endangered plant.

Low genetic diversity in the endangered <italic>Taxus yunnanensis</italic> following a population bottleneck, a low effective population size and increased inbreeding

Silvae Genetica

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Low genetic diversity in the endangered  following a population bottleneck, a low effective population size and increased inbreeding

Taxus yunnanensis, which is an endangered tree that is considered valuable because it contains the effective natural anticancer metabolite taxol and...

Low genetic diversity in the endangered Taxus yunnanensis following a population bottleneck, a low effective population size and increased inbreeding

Published Online: Jun 12, 2017

Page range: 59 - 66

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/sg-2016-0008

Keywords
bottleneck, effective population size (Ne), inbreeding, spatial genetic structure (SGS), Taxus yunnanensis

© 2016 Y. C. Miao et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Low genetic diversity in the endangered Taxus yunnanensis following a population bottleneck, a low effective population size and increased inbreeding

Published Online: Jun 12, 2017

Page range: 59 - 66

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/sg-2016-0008

Keywordsbottleneck, effective population size (Ne), inbreeding, spatial genetic structure (SGS), Taxus yunnanensis

© 2016 Y. C. Miao et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
bottleneck, effective population size (Ne), inbreeding, spatial genetic structure (SGS), Taxus yunnanensis