Samuel A. Logan, Prattana Phuekvilai and Kirsten Wolff Ancient woodlands in the limelight: genetic structure of Tilia (lime trees) in the UK. Samuel A. Logan, Prattana Phuekvilai and Kirsten Wolff
Ancient woodlands Continuous cover since c1600 Indicator species (e.g. wild garlic, herb paris, oak, lime) Forest remnants Pollen records Conservation concern Fragmentation Isolation Genetic consequences
Tilia T. x europaea T. cordata T. platyphyllos Image: M. Dodd (http://www.amanita-photolibrary.co.uk/)
Aims Test the resolution of genetic markers Hypotheses Outcome Discriminate between T. cordata and T. platyphyllos Distinguish hybrids Hypotheses Species are separate evolutionary units Genetic structure and limited gene flow Low genetic diversity Outcome Broaden our understanding of the molecular ecology Aid in future restoration and conservation
Study sites and genetic markers 24 populations Mixed with hybrids Ancient or natural origins Forward primer DNA fingerprinting Microsatellites Reverse primer
Species vs hybrid identification PCoA Identified groups (species) STRUCTURE Assigned individuals to two clusters (K = 2)
Diversity and differentiation Genetic diversity T. cordata – HE = 0.51 T. platyphyllos – HE = 0.68 Genetic differentiation T. cordata FST = 0.08 T. platyphyllos FST = 0.10 Among species FST = 0.31 AMOVA
Intra-specific structure Tilia cordata Tilia platyphyllos
Conclusions Genetic markers Conservation Differentiation Identified groups (species) Optimal K = 2 Differentiation High genetic differentiation Two biological units Intra-specific structure Optimal K = 3 Geographical Diversity High genetic diversity Conservation Highest diversity Endemic genotypes
Future work RNA-seq using Next Generation Sequencing Illumina HiSeq platform Generated >366,000,000 paired-end reads De Novo transcriptome assembly One sample produced >100,000 transcripts Annotation Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) Microsatellite markers Adaptive genes
Acknowledgements Sample collection and fieldwork Landowners Funding Dr Paul Ashton Dr Rebecca Roseff Tim Laurie Landowners National Trust Forestry Commission Private landowners Funding RB Cooke Studentship (Newcastle University) Thai Government
Thank you School of Biology, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne. s.logan@ncl.ac.uk www.students.ncl.ac.uk/s.logan