GENETIC VARIATION OF CLIVIA CAULESCENS

• Main Author: Stegmann, Suzanne
• Other Authors: Prof JJ Spies
• Format: Others
• Language: en-uk
• Published: University of the Free State 2011
• Subjects: Genetics
• Online Access: http://etd.uovs.ac.za//theses/available/etd-11112011-121555/restricted/

At present, the genus Clivia consists of six species, including Clivia nobilis Lindl., C. miniata (Lindl.) Regel, C. gardenii Hook., C. caulescens RA Dyer, C. mirabilis Rourke and C. robusta Murray, Ran, De Lange, Hemmet, Truter & Swanevelder. Many of the species and cultivars are extensively grown worldwide, making this group of considerable horticultural importance. This study mostly focused on Clivia caulescens with a natural habitat on the escarpment from Limpopo to Swaziland through Mpumalanga. The overlapping distribution between C. miniata and C. caulescens resulted in the formation of a natural hybrid between these species at the Bearded Man Mountain. The occurrences of natural hybrids between the various species are rarely recorded. In an attempt to find out if genetic erosion is currently a threat to the various C. caulescens populations and Bearded Man Mountain clivias, this study was conducted to establish if genetic variation is present. Genetic variation refers to the variation in the genetic material of a population, and includes the nuclear, mitochondrial, ribosomal DNA as well as the DNA of other organelles. The relative genetic diversity among individuals or populations can be determined using morphological and molecular markers. Five chloroplast DNA regions, i.e. atpH-I, matK, rpoB, rpoC and trnL-F, were used in an attempt to study the molecular diversity of C. caulecsens. This study concentrated on Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) from these regions and microsatellites to study genetic variation. The aim of this study was to determine the genetic variation between and within the different populations of C. caulescens, to determine whether gene flow occur between the different populations and to determine which of the DNA regions included in the study can contribute to the identification of plants from a specific geographical area. Regarding the study of Clivias situated at the Bearded Man Mountain, the main objectives were to estimate genetic diversity and determine the genetic relationship among the different species of Clivia (C. miniata, C. caulescens and C. xnimbicola) from this area. Of the initial five regions that were sequenced, trnL-F amplification failed repeatedly, and this region was therefore excluded from all analyses. The other four regions showed variation between the different populations of C. caulescens and for the Bearded Man Mountain clivias, except the rpoC1 region. When the results of the phylogenetics and statistical analysis (genetic distances) were combined, it was detected that most Bearded Man Mountain specimens and Godâs Window specimens clustered together in the cladograms and in the mean distances tables. Intraspecific variation was present in all the regions and combined dataset. All attempts during this study to amplify STRs and test allelic diversity in 13 microsatellite loci for 20 specimens failed. Cross-species amplification was not as effective as hoped. Microsatellitesâ species-specific nature could have a negative effect on obtaining results, although other researchers (as mentioned in the introduction of Chapter 4) could employ cross species markers successfully. Glen & Schabble (2005) reported that a given pair of microsatellite primers rarely works across broad taxonomic groups, so primers are usually developed anew for each species. The next step would therefore be to attempt the designing of specific primers for C. caulescens.