Genetic composition of exotic and native teak (Tectona grandis) in Myanmar as revealed by cpSNP and nrSSR markers

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With the rapid fragmentation of tropical forests harboring valuable tree species, conservation of natural genetic resources is an important issue. In Myanmar, teak plantations have been established by Myanmar government since the 1700 s using local Myanmar teak. Commercial plantations have recently been established by the private sector using both exotic and Myanmar teak without consideration of their genetic make-up. If the genetic composition of commercial teak plantations is severely different from that of Myanmar teak, introgression of non-indigenous genes could damage the remaining natural populations. We investigated genetic compositions of commercial plantations using both exotic and Myanmar teak seeds with 10 nuclear simple sequence repeat and three chloroplast single nucleotide polymorphism markers. We then compared the genetic compositions of these populations with those of neighboring native teak forests. The genetic diversity and composition of one exotic plantation using Costa Rican seeds was similar to those of native populations. However, the diversity of the other three exotic plantations was low and their composition was markedly different from those of native populations. Our results suggest that exotic gene flow would cause serious genetic disturbance. Commercial plantations using Myanmar seeds were characterized by relatively high genetic diversity and by many genetic components. These results suggest that these plantations may be established using various seed sources in Myanmar. Given that native teak in Myanmar is geographically structured, native gene pools will be homogenized by gene flow from these commercial plantations. Seed transfer guidelines based on genetic information should be considered in future.