TY - JOUR
T1 - Reproductive Strategies and Population Genetic Structure in Two Dryland River Floodplain Plants, Marsilea drummondii and Eleocharis acuta
AU - Higgisson, William
AU - Broadhurst, Linda
AU - Shams, Foyez
AU - Gruber, Bernd
AU - Dyer, Fiona
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank Yasmin Cross, Tasha James, Jasmin Wells, and Matt Young for assisting with the collection of plant samples and Alica Tschierschke for collecting samples and providing a map of the study area. The authors also thank the landholders who provided us access to their properties to collect the leaf samples. This research was funded by the Centre for Applied Water Science, University of Canberra.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors.
PY - 2022/9
Y1 - 2022/9
N2 - Aquatic plants share a range of convergent reproductive strategies, such as the ability to reproduce both sexually and asexually through vegetative growth. In dryland river systems, floodplain inundation is infrequent and irregular, and wetlands consist of discrete and unstable habitat patches. In these systems, life history strategies such as long-distance dispersal, seed longevity, self-fertilisation, and reproduction from vegetative propagules are important strategies that allow plants to persist. Using two aquatic plants, Marsilea drummondii and Eleocharis acuta, we investigated the proportions of sexual and asexual reproduction and self-fertilisation by employing next-generation sequencing approaches, and we used this information to understand the population genetic structure of a large inland floodplain in western New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Asexual vegetative reproduction and self-fertilisation were more common in M. drummondii, but both species used sexual reproduction as the main mode of reproduction. This resulted in a highly differentiated genetic structure between wetlands and a similar genetic structure within wetlands. The similarity in genetic structure was influenced by the wetland in the two species, highlighting the influence of the floodplain landscape and hydrology on structuring population genetic structure. The high levels of genetic variation among wetlands and the low variation within wetlands suggests that dispersal and pollination occur within close proximity and that gene flow is restricted. This suggests a reliance on locally sourced (persistent) seed, rather than asexual (clonal) reproduction or recolonisation via dispersal, for the population maintenance of plants in dryland rivers. This highlights the importance of floodplain inundation to promote seed germination, establishment, and reproduction in dryland regions.
AB - Aquatic plants share a range of convergent reproductive strategies, such as the ability to reproduce both sexually and asexually through vegetative growth. In dryland river systems, floodplain inundation is infrequent and irregular, and wetlands consist of discrete and unstable habitat patches. In these systems, life history strategies such as long-distance dispersal, seed longevity, self-fertilisation, and reproduction from vegetative propagules are important strategies that allow plants to persist. Using two aquatic plants, Marsilea drummondii and Eleocharis acuta, we investigated the proportions of sexual and asexual reproduction and self-fertilisation by employing next-generation sequencing approaches, and we used this information to understand the population genetic structure of a large inland floodplain in western New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Asexual vegetative reproduction and self-fertilisation were more common in M. drummondii, but both species used sexual reproduction as the main mode of reproduction. This resulted in a highly differentiated genetic structure between wetlands and a similar genetic structure within wetlands. The similarity in genetic structure was influenced by the wetland in the two species, highlighting the influence of the floodplain landscape and hydrology on structuring population genetic structure. The high levels of genetic variation among wetlands and the low variation within wetlands suggests that dispersal and pollination occur within close proximity and that gene flow is restricted. This suggests a reliance on locally sourced (persistent) seed, rather than asexual (clonal) reproduction or recolonisation via dispersal, for the population maintenance of plants in dryland rivers. This highlights the importance of floodplain inundation to promote seed germination, establishment, and reproduction in dryland regions.
KW - aquatic plants
KW - dispersal
KW - floodplain
KW - propagule biology
KW - reproduction
KW - semi-arid and arid
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85138408667&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/genes13091506
DO - 10.3390/genes13091506
M3 - Article
C2 - 36140674
AN - SCOPUS:85138408667
SN - 2073-4425
VL - 13
SP - 1
EP - 16
JO - Genes
JF - Genes
IS - 9
M1 - 1506
ER -