Art13 Journal of Applied Botany and Food Quality 81, 175 - 177 (2007) 1 Institut für Allgemeine Botanik und Pflanzenphysiologie, AG Spezielle Botanik, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen 2 Institut für Biochemie und Biologie, AG Biozönoseforschung/Spezielle Botanik, Universität Potsdam 3 Institut für Spezielle Botanik, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena 4 Institut für Allgemeine Botanik und Pflanzenphysiologie, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena Small scale analysis of population structure in the woody cornelian cherry Cornus mas L. (Cornaceae) by AFLP accentuates the need for a population based conservation strategy V. Wissemann*1, H. Baumbach2, S. Müller3, Y. Venus4, F.H. Hellwig3 (Received August 29, 2007) Summary We investigated population differentiation among and within three populations (two natural, one artificial) of the cornelian cherry (Cornus mas L., Cornaceae) to examine the extent of gene flow from planted cornelian cherries commonly used in planting vege- tations of public parks or streets into natural stands. Additionall we assessed if natural populations show any intrapopulational and/or interpopulational differentiation pointing towards restricted gene flow with possible necessity for a population based conservation strategy rather than a taxon based strategy. Results clearly indicated within and between population structure a radius of isolation by distance for pollen and seed dispersal of about 5.0 km. Interestingly genetic distance did not support coherence of the two natural populations but mirrored the historical origin of the innertown population from diverse natural sources reflecting the traditional use and selection of edible varieties from nature. The Nem value of 1.25 implicates the prevention of population differentation. However the low level of genetic diversity and distance at all might mislead the interpretation and the degree of distance reflects more ancient similarities than actual geneflow. Given this observable isolation by distance, con- servation biology of Cornus mas requires a population based strategy rather than a broad taxon based strategy. Introduction Introgression of non autochthonous genes from introduced plants of different origin into local genepools is one of the major issues in conservation biology. Here we assess the population structure of the cornelian cherry Cornus mas L. (Cornaceae) at two natural stands in Thuringia and compare the genetic diversity with an artifical po- pulation based on samples of garden and town origin from Jena. The primary question to which no information for Cornus exists is if there is gene flow between populations and to what extent intro- gression from planted cornelian cherries, commonly used in planting vegetations of public parks or streets, can be detected. There is no information available if natural populations show any intrapopula- tional and/or interpopulational differentiation pointing towards restricted gene flow with possible necessity for a population based conservation strategy rather than a taxon based strategy. Natural populations of the mainly south-east european and Asia minor dis- tributed species (HEGI, 1927) Cornus mas are rare in Germany, the thuringian populations are of special interest because they might be outposts at the warm and dry limestone slopes of the Saale valleys and have been explicetly mentioned in the post-renaissance herbals e.g. by ZWINGER (1744) and since then (HEGI, 1927). As an early pasture for bees and a traditional used edible fruit Cornus mas is an important element of the native flora (BARTELS, 1993; FRIEDRICH and PETZOLD, 1993). Around Jena, cultural history reflects heavily on Cornus mas, for a long time hiking poles and batons for student leagues, the so called „Ziegenhainer“ were made in the small village Ziegenhain next to Jena and distributed through Germany (TRAEGER, 1993). The populations we studied were an artificial one from plants grown in the town Jena, a population from Wöllnitz thought to be used for the production of the Ziegenhainer poles and samples from a large natural population from the conservation area of Kunitz, 5 km north of Jena. We assessed within and between population diversity and tied the results to the questions of distance of geneflow among populations, introgression of non-autochthonous gene pools into natural stands either by pollination or planting and dispersal abilities of pollen and fruits/seed. The guiding hypothesis assumes, that the two natural populations are more similar to each other than the artificial population and that the genetic diversity of the artificial town population