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Local adaptation to temperature and precipitation in naturally fragmented populations of Cephalotaxus oliveri, an endangered conifer endemic to China.

ABSTRACT: Cephalotaxus oliveri is an endangered tertiary relict conifer endemic to China. The species survives in a wide range from west to east with heterogeneous climatic conditions. Precipitation and temperature are main restrictive factors for distribution of C. oliveri. In order to comprehend the mechanism of adaptive evolution to climate variation, we employed ISSR markers to detect adaptive evolution loci, to identify the association between variation in temperature and precipitation and adaptive loci, and to investigate the genetic structure for 22 C. oliveri natural populations. In total, 14 outlier loci were identified, of which five were associated with temperature and precipitation. Among outlier loci, linkage disequilibrium (LD) was high (42.86%), which also provided strong evidence for selection. In addition, C. oliveri possessed high genetic variation (93.31%) and population differentiation, which may provide raw material to evolution and accelerate local adaptation, respectively. Ecological niche modeling showed that global warming will cause a shift for populations of C. oliveri from south to north with a shrinkage of southern areas. Our results contribute to understand the potential response of conifers to climatic changes, and provide new insights for conifer resource management and conservation strategies.

SUBMITTER: Wang T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4844950 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:The biogeographic distribution of diversity among populations of threatened mammalian species is generally investigated using population genetics. However, intraspecific phenotypic diversity is rarely assessed beyond taxonomy-focused linear measurements or qualitative descriptions. Here, we use a technique widely used in the evolutionary sciences-geometric morphometrics-to characterize shape diversity in the skull of an endangered marsupial, the northern quoll, across its 5,000 km distribution range along Northern Australia. Skull shape is a proxy for feeding, behavior, and phenotypic differentiation, allowing us to ask whether populations can be distinguished and whether patterns of variation indicate adaptability to changing environmental conditions. We analyzed skull shape in 101 individuals across four mainland populations and several islands. We assessed the contribution of population, size, sex, rainfall, temperature, and geography to skull shape variation using principal component analysis, Procrustes ANOVA, and variation partitioning analyses. The populations harbor similar amounts of broadly overlapping skull shape variation, with relatively low geographic effects. Size predicted skull shape best, coinciding with braincase size variation and differences in zygomatic arches. Size-adjusted differences in populations explained less variation with far smaller effect sizes, relating to changes in the insertion areas of masticatory muscles, as well as the upper muzzle and incisor region. Climatic and geographic variables contributed little. Strikingly, the vast majority of shape variation-76%-remained unexplained. Our results suggest a uniform intraspecific scope for shape variation, possibly due to allometric constraints or phenotypic plasticity beyond the relatively strong allometric effect. The lack of local adaptation indicates that cross-breeding between populations will not reduce local morphological skull (and probably general musculoskeletal) adaptation because none exists. However, the potential for heritable morphological variation (e.g., specialization to local diets) seems exceedingly limited. We conclude that 3D geometric morphometrics can provide a comprehensive, statistically rigorous phenomic contribution to genetic-based conservation studies.

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Local adaptation to temperature and precipitation in naturally fragmented populations of Cephalotaxus oliveri, an endangered conifer endemic to China.

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