Abstract
Allozymes at a maximum of eight loci were used to analyse the spatial patterns of genetic variation in 1942 holm oak trees (Quercus ilex L.) from 57 provenances distributed in the six main disjunct areas of the species distribution area. Polymorphism and genetic diversity were high except in the six marginal populations growing in various locations under unfavourable climatic conditions. Ten per cent of the total genetic diversity (Ht = 0.262) was accounted for by among-population variation. In this long-lived species, the effect of geographical discontinuities on gene flow restriction was shown by the occurrence of: (i) numerous rare alleles limited to a single disjunct region; and (ii) allele frequency variation among the disjunct regions for four alleles. This result was obtained by comparing spatial autocorrelograms from the 57 populations of the entire distribution area and from the 31 populations of the Mediterranean continental region which constitutes the largest continuous area in that distribution. Life history traits (e.g. long life span and high outcrossing rate) and past changes in climate and geographical continuity are assumed to be the main factors responsible for the present genetic variation patterns observed in the species.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
References
Afzal-Rafii, Z. 1988. Caractéristiques taxonomiques, morphologiques et isoenzymatiques du complexe ‘chêne vert’. Bull Soc bot Fr, 135, 343–352.
Afzal-Rafii, Z, Zavarin, E, and Pelleau, Y. 1991a. Chemo-systematic differentiation of Quercus ilex and Quercus rotundifolia based on acorn fatty acids. Biochem Syst Ecol, 19, 163–166.
Afzal-Rafii, Z, Zavarin, E, and Pelleau, Y. 1991b. Chemo-systematic differentiation of Quercus ilex and Quercus rotundifolia based on acorn steroids. Biochem Syst Ecol, 19, 249–252.
Afzal-Rafii, Z, Dodd, R S, and Pelleau, Y. 1992. Mediterranean evergreen oak diversity: morphological and chemical variation of acorns. Can J Bot, 70, 1459–1466.
Barbero, M, Loisel, R, and Quezel, P. 1992. Biogeography, ecology and history of Mediterranean Quercus ilex L.ecosystems. Vegetatio, 99–100, 19–34.
Bennett, K D, Tzedakis, P C, and Willis, K J. 1991. Quaternary refugia of north European trees. J Biogeogr, 18, 103–115.
Betancourt, J L, Schuster, W S, Mitton, J B, and Scott Anderson, R. 1991. Fossil and genetic history of a pinyon pine (Pinus edulis) isolate. Ecology, 72, 1685–1697.
Bocquet, G, Widler, B, and Kiefer, H. 1978. The Messinian model: a new outlook for the floristics and systematics of the Mediterranean area. Candolea, 33, 269–287.
Chung, M S. 1991. Observations on the genetic structure of Pinus densiflora Sieb et Zucc (I): the Young-il population. J Korean Forest Soc, 80, 246–254.
Daubree, J B, and Kremer, A. 1993. Genetic and phenological differentiation between introduced and natural populations of Quercus rubra L. Ann Sci For, 50, 271s–280s.
Ducousso, A, Michaud, H, and Lumaret, R. 1993. Reproduction and gene flow in the genus Quercus. Ann Sci For, 50, 91s–106s.
Dupont, P. 1990. Atlas partiel de la flore de France. Museum National d'histoire Naturelle, Paris.
Emberger, L. 1955. Une classification biogéographique des climats. Naturalia Monspeliensa, 7, 3–43.
Escoufier, Y. 1975. Le positionnement multidimentionnel. Rev Stat Appl, 4, 5–14.
Fineschi, S. 1984. Determination of the origin of an isolated group of trees of Pinus nigra through enzyme gene markers. Silvae Genet, 33, 169–172.
Font Tullot, J. 1983. Climatologia de España y Portugal. Instituto Nacional de Meteorología, Madrid.
Furnier, G R, and Adams, W T. 1986. Geographic patterns of allozyme variation in Jeffrey pine. Am J Bot, 73, 1009–1015.
Garnier, M. 1964. Valeurs normales des températures en France (1921–1950) Monographie Météoriologie Nationale, No. 30, Paris.
Garnier, M. 1966. Valeurs normales des hauteurs de précipitations en France I-Période 1931–1960, II-Période 1901–1950 Monographie Météoriologie Nationale, No. 55, Paris.
