AFLP-based genetic diversity of wild orchardgrass germplasm collections from Central Asia and Western China, and the relation to environmental factors.

Chenglin Zhang,Xiao Ma,Xinquan Zhang,Shiyong Chen,Linkai Huang,Gang Nie,Ming Sun,Yan Peng

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0195273

Chenglin Zhang, Xiao Ma + Show 6 more

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0195273

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Abstract

Dactylis glomerata L. (orchardgrass) is an important perennial forage species in temperate areas of the world. It is usually used for silage, grazing and hay because of its high nutritional value and reproducibility. Central Asia, Xinjiang and Tibetan Plateau in China possess various special micro-environments that harbor many valuable resources, while different degrees of degradation of the grassland ecosystem occurred due to climatic changing and human activities. Investigating the genetic diversity of wild D. glomerat could provide basis for collection, protection, and utilization of some excellent germplasm resources. Totally 210 individuals from 14 populations—five from Xinjiang, two from Kangding (Tibetan Plateau), and seven from Central Asia were identified using AFLP technology. The average values of Nei’s genetic diversity (Hj) and Shannon information index (Ho) were 0.383 and 0.394 respectively. UPGMA tree, STRUCTURE analysis and principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) showed populations from same region clustered together. AMOVA revealed 35.10% of the genetic differentiation (Fst) occurred among populations. Gene flow (Nm) was limited among all populations. Genetic diversity of D. glomerata was high but limited under isolation-by-distance pattern, resulting in high genetic differentiation and low gene flow among populations. Adjacent regions also exhibited similar results because of the barriers of high mountains. The environmental factors, such as precipitation, elevation, latitude and longitude also had some impacts on genetic diversity and structure pattern of populations.

Highlights

Dactylis glomerata L., a perennial cool-season forage grass, belongs to the monotypic genera Dactylis, known as orchardgrass or cocksfoot [1]
Each primer pair produced an average of 107.2 distinct bands with an average of 58.7 polymorphic bands
The polymorphic rate ranged from 50.50% to 60.19% with an average of 54.73% and the polymorphic information content (PIC) of each primer pairs ranged from 0.169 to 0.198 with an average of 0.179

Summary

Introduction

Dactylis glomerata L., a perennial cool-season forage grass, belongs to the monotypic genera Dactylis, known as orchardgrass or cocksfoot [1]. The basic chromosome number of Dactylis is 2n = 14 and, the species consists of diploid, tetraploid and hexaploid, the commonly used forage form is tetraploid [2,3]. Genetic diversity of wild orchardgrass and its correlation to eco-geographical factors. System (#CARS-34) to XZ and the National Key Basic Research Program of China (973 Program) (#2014CB138705) to XM. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

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