is higher due to its diverse origin than the natural populations, reflecting the traditional use and selection of edible varieties. Material and methods Sampling and DNA isolation In 2004 ninety plants were sampled from the three thuringian populations around Jena: Kunitz, Wöllnitz, and Jena town (30 plants per population). Geographic distance of Kunitz is 5.0 km north of Jena, Wöllnitz is about 2.5 km west of Jena. Plant material was dried in silica gel, ground with sterile sea sand and stored at -20 °C until DNA extraction. Total genomic DNA was isolated using the Qiagen (Hilden, Germany) plasmid mini kit following the protocol of HELLWIG et al. (1999). Extracted DNA was quantified photometric at 260 nm. AFLP analysis The complete AFLP procedure can be taken from VOS et al. (1995) but we used IRD- labelled primers for the selective PCR amplifica- tion and an automated DNA sequencer as described in BAUMBACH (2005). 35 primer combinations were screened and checked for band poly- morphism, band brightness, band/background contrast, number of amplification products and reproducibility of band patterns. Four primer combinations have been selected for AFLP analysis: I) EcoRI- AAC/MseI-CAC (44 loci, 37-482 bp), II) EcoRI-AAC/MseI-CCT (37 loci, 36-471 bp), III) EcoRI-AAG/MseI-CGT (38 loci, 48-449 bp), IV) EcoRI-AAG/MseI-CTT (53 loci, 34-474 bp). They yielded a total of 172 well-amplified and highly reproducible polymorphic bands. It was possible to distinguish all 90 sampled plants as separate AFLP phenotypes. All selective PCR amplifications were performed twice. Only bands which could be detected both times unequivocally were used for further analyses. Data analyses AFLP patterns were compiled into a 0/1-matrix (state „0“ for ab- sence, „1“ for presence of a band) using the „Saga generation 2“ software (Li-Cor Biosciences, Bad Homburg, Germany). Bands of 176 V. Wissemann, H. Baumbach, S. Müller, Y. Venus, F.H. Hellwig equal fragment sizes were interpreted as homologous. Different staining intensities of homologous bands were not interpreted as different bands. The partitioning of genetic variance within and among populations was assessed by an analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA, im- plemented in Arlequin ver. 2.000, SCHNEIDER et al. 2000). The fixation index ΦST (in analogy to FST) was calculated with the Arlequin software to estimate gene flow [(Nem=¼(1/ΦST-1)] between popu- lations. Principal coordinates analysis was calculated with NTSYSpc ver. 2.11a (Exeter Software, Setauket, USA) using a distance matrix based on the Band similarity coefficient (LYNCH 1990). Percentage of average heterozygosity, and percentage of polymorphic loci (calcu- lated with TFPGA; MILLER, 1997) were used as parameters for de- scription of genetic variability. Heterozygosity was calculated under the assumption of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (band state „0“ is counted as homozygous recessive genotype). Results Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) Genetic variation within populations exceeds variation among popu- lations clearly (17 % vs. 83 %). The corresponding ΦST-value is 0.167. Under the assumption of Wright’s island model gene flow between populations is Nem=¼(1/ΦST-1)=1.25 (Tab. 1). Tab. 1: Results of AMOVA computation: source of variation (SV), degrees of freedom (Df), sum of squares (SQ), variance components (VC), and fixation index (ΦST). Source of variation: among populations (aP), within populations (wP). Level of significance (based on 1023 iteration steps): ***p < 0.001. SV Df SQ VC Variation Φ Nem aP 2 329.58 4.71 Va 16.7 % wP 87 2043.47 23.49 Vb 83.3 % ΦST=0.167*** 1.25 total 89 2373.05 28.20 Parameters of genetic variability Analysis of genetic variability revealed the highest level of variability in the artificial Jena town population, supporting the view of multiple and diverse origin. Wöllnitz again exhibits significant genetic di- versity contributing to our assumption of Wöllnitz as a population with human impact by economic use and potential introduction and cultivation of useful genotypes. Kunitz shows the lowest average heterozygosity indicating a viable but isolated natural population. Tab. 2: Genetic variability parameters of the examined Cornus mas L. populations. Population Sample Size Average Polymorphic Heterozygosity Loci 1 (Kunitz) 30 25.2 % 79.7 % 2 (Wöllnitz) 30 29.0 % 89.0 % 3 (Jena) 30 33.0 % 93.6 % total 90 33.7 % 100 % The PCO-analysis reveals a highly scattered artificial population due to the multiple and diverse origin of the samples. A similar degree is found in the Wöllnitz population with a slight substructering maybe due to