Genetic variation in Heritiera littoralis (Malvaceae) from east and south Asia revealed by AFLP markers

Abstract

Heritiera littoralis Dryand (Malvaceae) is a mangrove tree that can grow in both intertidal wetland and inland habitats. Due to natural and human impacts, populations of this species have been fragmented. We used amplified fragment length polymorphism markers to determine the genetic variations in 13 natural populations of H. littoralis from China, Japan, and Thailand. Our results revealed a relatively high level of genetic variation (at population level: P = 35.71%, H = 0.127, and I = 0.190; at species level: P = 77.47%, H = 0.221, and I = 0.342) and a high level of genetic differentiation among populations (G _ST = 0.336) in this species. The results also suggest that the origins of the current populations of H. littoralis in Asia lie in two gene pools. These findings imply that as many populations as possible should be preserved in situ for the conservation of this species. Given their genetic variability and origin, the Thai populations should be assigned priority for conservation.

Keywords:

• AFLP
• Asia
• conservation
• genetic variation
• Heritiera littoralis

Acknowledgments

We thank Dr Tan Fenxiao for her help in collecting samples in Thailand. This study was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Funds (NSCF 30870244), the Guangdong Sci‐Tech Planning Project (2006B60101034), and the Innovation Funds from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KSCX2‐SW‐132).