Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Genetic diversity within and among southern African provenances of Uapaca kirkiana Müell. Årg using morphological and AFLP markers

  • Published:
New Forests Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Domestication of Uapaca kirkiana Müell. Arg is a high priority for improving rural livelihoods of smallholder farmers in southern Africa. Domestication efforts require knowledge of adaptive traits and intra-specific variation. Morphological traits and amplified fragment length polymorphic (AFLP) markers were used to assess genetic variation in twelve provenances of U. kirkiana collected from southern Africa. Assessment of morphological traits showed significant differences (P < 0.05) between provenances. Provenances from Zimbabwe and Zambia showed faster growth than those from Malawi (except Phalombe) and Tanzania. Morphological traits exhibited strong genetic differentiation between provenances and within provenances. The degree of provenance differentiation of traits (Q ST = 0.03–0.139, Q ST mean = 0.092) was in the same range with that of AFLP loci (F ST mean = 0.089) detected among provenances and within provenances (0.002 < F ST < 0.259). The differentiation for some morphological traits could be attributed to local adaptation and human selection of the U. kirkiana trees at the site of origin. Mean Nei’s (H) genetic diversity of AFLP showed high diversity within the provenances (H = 0.181–0.321, H mean = 0.256). An analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed higher genetic variation (90.8%) within provenances than among provenances (9.2%). There was no geographical pattern of variation in growth and morphological traits among the seed sources. Chipata provenance from Zambia was the most diverse while Mapanzure from Zimbabwe was the least diverse, though it was superior in height and earliest in fruiting. The pattern of genetic diversity indicates low selection in some areas and high gene flow which would be counteracting it. Therefore regional and country collections and conservation strategies should consider differences by focussing on the main range of the species by paying particular attention to unique populations within countries.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Agufa CAC (2002) Genetic variation in Sclerocarya birrea and Uapaca kirkiana -indigenous fruit trees of the miombo woodlands. MSc thesis Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Nairobi Kenya

  • Akinnifesi FK, Kwesiga F, Mhango J, Mkonda A, Chilanga T, Swai R (2004a) Domesticating priority miombo indigenous fruit trees as a promising livelihood option for smallholder farmers in southern Africa. Acta Hort 632:15–30

    Google Scholar 

  • Akinnifesi FK, Chilanga TG, Mkonda A, Kwesiga F, Maghembe JA (2004b) Domestication of Uapaca kirkiana in southern Africa: preliminary results of screening provenances in Malawi and Zambia. In: Rao MR, Kwesiga FR (eds) Agroforestry impacts on livelihoods in southern Africa: putting research into practice. Aventurra Resorts, Warmbaths, pp 85–91

    Google Scholar 

  • Akinnifesi FK, Kwesiga F, Mhango J, Chilanga T, Mkonda A, Kadu CAC, Kadzere I, Mithofer D, Saka JDK, Sileshi D, Ramadhani T, Dhliwayo P (2006) Towards the development of Miombo fruit trees as commercial tree crops in Southern Africa. Forests Trees Livelihoods 16:103–121

    Google Scholar 

  • Akinnifesi FK, Mhango J, Sileshi G, Chilanga T (2008) Early growth and survival of three miombo woodland indigenous fruit tree species under fertilizer, manure and dry-season irrigation in southern Malawi. For Ecol Manage 255:546–557

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cao CP, Finkeldey R, Siregar IZ, Siregar UJ, Gailing G (2006) Genetic diversity within and among populations of Shorea leprosula Miq. and Shorea parvifolia Dyer Dipterocaracaeae in Indonesia detected by AFLPs. Tree Gen Genomes 2:225–239

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cundall EP, Cahalan CM, Connolly T (2003) Early results of ash (Fraxinus excelsior, L) provenance trials at sites in England and Wales. Forestry 76(4):385–399

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Esbensen KH (2007) Multivariate data analysis -in practice, 5th edn. CAMO ASA, Oslo 598 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Excoffier L, Smouse PE, Quattro JM (1992) Analysis of molecular variance inferred from metric distances among DNA haplotypes: application to human mitochondrial DNA restriction data. Genetics 131:179–191

