Am. J. Bot. Large Type Edition
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (12)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Maki, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Maki, M.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Maki, M.
(American Journal of Botany. 2001;88:2189-2194.)
© 2001 Botanical Society of America, Inc.

Population Biology

Genetic differentiation within and among island populations of the endangered plant Aster miyagii (Asteraceae), an endemic to the Ryukyu Islands1

Masayuki Maki2

Biological Institute, Graduate School of Science, Tohoku University, Aoba, Sendai, Miyagi, 980-8578 Japan

Genetic diversity was examined at 17 putative allozyme loci in 18 populations of the insular endemic plant Aster miyagii (Asteraceae). This species is geographically restricted to only three islands of the Ryukyu Islands and is on the federal list of threatened plants. Genetic differentiation within an island is small, suggesting that gene flow among populations on the same island is sufficiently large to prevent divergence. By contrast, genetic differentiation among islands is large, especially between Amamioshima Island and the other two islands, suggesting that gene flow between the islands is highly restricted. Two unique alleles are nearly fixed in populations on Amamioshima Island, which is the southernmost island of the three. Comparatively, genetic diversity is the smallest on Amamioshima Island. This genetic paucity on Amamioshima Island is probably a result of a population bottleneck at colonization or the small effective population size on this island. Genetic diversity at the species level of A. miyagii is larger than those of the species with a similar life history and of the congeneric widespread species, suggesting that the species has an old origin as an insular endemic species.

Key Words: allozyme • Aster miyagii • gene flow • genetic diversity • hierarchical population structure • insular endemic plant • Ryukyu Islands • threatened plant






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2001 by the Botanical Society of America, Inc.