Abstract
Black wattle (Acacia mearnsii) has great economic value as a commercial source of tannins, timber and a source of firewood for local and international markets. It has been suggested that to maximize the genetic gain of A. mearnsii plantations in South Africa, the gene pool that exist within ICFR needs to be broadened via introduction of new genotypes with diverse traits. In this work, 282 A. mearnsii samples sourced from the ICFR breeding program were genotyped using 11 cross-species SSR markers. Our results showed low to moderate genetic differentiation (FST) among the six breeding subpopulations, with positive inbreeding (FIS) values that could be attributed to an historical inbreeding event. Low levels of relatedness could however indicate some mechanism of inbreeding avoidance. The effects from a recent supplementation of genetic material from two native Australian populations were observed through genetic structuring analyses. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed that significant genetic variation was mainly distributed within populations (75%) and among individuals (23%). The results provide significant information on A. mearnsii population genetic diversity and structure, which can be used for conservation of the current subpopulations and future tree improvement programs.
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The authors would like to thank the Institute for Commercial Forestry Research (ICFR) for the funding as well as the opportunity to undertake this novel research.
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MWB and WGC contributed to the study conception and design. MWB, ABA and WGC contributed to material preparation, data collection and analysis. All authors contributed to the writing of the manuscript and read and approved the final version.
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Bairu, M.W., Amelework, A.B. & Coetzer, W.G. Genetic diversity and population structure of six South African Acacia mearnsii breeding populations based on SSR markers. J Plant Res 134, 1243–1252 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-021-01331-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-021-01331-2