    Google Scholar 

  • Ham C, Akinnifesi FK, Franzel S, du PS Jordan D, Hansmann C, Ajayi OC, de Cock D (2008) Opportunities for commercialization and enterprise development of Indigenous fruits of southern Africa. In: Akinnifesi FK, Leakey RB, Ajayi OC, Sileshi G, Tchoundjeu Z, Matakala P, Kwesiga F (eds) Indigenous fruit trees in the tropics. Domestication, utilization and commercialization. CAB International, Nairobi 438 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamrick JL, Loveless MD (1989) The genetic structure of tropical tree populations: associations with reproductive biology. In: Bock JH, Linhart YB (eds) The evolutionary ecology of plants. Westview Press, Boulder, pp 129–146

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamrick JL, Godt MJ, Sherman-Broyles SL (1992) Factors influencing levels of genetic diversity in woody plant species. New For 6:95–124

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartl DL, Clark AG (1997) Principles of population genetics, 3rd edn. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland

    Google Scholar 

  • Hodgetts RB, Aleksiuk MA, Brown A, Clarke C, Macdonald E, Nadeem S, Khasa D (2001) Development of microsatellite markers for white spruce (Picea glauca) and related species. Theor Appl Genet 102:1252–1258

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kadu CAC, Imbunga M, Jamnadass R, Dawson IK (2006) Genetic management of indigenous fruit trees in southern Africa: a case study of Sclerocarya birrea based on nuclear and chloroplast variation. S Afr J Bot 72:421–427

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kremer A, Caron H, Cavers S, Colpaert N, Gheysen L, Gribel R (2005) Monitoring genetic diversity in tropical trees with multilocus dominant markers. Heredity 95:274–280

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Leakey RRB, Tchoundjeu Z, Smith RI, Munro RC, Fondoun JM, Kengue J, Anegbeh PO, Atangana AR, Waruhiu AN, Asaah E, Usoro EC, Ukafor V (2004) Evidence that subsistence farmers have domesticated indigenous fruits (Dacryodes edulis and Irvingia gabonensis) in Cameroon and Nigeria. Agrofor Syst 60:101–111

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leakey RRB, Tchoundjeu Z, Schreckenberg K, Shackleton S, Shackleton C (2005) Agroforestry tree products. Targeting poverty reduction & enhanced livelihoods. Int J Agric Sust 3:1–23

    Google Scholar 

  • Lengkeek AG, Mwangi AM, Agufa CAC (2006) Comparing genetic diversity in agroforestry systems with natural forest: a case study of the important timber tree Vitex fischeri in central Kenya. Agrofor Syst 67:293–300

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loveless MD, Hamrick JL (1984) Ecological determinants of genetic structure in plant populations. Ann Rev Ecol Syst 15:65–95

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maghembe JA, Simons AJ, Kwesiga F, Rarieya M (1998) Selecting indigenous trees for domestication in southern Africa: priority setting with farmers in Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. ICRAF, Nairobi

    Google Scholar 

  • Mashingaidze K, Musarirambi MT, Tongozha P (1991) Plant genetic resources conservation in Zimbabwe. Mambo Press, Harare, pp 9–15

    Google Scholar 

  • McKay JK, Latta RG (2002) Adaptive population divergence: markers QTL and traits. Trends Ecol Evol 17:285–291

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mhango JL (2000) Soil and nutrient requirements for early growth of Uapaca kirkiana seedlings. In: Bohringer A, Chilanga T, Chirwa PW, Makumba W, Mhango J, Moyo N, Munthali LM, Mwabumba L, Phiri R (eds) Achievements in agroforestry research and development in Malawi. Annual Report 2000. SADC-ICRAF, Harare, Zimbabwe, pp 62–67

  • Muluvi GM, Sprent JI, Soranzo N, Provan J, Odee D, Folkard G, McNicol JW, Powell W (1999) Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis of genetic variation in Moringa oleifera Lam. Mol Ecol 8:463–470

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Muok BO, Matsumura A, Ishii T, Odee DW (2007) Genetic diversity within Sclerocarya birrea populations in Kenya. J Arid Envir 71:1–11

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mwase WF, Bjørnstad Å, Ntupanyama YM, Kwapata MB, Bokosi JM (2006a) Phenotypic variation in fruit, seed and seedling traits of nine Uapaca kirkiana provenances found in Malawi. S Afr For 208:15–21

    Google Scholar 

  • Mwase WF, Bjørnstad Å, Stedje B, Bokosi JM, Kwapata MB (2006b) Genetic diversity of Uapaca kirkiana Muell. Årg. populations as revealed by amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs). Afr J Biotech 5(13):1205–1213

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nei M (1973) Analysis of gene diversity in subdivided populations. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 70:3321–3323