Gasques, J, and Compoint, J P. 1976. Apport del'électo- phorèse en courant puisé à la taxonomie d'Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) PB. Annls Amél Pl, 26, 345–355.
Giannini, R, Morgante, M, and Vendramin, G G. 1991. Allozyme variation in Italian populations of Picea abies (L.) Karst. Silvae Genet, 40, 160–166.
Gottlieb, L D. 1977. Electrophoretic evidence and plant systematics. Ann Mo Bot Gard, 64, 161–180.
Govindaraju, D R. 1988. Relationship between dispersal ability and levels of gene flow in plants. Oikos, 59, 31–35.
Gregorius, H-R. 1984. A unique genetic distance. Biom J, 26, 13–18.
Haase, P. 1992. Isozyme variability and biogeography of Nothofagus truncata (Fagaceae). N Z J Bot, 30, 315–328.
Hagemann, R, and Schroeder, M B. 1989. The cytological basis of the plastid inheritance in angiosperms. Protoplasma, 152, 57–64.
Hamrick, J L, Linhart, Y B, and Mitton, J B. 1979. Relationships between life history characteristics and electrophoretically detectable genetic variation in plants. Ann Rev Ecol Syst, 10, 173–200.
Hamrick, J L, Blanton, H M, and Hamrick, K J. 1989. Genetic structure of geographically marginal populations of ponderosa pine. Am J Bot, 76, 1559–1568.
Hamrick, J L, Godt, M J W, and Sherman-Broyles, S L. 1992. Factors influencing levels of genetic diversity in woody plant species. New Forests, 6, 95–124.
Kephart, S R. 1990. Starch gel electrophoresis of plant isozymes: a comparative analysis of techniques. Am J Bot, 77, 693–712.
Kremer, A, and Petit, R J. 1993. Gene diversity in natural populations of oak species. Ann Sci For, 50, 186s–202s.
Kremer, A, Petit, R J, Zanetto, A, Fougere, V, Ducousso, A, Wagner, D, and Chauvin, C. 1991. Nuclear and organelle gene diversity in Quercus robur and Quercus petraea. In: Müller-Starck G. and Ziehe M. (eds) Genetic Variation in European Populations of Forest Trees, pp. 141–166. J. D. Sauerländer, Frankfurt am Main.
Lamb, H F, Eicher, V, and Switsur, V R. 1989. An 18,000-year record of vegetation, lake-level and climate change from Tigalmamine, Middle Atlas, Morocco. J Biogeogr, 16, 65–74.
Lebreton, J D, Roux, M, Banco, G, and Bacou, A M. 1987. The BIOMECO Package. Centre Emberger, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Montpellier, France.
Le Houérou, H N. 1989. Classification écoclimatique des zones arides (s.l.) de l'Afrique du Nord. Ecol Medit, 15, 95–144.
Levin, D A, and Kerster, H W. 1974. Gene flow in seed plants. Evol Biol, 7, 139–220.
Li, C C, and Horvitz, D G. 1953. Some methods of estimating the inbreeding coefficient. Am J Hum Genet, 5, 107–117.
Linhart, Y B, Grant, M C, and Montazen, P. 1989. Experimental studies in ponderosa pine. I. Relationships between variation in proteins and morphology. Am J Bot, 76, 1024–1032.
Lombardo, R. 1973. Contribution à une description du climat de la Corse Monographie Météoriologie Nationale, No. 61, Paris.
Loveless, M D, and Hamrick, J L. 1984. Ecological determinants of genetic structure in plant populations. Ann Rev Ecol Syst, 15, 65–95.
Lumaret, R. 1981. Etude de l'hérédité de phosphatases acides chez le dactyle (Dactylis glomerata L.) diploïde et tetra-ploïde. Can J Genet Cytol, 23, 513–523.
Lumaret, R, Yacine, A, Berrod, A, Romane, F, and Li, T X. 1991. Mating system and genetic diversity in holm oak (Quercus ilex L. Fagaceae). In: Fineschi, S., Malvolti, M. E., Cannata, F. and Hattemer, H. H. (eds) Biochemical Markers in the Population Genetics of Forest Trees, pp. 145–153. SPB Academic Publishing, The Hague, The Netherlands.
