Allozyme and phenotypic variation in beech (Fagus sylvatica L.): Are there any links?

Abstract

Allozymes are generally considered neutral markers, although there is evidence of adaptive significance of some allozyme markers in many tree species. Nevertheless, as shown by numerous studies, geographical distribution of variation at allozyme loci reflects mainly non-selective processes and phenomena such as colonization, gene flow and founder/bottleneck effects. On the other hand, neutral processes also affect genes controlling quantitative phenotypic traits such as growth and tree architecture. Basic question arising with all gene-marker studies aiming at gene conservation is whether neutral markers can provide any relevant and useful information, i.e. to what extent they reflect variation at genes controlling quantitative and fitness-related traits. This study focuses on potential concordances/discordances in spatial patterns of allozyme and quantitative phenotypic variation. We found that on the range-wide scale, there is no association between phenotypic variation in growth and adaptive traits and neutral allelic richness, but an association with neutral gene diversity. Populations with a high diversity at allozyme loci tend to exhibit also a high intra-population variance of phenotypic traits.

• Fagus sylvatica L. allozymes
• phenotypic variation
• provenance research
• cross-correlation
• spatial pattern

Acknowledgements

The provenance experiment has been established through the realization of the project European Network for the Evaluation of the Genetic Resources of Beech for Appropriate Use in Sustainable Forestry Management (AIR3-CT94-2091) under the coordination of H.-J. Muhs and G. von Wühlisch. Collection of field data was accomplished within the COST Action E52 Evaluation of Beech Genetic Resources for Sustainable Forestry; special thanks are due to Gregor Božič, John Fennesy, Josef Frýdl, Gerhard Huber, Mirko Liesebach, Patrick Mertens, Gheorghe Parnuta, Sven de Vries and Wojciech Wesoly. The study was supported by a grant of the Slovak Grant Agency for Science VEGA 1/0218/12. The assistance of J. Letouzey, Z. Slančíková and J. Vyšný with allozyme analyses as well as many colleagues throughout Europe with the procurement of the material for the allozyme study is highly appreciated.