planting. Kunitz is represented as an entire population (with a few exception). Due to the low level of genetic differentiation at all, we interpret the coherence of the Kunitz population as a sign of isolation by distance from the remainder populations. Genetic distances In general genetic distances (NEI, 1972) among all three populations are low. Wöllnitz (2) and Jena (3) are more similar to each other than to Kunitz (1). Kunitz (1) and Wöllnitz (2) are less similar to each other indicating isolation between the two assumed natural populations Wöllnitz and Kunitz. Genetic distances between Wöll- nitz-Jena and Kunitz-Jena support the view of the town population being originated from collected samples from natural stands (more from Wöllnitz, less from Kunitz) Tab. 3: Nei’s original (1972) distance (1) Kunitz, (2) Wöllnitz, (3) Jena Population 1 2 3 1 ***** 2 0.106 ***** 3 0.088 0.057 ***** Discussion Our guiding hypothesis assumed, that the two natural populations are more similar to each other than the artificial population and that the genetic diversity of the artificial town population is higher due to its diverse origin than the natural populations, reflecting the traditional use and selection of edible varieties. The data corrects this hypothesis partially. Indeed, the genetic diversity of the artificial town population is higher than the within population differentiation of the naturals stands. This diversity mirrors the historical development of the town population from multiple introductions, either from commercially grown cornelian cherries or from transplantations from natural sources into the homes garden. PCO analysis indicates, that some of the genotypes can not be distinguished from the Wöllnitz population, pointing towards transplantation of tasty edible varieties from nature Principal coordinates analysis Fig. 1: Principal coordinates plot of 90 Cornus mas individuals for the first two principal coordinates estimated with 172 AFLP markers. Variation explained: 73.8 % (PCO I: 49.7 %, PCO II: 24.1 %). Population structure in Cornus mas L. (Cornaceae) 177 into the town (preferred) or vice versa to produce useful wood for the production of the Ziegenhainer (less likely). What is not supported is our expectation, that the two natural stands are more similar to each other than to the town population. Wöllnitz (2) and Jena (3) are more similar to each other than to Kunitz (1). Kunitz (1) and Wöllnitz (2) are less similar to each other indicating isolation between the two assumed natural populations Wöllnitz and Kunitz, but gene flow between town and Wöllnitz. The unity of the population in Kunitz reflects its isolated position. Obviously the distance of 5 km from Jena and Wöllnitz prevents more or less the pollen transfer by bees or seed/fruit transport although BARTELS (1993) reports endozooic seed dispersal by birds. Still, analysis of pollen fertility as a dimension of fitness does not indicate any fitness decrease within and between populations (MÜLLER, 2004; NOHLEN, 2007). The Nem value of 1.25 implicates the prevention of popula- tion differentiation. However the low level of genetic diversity and distance at all might mislead the interpretation and the degree of distance reflects more ancient similarities than actual geneflow. Given this observable isolation by distance, conservation biology of Cornus mas requires a population based strategy rather than a broad taxon based strategy. Acknowledgements We like to thank the Thuringian Landesverwaltungsamt, Weimar, T. Rohde for the allowance to collect plant material from the conser- vation area „NSG 149 Grosser Gleisberg“ Letter 7.7.2003, AZ: 601.12-8512.05-149.SHK-03.001601.1-ro. References BARTELS, H., 1993: Gehölzkunde. Einführung in die Dendrologie. E. Ulmer, Stuttgart. BAUMBACH, H., 2005: Genetische Differenzierung mitteleuropäischer Schwer- metallsippen von Silene vulgaris, Minuartia verna und Armeria marit- ima unter Berücksichtigung biogeographischer, montanhistorischer und physiologischer Aspekte. Dissertationes Botanicae 398. Borntraeger, Stuttgart. FRIEDRICH, G., PETZOLD, H., 1993: Obstsorten. 