Abstract
Research Highlights: Taking Chinese dogwood (Cornus kousa subsp. chinensis) as an example, the genetic characteristics of natural populations collected from main a distribution area were evaluated using intersimple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers to reveal the genetic basis for further selection and breeding. Background and Objectives: Chinese dogwood is a small understory tree that is widely distributed in China. Chinese dogwood has attracted interest for its potential horticultural and ornamental values, and its natural resource potential urgently needs to be estimated. Materials and Methods: In this study, the genetic diversity of 12 natural populations collected from six provinces containing 223 individuals was evaluated based on ISSR markers. Results: Relatively high levels of genetic diversity were found at both the population and individual levels. The Shannon’s diversity index (I) among individuals (0.504) was higher than that among populations (0.338). Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed that genetic variation mainly existed within populations (61.55%) rather than among populations (38.45%). According to the STRUCTURE analysis, 12 populations were assigned to two groups, i.e., the northern and southern ecological regions, which are separated by the Yangtze River. A Mantel test analysis showed that there was no significant correlation between genetic distance and geographic distance. Conclusions: Considering the breeding system of dogwoods, we speculated that the genetic characteristics of the natural populations of this species would be affected by the dispersal mode of its pollens and seeds; additionally, genetic drift could play an important role in its genetic differentiation. In conclusion, in situ conservation is recommended for Chinese dogwood based on our results.
Highlights
Trees in Cornus, belonging to the family Cornaceae, are a cluster of small evergreen or deciduous species with high ornamental value for their habit, showy bracts, and fruit that have good prospects as horticultural ornamental plants [1]
He and I, the results showed that the genetic diversity of Chinese dogwood at the population level was slightly lower than that at the species level
We conclude that the lack of correlation between geographic distance and genetic distance resulted from genetic drift, especially that caused by heterogeneous habitats
Summary
Trees in Cornus, belonging to the family Cornaceae, are a cluster of small evergreen or deciduous species with high ornamental value for their habit, showy bracts, and fruit that have good prospects as horticultural ornamental plants [1]. There are two groups in Cornus, the East Asian group and the. North American group; unlike the North American group, the East Asian group grows beautiful edible aggregate fruit [2]. According to the classification system [3], the East Asian group of Cornus is divided into five species: Cornus elliptica (Pojarkova) Q. Y. Xiang & Boufford, Cornus capitata Wall, Cornus kousa. Cornus kousa contains two subspecies: Cornus kousa subsp. Chinensis (Chinese dogwood) and Cornus kousa subsp. The East Asian group is distributed from the Himalayas to East Asia, Forests 2019, 10, 1082; doi:10.3390/f10121082 www.mdpi.com/journal/forests
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