Genetic breaks caused by ancient forest fragmentation: phylogeography of Staudtia kamerunensis (Myristicaceae) reveals distinct clusters in the Congo Basin
African rainforest; Congo Basin; Herbarium; Myristicaceae; Phylogeography; Population genetics; Species delimitation; Staudtia; Forestry; Molecular Biology; Genetics; Horticulture
Abstract :
[en] Documenting species and population diversity is becoming increasingly important as the destruction and degradation of natural ecosystems are leading to a worldwide biodiversity loss. Despite the rapid development of genetic tools, many species remain undocumented and little is known about the diversity of individuals and populations, especially for tropical African plants. In this study, we aim to identify putative hidden species and/or differentiated populations in the tropical African tree Staudtia kamerunensis Warb. (Myristicaceae), a widespread species characterized by a high morphological diversity and a complex taxonomical history. Historical herbarium vouchers were sampled and leaf or cambium samples were collected in the field, dried in silica gel, and subsequently genotyped at 14 microsatellite loci (SSRs), as well as sequenced for two nuclear genes (At103, Agt1) and one plastid region (psbA-trnH). These genetic data were then analyzed using Bayesian clustering, population genetics, and the construction of haplowebs to assess genetic clustering patterns, the distribution of genetic diversity, and genetic differentiation among populations. Multiple genetically differentiated clusters were observed in parapatry throughout Central Africa. Genetic diversity was high and similar among these clusters, apart from the most differentiated populations in southeast Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), which showed lower levels of genetic diversity. The genetic breaks detected between S. kamerunensis populations are likely not indicative of hidden species but rather result from ancient rainforest fragmentation during cold and dry periods in the Pliocene and/or Pleistocene. The strong genetic divergence between populations in southeast DR Congo could be the result of an ongoing speciation linked to ecological niche differentiation.
Vanden Abeele, Samuel ; Meise Botanic Garden, Meise, Belgium ; Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, Faculté des Sciences, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium ; Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Matvijev, Katarina ; Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, Faculté des Sciences, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium
Hardy, Olivier J. ; Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, Faculté des Sciences, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium
Assumani, Dieu-Merci ; Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, Faculté des Sciences, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium ; Faculté de Gestion des Ressources Naturelles Renouvelables, Université de Kisangani, Kisangani, Democratic Republic Congo ; Institut National pour l’Etude et la Recherche Agronomiques (INERA - Yangambi), Yangambi, Democratic Republic Congo
Angoboy Ilondea, Bhély ; Institut National pour l’Etude et la Recherche Agronomiques (INERA), Kinshasa, Democratic Republic Congo
Beeckman, Hans ; Service of Wood Biology, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium
Bouka, Gael U. D. ; Faculté des Sciences et Techniques, Laboratoire de Biodiversité de Gestion des Écosystèmes et de L’Environnement, Université Marien NGOUABI, Brazzaville, Democratic Republic Congo
Boupoya, Clay Archange; Institut de Recherche en Ecologie Tropicale (IRET/CENAREST, Libreville, Gabon
Deklerck, Victor ; Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, United Kingdom
Flot, Jean-François ; Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, Faculté des Sciences, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium ; Interuniversity Institute of Bioinformatics – (IB)2, Brussels, Belgium
Gillet, Jean-François ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département GxABT > Gestion des ressources forestières
Kamdem, Narcisse Guy; Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, Faculté des Sciences, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium ; Plant Systematics and Ecology Laboratory, Higher Teachers’ Training College, University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, Cameroon
Lisingo, Janvier; Laboratoire d’Ecologie et Aménagement Forestier (LECAFOR), Faculté des Sciences, Université de Kisangani, Kisangani, Democratic Republic Congo
Monthe, Franck ; Nature+ Asbl/Forest Is Life, TERRA, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, Université de Liège, Gembloux, Belgium
Sonké, Bonaventure ; Plant Systematics and Ecology Laboratory, Higher Teachers’ Training College, University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, Cameroon
Janssens, Steven B. ; Meise Botanic Garden, Meise, Belgium ; Department of Biology, KU Leuven, Louvain, Belgium
Genetic breaks caused by ancient forest fragmentation: phylogeography of Staudtia kamerunensis (Myristicaceae) reveals distinct clusters in the Congo Basin
H2020 - 765000 - Plant.ID - Molecular Identification of Plants
Funders :
BELSPO - Belgian Federal Science Policy Office EU - European Union F.R.S.-FNRS - Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique Fondation Philippe Wiener - Maurice Anspach FU - Fondation Universitaire
Funding text :
This study is part of the HERBAXYLAREDD and AFRIFORD projects (BR/143/A3/HERBAXYLAREDD, BR/132/A1/AFRIFORD), funded by the Belgian Belspo-BRAIN program axis 4. This study has also received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement N° 765000, and the Fund for Scientific Research F.R.S.-FNRS (grant J.0292.17F). SVA is currently supported by a Postdoctoral Fellowship of the Wiener-Anspach Foundation. KM and OJH are supported by the Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique (F.R.S.-FNRS).We are grateful to Esra Kaymak (ULB-EBE), Wim Baert (Meise Botanic Garden), and Pieter Asselman (UGhent) for their assistance in the laboratory. We would like to thank the staff from the herbaria which kindly provided us with the herbarium material, namely Tariq Stevart and Geoffrey Fadeur at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (BRLU), David Harris at RBG Edinburgh (E), and Nina Davies and Isabel Larridon at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (K). The samples collected in DR Congo by SVA were exported with a permit from the DRC ministère de l’Environnement et Développement Durable and are a part of the research agreement between Meise Botanic Garden and Université de Kisangani (UNIKIS). Voucher information, sampling locations, and GenBank accession numbers for the Staudtia kamerunensis accessions included in this study are given in Online Resource 1 of the Supporting Information. The dataset with the corresponding genotypes is available from the Zenodo repository (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7767340).
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