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Patterns of chloroplast DNA variation in Cycas debaoensis (Cycadaceae): conservation implications

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Abstract

Climate changes during glacial periods have had significant effects on the current distribution of plant species. Palaeontologial data suggest that modern cycads originated in southwest China. Cycas debaoensis (Cycadaceae) is an endangered species restricted to a small area of southwest China. This species has been classified into two types: sand and karst, according to the soil matrix they grow on. To determine the locations of its glacial refugia and its genetic structure, we examined chloroplast sequence variation of the atpB-rbcL and psbA-trnH intergenic spacers. Four chloroplast DNA haplotypes were obtained from 120 individuals collected from 11 populations covering the entire extant distribution range of the species. Significant population subdivision was detected (G ST = 0.684 and F ST = 0.74160), suggesting low levels of gene flow between regions and populations. There was marked haplotype differentiation between populations in the sand and karst regions, with only one haplotype being present in both. The molecular phylogenetic data, together with the geographic distribution of the haplotypes, suggest that C. debaoensis experienced range contraction during glacial periods, and that the current populations are still confined to the areas of the original refugia. These results implied that isolated refugia might have maintained in both sand and karst regions during the last glacial maximum and even earlier glaciations. The low within-population diversity of C. debaoensis suggested that there were strong bottleneck events or founder effects within each separate region during the Quaternary climatic oscillations. These findings are important for the conservation of this endangered species.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank Wang Chao-Hong for her help in collection of material and thank Liao Pei-Chun and Chiang Yu-Chung for data analysis. We are grateful to He Wang-Long for help with the haplotype plotting. We would also like to thank Chen Jia-Rui for valuable suggestions. This study was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (30670210) and the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program: 2007CB411600).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Biodiversity and Biogeography, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 132 Lanhei Road, Kunming, 650204, People’s Republic of China

    Qing-Qing Zhan, Jin-Feng Wang, Xun Gong & Hua Peng

  2. Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Qing-Qing Zhan & Jin-Feng Wang

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  1. Qing-Qing Zhan
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  2. Jin-Feng Wang
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Correspondence to Xun Gong.

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Qing-Qing Zhan and Jin-Feng Wang contributed equally to this work.

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Zhan, QQ., Wang, JF., Gong, X. et al. Patterns of chloroplast DNA variation in Cycas debaoensis (Cycadaceae): conservation implications. Conserv Genet 12, 959–970 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-011-0198-9

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