    Google Scholar 

  • Ngulube MR, Hall JB, Maghembe JA (1995) Ecology of a miombo fruit tree: Uapaca kirkiana (Euphorbiaceae). For Ecol Manage 77:107–111

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ngulube MR, Hall JB, Maghembe JA (1997) Fruit, seed and seedling variation in Uapaca kirkiana from natural populations in Malawi. For Ecol Manage 98:209–219

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ngulube MR, Hall JB, Maghembe JA (1998) Reproductive ecology of Uapaca kirkiana (Euphorbiaceae) in Malawi, southern Africa. J Trop Ecol 14:743–760

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paterson AH, Brubaker CL, Wendel JF (1993) A Rapid method for extraction of cotton (Gossypium species) genomic DNA suitable for RFLP or PCR analysis. Plant Mol Biol Rep 11:122–127

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rohlf FJ (2000) NTSYS-pc. Numerical Taxonomy and Multivariate analysis system, version 2.1. Exeter Software, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Roldán-Ruiz I, van Euwijk FA, Gilliland TJ, Dubreuil P, Dillmann C, Lallemand J, De Loose M, Baril CP (2001) A comparative study of molecular and morphological methods of describing relationships between perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) varieties. Theor Appl Gen 103:1138–1150

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saka JDK, Kadzere I, Ndabikunze BK, Akinnifesi FK, Tiisekwa BPM (2008) Product development: nutritional value, processing and utilization of indigenous fruits from the Miombo Ecosystem. In: Akinnifesi FK, Leakey RB, Ajayi OC, Sileshi G, Tchoundjeu Z, Matakala P, Kwesiga F (eds) Indigenous fruit trees in the tropics. Domestication, utilization and commercialization. CAB International, Nairobi 438 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Schneider S, Roessli D, Excoffier L (2000) Arlequin version 2.0: a software for population genetics data analysis. Genetics and Biometry Laboratory, University of Geneva, Switzerland

    Google Scholar 

  • Sneath PHA, Sokal RR (1973) Numerical taxonomy. The principles and practice of numerical classification. XV. Freeman, San Francisco, p 573

    Google Scholar 

  • Tajima F (1993) Measurement of DNA polymorphism. In: Takahata N, Clark AG (eds) Mechanisms of molecular evolution. Introduction to molecular paleopopulation biology. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, pp 37–59

    Google Scholar 

  • Vos P, Hogers R, Bleeker M, Reijans M, van der Lee T, Hornes M, Frijters A, Pot J, Peleman J, Kuiper M, Zabeau M (1995) AFLP: a new technique for DNA fingerprinting. Nucleic Acids Res 23:4407–4414

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Voysey BC, Mcdonald KE, Rogers ME, Tutin CE, Parnell RJ (1999) Gorillas and seed dispersal in the Lope′ Reserve, Gabon. II: survival and growth of seedlings. J Trop Ecol 15:38–60

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright S (1978) Evolution and genetics of populations: variability within and among natural populations vol 4. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The research grant was provided by Norwegian Research Council for Higher Education (NUFU) through Plant Biotechnology Project of University of Malawi. We acknowledge Anne-Guri Marøy and Dr. A. Holefors at the Centre for Plant Growth in Controlled Environment (SKP) for technical assistance. We are indebted to Thomson Chilanga and Jarret Mhango formerly of ICRAF for fruitful discussions.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Forestry and Horticulture, Bunda College of Agriculture, University of Malawi, P.O. Box 219, Lilongwe, Malawi

    Weston F. Mwase & M. B. Kwapata

  2. World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Southern Africa Regional Programme, Chitedze Agricultural Research Station, P.O. Box 30798, Lilongwe 3, Malawi

    F. K. Akinnifesi

  3. Natural History Museum, Botanical Garden, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1172, Blindern, 0318, Oslo, Norway

    B. Stedje

  4. Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, P.O. Box 5003, 1432, Ås, Norway

    Å. Bjørnstad

Authors
  1. Weston F. Mwase
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. F. K. Akinnifesi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. B. Stedje
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. M. B. Kwapata
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Å. Bjørnstad
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Weston F. Mwase.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Mwase, W.F., Akinnifesi, F.K., Stedje, B. et al. Genetic diversity within and among southern African provenances of Uapaca kirkiana Müell. Årg using morphological and AFLP markers. New Forests 40, 383–399 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11056-010-9206-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11056-010-9206-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation