Genetic Diversity of Avicennia marina (Forsk.) Vierh. Populations in the Persian Gulf by Microsatellite Markers

摘要

Genetic variation of four populations of Avicennia marina encompassing the Iranian coastal areas of Persian Gulf were studied using five microsatellite loci. The average number of alleles per locus per population ranged from 4 to 4.6, showing no significant difference among the four populations. The observed heterozygosity (H_0), ranging from 0.782 to 0.960 with an average of 0.864, was comparable in the Iranian populations and much higher comparing to the earlier studies on A. marina in the worldwide range. Significant to highly significant deviations from Hardy-Weinberg expectations were observed in 10 out of 20 (five loci H four populations) cases. Most of F_(is) values were negative and significantly different from zero, thus suggesting excess of heterozygosity. The microsatellite analysis showed low genetic differentiation among the populations (mean F_(st) = 0.044), which could be explained by the remarkable gene flow (N_m > 1) among populations.