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Low levels of quantitative and molecular genetic differentiation among natural populations of Medicago ciliaris Kroch. (Fabaceae) of different Tunisian eco-geographical origin

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Abstract

In this paper, we analyze the genetic variability in four Tunisian natural populations of Medicago ciliaris using 19 quantitative traits and six polymorphic microsatellite loci. We investigated the amplification transferability of 30 microsatellites developed in the model legume M. truncatula to M. ciliaris. Results revealed that about 56.66% of analyzed markers are valuable genetic markers for M. ciliaris. The most genetic diversity at quantitative traits and microsatellite loci was found to occur within populations (>80%). Low differentiations among populations at quantitative traits Q ST  = 0.146 and molecular markers F ST  = 0.18 were found. The majority of measured traits exhibited no significant difference in the level of Q ST and F ST . Furthermore, significant correlations established between these traits and eco-geographical factors suggested that natural selection should be invoked to explain the level of phenotypic divergence among populations rather than drift. There was no significant correlation between population differentiation at quantitative traits and molecular markers. Significant spatial genetic structure consistent with models of isolation by distance was detected within all studied populations. The site-of-origin environmental factors explain about 9.07% of total phenotypic genetic variation among populations. The eco-geographical factors that influence more the variation of measured traits among populations are the soil texture and altitude. Nevertheless, there were no consistent pattern of associations between gene diversity (He) and environmental factors.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Soumaya Arraouadi for molecular technical assistance and two anonymous referees for helpful comments on the manuscript. This work was funded in part by Tunisian-French collaborative programs (CMCU 00F0909 and PICS 712).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire Interactions Légumineuses Microorganismes, Centre de Biotechnologie, Technopole de Borj-Cédria, B.P. 901, 2050, Hammam-Lif, Tunisia

    Mounawer Badri, Adel Zitoun, Sameh Soula, Houcine Ilahi & Mohamed Elarbi Aouani

  2. Institut Préparatoire aux Etudes d’Ingénieurs de Bizerte, Université 7 Novembre à Carthage, 7021, Zarzouna, Tunisia

    Houcine Ilahi

  3. Laboratoire de Symbiose et Pathologie des Plantes, INP-ENSAT, B.P. 107, 31326, Castanet Tolosan Cedex, France

    Thierry Huguet

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  1. Mounawer Badri
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Correspondence to Mounawer Badri.

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Badri, M., Zitoun, A., Soula, S. et al. Low levels of quantitative and molecular genetic differentiation among natural populations of Medicago ciliaris Kroch. (Fabaceae) of different Tunisian eco-geographical origin. Conserv Genet 9, 1509–1520 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-007-9483-z

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