Maire, R. 1961. Flore de l'Afrique du Nord, vol. 7. Leche-vallier, Paris.
Mayr, E. 1975. Populations, Species, and Evolution. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
Michaud, H, Lumaret, R, and Romane, F. 1992. Variation in the genetic structure and reproductive biology of holm oak populations. Vegetatio, 99–100, 107–113.
Moran, P A P. 1950. Notes on continuous stochastic phenomena. Biometrika, 37, 17–23.
Müller-Starck, G. 1991. Survey of genetic variation as inferred from enzyme gene markers. In: Müller-Starck, G. and Ziehe, M. (eds) Genetic Variation in European Populations of Forest Trees, pp. 20–37. J. D. Sauerländer, Frankfurt am Main.
Müller-Starck, G, Baradat, P H, and Bergmann, F. 1992. Genetic variation within European tree species. New Forests, 6, 23–47.
Nei, M. 1973. Analysis of gene diversity in subdivided populations. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 70, 3321–3323.
Nei, M. 1977. F-statistics and analysis of gene diversity in subdivided populations. Ann Hum Genet, 41, 225–233.
Nei, M. 1978. Estimation of average heterozygosity and genetic distance from a small number of individuals. Genetics, 89, 583–590.
Nei, M. 1987. Molecular Evolutionary Genetics. Columbia University Press, New York.
Oden, N L. 1984. Assessing the significance of a spatial correlogram. Geogr Analr, 16, 1–16.
Ouazzani, N, Lumaret, R, Villemur, P, and Di Giusto, F. 1993. Leaf allozyme variation in cultivated and wild olive trees (Olea europea L.). J Heredity, 84, 34–42.
Palamarev, E. 1989. Paleobotanical evidences of the tertiary history and origin of the Mediterranean sclerophyll dendroflora. Pl Syst Evol, 162, 93–107.
Petit, R J, Kremer, A, and Wagner, D B. 1993. Geographic structure of chloroplast DNA polymorphisms in European oaks. Theor Appl Genet, 87, 122–128.
Poli, E, and Maugeri, G. 1974. I boschi di leccio del versante nordoccidentale dell'Etna. Boll Acad Gioenia Sci Nat Catania, 12, 741–759.
Pons, A, and Thinon, M. 1987. The role of fire from paleoeco-logical data. Ecol Medit, 13, 3–11.
Pons, A, and Vernet, J L. 1971. Une synthèse nouvelle de l'histoire du chêne vert (Quercus ilex L.), Bull Soc bot Fr, 118, 841–850.
Quezel, P. 1976. Les forêts du pourtour méditerranéen. In: Forêt et maquis méditerranéens: écologie, conservation et aménagement Tech, notes of M. A.B, 2, pp. 9–33. Unesco.
Reille, M. 1976. Analyse pollinique de sédiments post-glaciaires dans le Moyen Atlas et le Haut Atlas marocains: premiers résultats. Ecol Médit, 2, 153–170.
Reille, M, and Pons, A. 1992. The ecological significance of sclerophyllous oak forests in the western part of the Mediterranean basin: a note on pollen analytical data. Vegetatio, 99–100, 13–17.
Rohlf, F J. 1987. NTSYS-pc, version 1.30. Applied Biostatistics, New York.
Roux, M. 1985. Algorithmes de Classification Méthodes et Programmes. Masson, Paris.
Ruperez, A. 1957. La encina y sus tratamientos. Editiones selvícolas, Madrid.
Saenz de Rivas, C. 1967. Estudios sobre Quercus ilex L. y Quercus rotundifolia Lamk. Anales Inst Bot A J Cavanilles, 25, 243–262.
Saenz de Rivas, C. 1970. Biométria foliar de una población de Quercus ilex L., subsp. rotundifolia (Lamk.) T. Morais, en El Pardo. Anales Inst Bot A J Cavanilles, 27, 105–114.
Saenz de Rivas, C. 1972. Biométria foliar de una población de Quercus ilex L. en Montserrat (Barcelona). Anales Inst Bot AJ Cavanilles, 29, 39–57.
Schwartz, O. 1964. Quercus. In: Tutin T. G., Heywood, V. H., Burges, N. A., Valentine, D. H., Walters, S. M. and Webb, D. A. (eds) Flora Europaea, vol. I, pp. 61–64. Cambridge, University Press, London.
