PARENT SESSION
Tuesday, August 8, 5:00-6:30 pm
Poster Session 10 - Genetics, evolution, and paleoecology
Exhibit Hall, Ballroom Level, Cook Convention Center
Genetic variation within and among populations of Acorus calamus L. of southeastern Ohio.
Pai, Aswini*,1, Nadella, Vijayanand2, McCarthy, Brian2, 1 St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY2 Ohio University, Athens, OH
ABSTRACT- Acorus calamus L. (Sweetflag) is an ethnobotanically important emergent macrophyte with a global distribution. Its ubiquitous presence in several tropical and temperate regions is attributed to the intentional introduction of its rhizome by humans. In North America, the plant produces both sexually by seed and asexually by rhizome. We hypothesized that populations found in ephemeral wetlands in southeast Ohio are primarily derived from rhizome stock and hence clonal in nature. We estimated within and among genetic diversity in populations of A. calamus using inter simple sequence repeats (ISSRs), a genomic DNA based molecular marker. Indices of genetic diversity, evenness, expected heterozygosity and percentage polymorphic loci were low, indicating genetically homogenous populations with little within population diversity. Analysis of Molecular Variance (AMOVA) indicated that 58% of the variation is among populations while 42% of the variation within populations. The overall coefficient of genetic variation among populations (G ST = 0.7188) and gene flow (N M = 0.1956) suggested a moderate amount of differentiation among the populations with very little gene flow between them. Estimates of genetic identity and distance between all pairs of populations, even when geographically close, were high. Both cluster analysis and principal coordinates analysis grouped individuals from the same population together for all populations. The clustering together of the populations did not show any geographic proximity. Patterns of genetic variation in populations of A. calamus in southeastern Ohio suggest that population increase is entirely by vegetative growth and its dispersal is likely human mediated.
Key words: clonal plant, ISSRs