SREL Reprint #2879

Genetic and clonal diversity of two cattail species, Typha latifolia and T. angustifolia (Typhaceae), from Ukraine

Olga V. Tsyusko, Michael H. Smith, Rebecca R. Sharitz, and Travis C. Glenn

The University of Georgia, Institute of Ecology, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory,
Drawer E, Aiken, South Carolina 29802 USA

Abstract: Genetic and clonal diversity vary between two closely related cattail species (Typha angustifolia and T. latifolia) from Ukraine. This diversity was calculated from microsatellite data. Forty-eight percent of the total variation was partitioned between species, which formed distinct clusters in a dendrogram with no indication of hybrid populations. Typha angustifolia had higher heterozygosity at the species (Hes = 0.66) and population (Hep = 0.49) levels than did T. latifolia (Hes = 0.37 and Hop = 0.29, respectively). The higher number of alleles in T. angustifolia may be indicative of larger effective population sizes due to its higher seed production. Clonal diversity of T. angustifolia was lower than that of T. latifolia (Ng/Nr = 0.40 and 0.61, Simpson's D = 0.82 and 0.94, respectively). Correlations between clonal and genetic diversity were higher for T. latifolia than T. angustifolia, suggesting that the importance of factors and their interactions affecting this relationship are different for the two species. Latitudinal and longitudinal trends were not observed in either species despite the large sampling area. Population differentiation was relatively high with FST of 0.24 and 0.29 for T. angustifolia and T. latifolia, respectively. Weak isolation by distance was observed for T. latifolia but not for T. angustifolia.

Keywords: cattails; clonal structure; genetic diversity; microsatellites; Typha angustifolia; Typha latifolia; Ukraine

SREL Reprint #2879

Tsyusko, O. V., M. H. Smith, R. R. Sharitz, and T. C. Glenn. 2005. Genetic and clonal diversity of two cattail species, Typha latifolia and T. angustifolia (Typhaceae), from Ukraine. American Journal of Botany 92:1161-1169.

This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).