300 Obstsorten in Wort und Bild. Neumann, Radebeul. HELLWIG, F., NOLTE, M., OCHSMANN, J., WISSEMANN, V., 1999: Rapid isolation of total cell DNA from milligram plant tissue. Haussknechtia 7, 29-34. LYNCH, M., 1990: The similarity index and DNA fingerprinting. Mol. Biol. Evol. 7, 478-484. MILLER, M., 1997: Tools for population genetic analysis (TFPGA) 1.3: A windows program for the analysis of allozyme and molecular population genetic data. Department of Biological Sciences – Northern Arizona University. MÜLLER, S., 2004: Die Variabilität von Cornus mas L. im Mittleren Saaletal. Magisterarbeit, Institut für Spezielle Botanik, FSU Jena. NEI, M., 1972: Genetic distance between populations. Amer. Naturalist 106 (949), 283-292. NOHLEN, F., 2007: Untersuchungen zur Reproduktionsbiologie von Cornus mas L. und Cornus sanguinea L. Staatsexamensarbeit, Institut für Spezielle Botanik, FSU Jena. TRAEGER, I., 1993: Von Lichtenhainer Kännchen und Ziegenhainer Stöcken. Burschenschaftliche Blätter 3, 136-137. VOS, P., HOGERS, R., BLEEKER, M., REIJANS, M., VAN DE LEE, T., HORNES, M., FRITERS, A., POT, J., PALEMAN, J., KUIPER, M., ZABEAU, M., 1995: AFLP: a new technique for DNA fingerprinting. Nucleic Acids Res. 23, 4407-4414. SCHNEIDER, S., ROESSLI, D., EXCOFFIER, L., 2000: Arlequin ver. 2.000. University of Geneva. ZWINGER, T., 1744: Theatrum botanicum. J. Bischoffs, Basel. Address of the authors: Volker Wissemann (corresponding author), Institut für Allgemeine Botanik und Pflanzenphysiologie, AG Spezielle Botanik, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Senckenbergstr. 17, D-35390 Giessen (volker.wissemann@bot1.bio.uni-giessen.de) Henryk Baumbach, Institut für Biochemie und Biologie, – Biozönose- forschung / Spezielle Botanik –, Universität Potsdam, Maulbeerallee 1, D- 14469 Potsdam Sylvia Müller, Frank H. Hellwig, Institut für Spezielle Botanik, Friedrich- Schiller-Universität Jena, Philosophenweg 16, D-07743 Jena Y. Venus Institut für Allgemeine Botanik und Pflanzenphysiologie, Friedrich- Schiller-Universität Jena, Dornburger Straße 159, 07743 Jena << /ASCII85EncodePages false /AllowTransparency false /AutoPositionEPSFiles true /AutoRotatePages /All /Binding /Left /CalGrayProfile (Dot Gain 20%) /CalRGBProfile (sRGB IEC61966-2.1) /CalCMYKProfile (U.S. Web Coated \050SWOP\051 v2) /sRGBProfile (sRGB IEC61966-2.1) /CannotEmbedFontPolicy /Warning /CompatibilityLevel 1.4 /CompressObjects /Tags /CompressPages true /ConvertImagesToIndexed true /PassThroughJPEGImages true /CreateJDFFile false /CreateJobTicket false /DefaultRenderingIntent /Default /DetectBlends true /ColorConversionStrategy /LeaveColorUnchanged /DoThumbnails false /EmbedAllFonts true /EmbedJobOptions true /DSCReportingLevel 0 /EmitDSCWarnings false /EndPage -1 /ImageMemory 1048576 /LockDistillerParams false /MaxSubsetPct 100 /Optimize true /OPM 1 /ParseDSCComments true /ParseDSCCommentsForDocInfo true /PreserveCopyPage true /PreserveEPSInfo true /PreserveHalftoneInfo false /PreserveOPIComments false /PreserveOverprintSettings true /StartPage 1 /SubsetFonts true /TransferFunctionInfo /Apply /UCRandBGInfo /Preserve /UsePrologue false /ColorSettingsFile () /AlwaysEmbed [ true ] /NeverEmbed [ true ] /AntiAliasColorImages false /DownsampleColorImages true /ColorImageDownsampleType /Bicubic /ColorImageResolution 300 /ColorImageDepth -1 /ColorImageDownsampleThreshold 1.50000 /EncodeColorImages true /ColorImageFilter /DCTEncode /AutoFilterColorImages true /ColorImageAutoFilterStrategy /JPEG /ColorACSImageDict << /QFactor 0.15 /HSamples [1 1 1 1] /VSamples [1 1 1 1] >> /ColorImageDict << /QFactor 0.15 /HSamples [1 1 1 1] /VSamples [1 1 1 1] >> /JPEG2000ColorACSImageDict << /TileWidth 256 /TileHeight 256 /Quality 30 >> /JPEG2000ColorImageDict << /TileWidth 256 /TileHeight 256 /Quality 30 >> /AntiAliasGrayImages false /DownsampleGrayImages true /GrayImageDownsampleType /Bicubic /GrayImageResolution 300 /GrayImageDepth -1 /GrayImageDownsampleThreshold 1.50000 /EncodeGrayImages true /GrayImageFilter /DCTEncode /AutoFilterGrayImages true /GrayImageAutoFilterStrategy /JPEG /GrayACSImageDict << /QFactor 0.15 /HSamples [1 1 1 1] /VSamples [1 1 1 1] >> /GrayImageDict << /QFactor 0.15 /HSamples [1 1 1 1] /VSamples [1 1 1 1] >> /JPEG2000GrayACSImageDict << /TileWidth 256 /TileHeight 256 /Quality 30 >> /JPEG2000GrayImageDict << /TileWidth 256 /TileHeight 256 /Quality 30 >> /AntiAliasMonoImages false /DownsampleMonoImages true /MonoImageDownsampleType /Bicubic /MonoImageResolution 1200 /MonoImageDepth -1 /MonoImageDownsampleThreshold 1.50000 /EncodeMonoImages true /MonoImageFilter /CCITTFaxEncode /MonoImageDict << /K -1 >> /AllowPSXObjects false /PDFX1aCheck false /PDFX3Check false /PDFXCompliantPDFOnly false /PDFXNoTrimBoxError true /PDFXTrimBoxToMediaBoxOffset [ 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 ] /PDFXSetBleedBoxToMediaBox true /PDFXBleedBoxToTrimBoxOffset [ 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 ] /PDFXOutputIntentProfile () /PDFXOutputCondition () /PDFXRegistryName (http://www.color.org) /PDFXTrapped /Unknown /Description << /FRA /ENU (Use these settings to create PDF documents with higher image resolution for improved printing quality. 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