Selander, R K, Smith, M H, Yang, S Y, Johnson, W E, and Gentry, J B. 1971. Biochemical polymorphism and systematics in the genus Peromyscus. I Variation of the old-field mouse (Peromyscus polionotus). Studies in genetics VI. University of Texas Publication, 7103, 49–90.
Slatkin, M. 1987. Gene flow and the geographic structure of natural populations. Science, 236, 787–792.
Sokal, R R, and Oden, N L. 1978a. Spatial autocorrelation in biology. 1. Methodology. Biol J Linn Soc, 10, 199–228.
Sokal, R R, and Oden, N L. 1978b. Spatial autocorrelation in biology. 2. Some biological implications and four applications of evolutionary and ecological interest. Biol J Linn Soc, 10, 229–249.
Sokal, R R, and Rohlf, F J. 1981. Biometry, 2nd edn. W. F. Freeman, San Francisco.
Swofford, D L, and Selander, R B. 1989. BIOSYS-1. A computer program for the analysis of allelic variation in population genetics and biochemical systematics Release 1. 7. University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois.
Tzedakis, P C. 1993. Long-term tree populations in northwest Greece through multiple Quaternary climatic cycles. Nature, 364, 437–440.
Van Treuren, R, Bijlsma, R, Van Delden, W, and Ouborg, N J. 1991. The significance of genetic erosion in the process of extinction. I. Genetic differentiation in Salvia pratensis and Scabiosa columbaria in relation to population size. Heredity, 66, 181–189.
Villani, E, Benedettelli, S, Paciucci, M, Cherubini, M, and Pigliucci, M. 1991a. Genetic variation and differentiation between natural populations of chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) from Italy. In: Fineschi, S., Malvolti, M. E., Cannata, F. and Hattemer, H. H. (eds) Biochemical Markers in the Population Genetics of Forest Trees, pp. 91–103. SPB Academic Publishing, The Hague, The Netherlands.
Villani, F, Pigliucci, M, Benedettelli, S, and Cherubini, M. 1991b. Genetic differentiation among Turkish chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) populations. Heredity, 66, 131–136.
Villani, F, Pigliucci, M, Lauteri, M, Cherubini, M, and Sun, O. 1992. Congruence between genetic, morphometric and physiological data on differentiation of Turkish chestnut (Castanea sativa). Genome, 35, 251–256.
Walter, H, and Lieth, H. 1960–1967. Klimadiagramm - Weltatlas VEB Gustav Fischer, Jena, Germany.
Wright, S. 1951. The genetical structure of populations. Ann Eugen, 15, 323–354.
Wright, S. 1965. The interpretation of population structure by F-statistics with special regard to systems of mating. Evolution, 19, 395–420.
Yacine, A, and Lumaret, R. 1988. Distribution spatiale des génotypes dans une population de chêne vert (Quercus ilex L.), flux génique et régime de reproduction. Génét Sél Évol, 20, 181–198.
Yacine, A, and Lumaret, R. 1989. Genetic diversity in Holm-Oak (Quercus ilex L.): insight from several enzyme markers. Silvae Genet, 38, 3–4.
Zabinski, C. 1992. Isozyme variation in eastern hemlock. Can J For Res, 22, 1838–1842.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Michaud, H., Toumi, L., Lumaret, R. et al. Effect of geographical discontinuity on genetic variation in Quercus ilex L. (holm oak). Evidence from enzyme polymorphism. Heredity 74, 590–606 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1995.83
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1995.83
Keywords
This article is cited by
-
Intraspecific variation of Quercus ilex L. seed morphophysiological traits in Tunisia reveals a trade-off between seed germination and shoot emergence rates along a thermal gradient
Annals of Forest Science (2023)
-
Trends in evergreen oak suitability from assembled species distribution models: assessing climate change in south-western Europe
New Forests (2018)
-
The structure of allozyme variation in Silene nutans (Caryophyllaceae) in Denmark and in north-western Europe
Plant Systematics and Evolution (2016)
-
Genetic determination of tannins and herbivore resistance in Quercus ilex
Tree Genetics & Genomes (2016)
-
Volatile isoprenoid emission potentials are correlated with essential isoprenoid concentrations in five plant species
Acta Physiologiae Plantarum (2013)