Laboratoire d'Écologie Appliquée, Faculty of Agronomic Sciences, University of Abomey-Calavi, Cotonou, Benin.
Department of Forest Engineering, Faculty of Agronomy and Forest Engineering, Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo, Mozambique.
PeerJ. 2023 Aug 8;11:e15767. doi: 10.7717/peerj.15767. eCollection 2023.
Understanding morpho-genetic diversity and differentiation of species with relatively large distributions is crucial for the conservation and sustainable management of their genetic resources. The present study focused on Pers., an important multipurpose wild plant, distributed exclusively in natural ecosystems but facing several threats. The study assessed the genetic and morphological diversity, structure, and differentiation of the species in populations from Western (Benin) and Southern (Mozambique) Africa. The material was evaluated to ascertain the environmental (climatic) determinants of the variation within this species.
Four sub-populations comprised of 154 individuals were phenotyped based on nineteen plant, fruit, and leaf morphological traits and further genotyped using ten polymorphic nuclear microsatellite (nSSR) markers.
The results indicated strong differences in plant, fruit, and leaf morphological traits between Western and Southern populations. Furthermore, the studied populations were characterized by high genetic diversity, with an average genetic diversity index of 1.02. Western populations showed higher heterozygosity values (0.61-0.71) than Southern populations (0.41-0.49). Western and Southern populations were clearly differentiated into two different genetic groups, with further genetic subdivisions reflecting four sub-populations. Genetic variation between regions (populations) was higher (69.1%) than among (21.3%) and within (9.6%) sub-populations. Four distinct morphological clusters were obtained, which were strongly associated with the four genetic groups representing each sub-population. Climate, mainly precipitation and temperature indexes, explained the relatively higher variation found in morphological traits from Western (40.47%) in relation to Southern (27.98%) populations. Our study suggests that both environmental and genetic dynamics play an important role in the development of morphological variation in
了解分布范围较广的物种的形态发生多样性和分化对于保护和可持续管理其遗传资源至关重要。本研究集中于 Pers.，这是一种重要的多用途野生植物，仅分布于自然生态系统，但面临着多种威胁。该研究评估了来自西非（贝宁）和南非（莫桑比克）的种群中该物种的遗传和形态多样性、结构和分化。对材料进行了评估，以确定该物种内变异的环境（气候）决定因素。
根据十九个植物、果实和叶片形态特征对四个亚种群（共 154 个个体）进行表型分析，并使用十个多态性核微卫星（nSSR）标记进行进一步的基因型分析。
研究结果表明，西非和南非种群的植物、果实和叶片形态特征存在明显差异。此外，研究种群具有高度的遗传多样性，平均遗传多样性指数为 1.02。西非种群的杂合度值（0.61-0.71）高于南非种群（0.41-0.49）。西非和南非种群明显分化为两个不同的遗传群体，进一步的遗传细分反映了四个亚种群。区域（种群）之间的遗传变异（69.1%）高于群体内（21.3%）和群体内（9.6%）。获得了四个不同的形态聚类，它们与代表每个亚种群的四个遗传群体密切相关。气候，主要是降水和温度指标，解释了与南部（27.98%）种群相比，西部（40.47%）种群形态特征中发现的相对较高的变异。我们的研究表明，环境和遗传动态都在
