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Breeding system, gene dispersal and small-scale spatial genetic structure of a threatened food tree species, Pentadesma butyracea (Clusiaceae) in Benin

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Abstract

Pentadesma butyracea Sabine, a rain forest food tree species, plays a vital role in the socio-economic livelihood of some West African rural communities due to its various products. However, its scattered populations are threatened in Benin. Defining appropriate conservation strategies requires a good knowledge of mating patterns and their consequences for population genetics. The outcrossing rate, levels of correlated paternity and fine-scale spatial genetic structure of adults and maternal sibships were estimated for one small population and three large populations in Benin using microsatellite markers. Similar outcrossing rates (88–95%) were found in all populations, showing that P. butyracea is mainly an outbreeding species. We found no evidence of inbreeding depression from a decay of inbreeding with age. The spatial genetic structure within the large populations (Sp statistic = 0.003–0.038) was consistent with isolation-by-distance expectations, showing that gene dispersal is spatially limited. Limited pollen dispersal is highlighted by the decay of the degree of correlated paternity between sibships with spatial distance. The mean pollen dispersal distance was estimated between 50 m and 450 m, but up to 21% pollen may migrate from external sources. The smallest population displayed slightly higher correlated paternity than the large populations (r p  = 0.37 vs. r p  = 0.17–0.30). In conclusion, our results suggest that small populations may show a reduction in sire numbers in seed, while the fragmented populations, large and small, are connected through gene flow. There is little inbreeding and no evidence of inbreeding depression.

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Acknowledgements

Financial support was jointly provided by the Belgian Technical Cooperation BTC for the grant of a PhD scholarship (EEBK), the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (Belspo) through a postdoctoral grant (EEBK) within the project AFRIFORD, and the Belgian Fund for Scientific Research (FRS-FNRS) through Grants 2.4577.10, MIS F.4.519.10.F and T0163.13.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Applied Plant Biology and Ecology and Forest Genetics, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques de Dassa, Université Nationale des Sciences, Technologies, Ingénierie et Mathematiques-Abomey, BP14, Dassa-Zoumé, Benin

    E. B. K. Ewédjè

  2. Evolutionary Biology and Ecology Unit, CP 160/12, Faculté des Sciences, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Av. F. D. Roosevelt 50, 1050, Brussels, Belgium

    E. B. K. Ewédjè & O. J. Hardy

  3. Faculty of Agronomic Sciences, FSA, Université d’Abomey-Calavi, BP526, Abomey-Calavi, Benin

    A. Ahanchédé

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  1. E. B. K. Ewédjè
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Ewédjè, E.B.K., Ahanchédé, A. & Hardy, O.J. Breeding system, gene dispersal and small-scale spatial genetic structure of a threatened food tree species, Pentadesma butyracea (Clusiaceae) in Benin. Conserv Genet 18, 799–811 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-017-0928-8

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