Abstract:

Genetic variation and structure of seven populations of Vatica mangachapoi on Hainan Island were investigated by Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) method. A total of 777 highly reproducible and discernible loci (frequency＞5.00%) were generated from 192 individuals of 7 natural populations with 6 primer combinations, of which polymorphic loci were 99.61%. On the species level, total gene diversity (Ht) was 0.268 4; Nei′s gene diversity (H) and Shannon information index (I) were 0.266 1 and 0.420 4 respectively. On the population level, mean percentage and number of polymorphic loci were
79.45% and 617 respectively; the means of Hand I were 0.215 3 and 0.335 2 respectively. The gene flow (Nm) was 1.012 7, and there existed 8020% of genetic variance within populations (F_st=0.198 0). The UPGMA analysis and mantel test showed that there was no significant correlation between genetic distance and geographic distance (r²=0.232 5, P=0.230 0). The results showed that V. mangachapoipossessed high genetic diversity on both population and species levels and a certain genetic differentiation among the populations. It is suggested that the conservation and development of existing genetic diversity of V. mangachapoi should be enhanced by suitable human interferences and afforestation approaches.

Key words: Vatica mangachapoi, AFLP, genetic diversity, genetic differentiation, conservation strategy