19th Annual Student Research Conference
Science
Spatial Genetic Structure within a Trillium maculatum plant population: Inferences about Gene Flow
Alana N. Walker
Dr. Stephanie Fore, Faculty Mentor
Trillium maculatum is a little studied herbaceous plant in the southeastern United States. Other Trillium species are self-incompatible with limited seed dispersal. We determined the spatial genetic structure of T. maculatum based upon genetic data from five polymorphic allozyme loci collected from 262 individuals growing in a 5 m2 area. In this sample we found 42 unique multilocus genotypes. Five of these had a probability of second occurrence >0.05 but were more than 0.10 m apart suggesting that they were not clones. The correlogram of coancestry revealed that spatial genetic structure is no different from random. These findings suggest that sexual reproduction and unique seed dispersal mechanisms, such as ants, play important roles in maintaining gene flow within Trillium maculatum.
Keywords: plant, population genetics, Trillium, gene flow, seed dispersal, allozyme, spatial
Topic(s):Biology
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: 60-60
Location: OP Lobby and Atrium
Time: 4:15