| Abstract Detail
Economic Botany Section Cruse-Sanders, Jennifer [1], Friar, Elizabeth [2], Parker, Kathy [3], Huang, Daisie [4], Casas, Alejandro [5]. Geographically based analysis of genetic diversity in wild, managed and cultivated populations of the columnar cactus Stenocereus stellatus in Central Mexico. Plant populations are affected by human activities along a continuum from clearing populations and gathering products from natural populations, through enhancing and expanding the range of desirable phenotypes, to artificially selecting and hybridizing plants in cultivation. Active management may lead to domestication, although management in any form can alter the genetic diversity within species to some degree. In this study we are using population genetic and phylogeographic approaches coupled with GIS-based analyses to evaluate current distribution and relationships among cultivated, managed, and wild populations of the columnar cactus, Stenocereus stellatus (Pfeiffer) Riccobono. Populations of S. stellatus, common name Pitaya, are managed under different intensities by people to produce fruits as an important food resource in two different physiographic regions of central Mexico. The Tehuacán Valley and La Mixteca Baja vary climatically and phytogeographically, with thornscrub and tropical deciduous forest on sandstone, limestone and volcanic substrates at lower elevations up to complex mountainous regions with pine forests at higher elevations. Our preliminary data show differences in distribution and densities of populations in the two regions and under different levels of management. However, analysis of four nuclear microsatellite loci and chloroplast sequence data indicate that there are no significant differences in genetic diversity among populations in different regions and under different forms of management. Patterns of genetic variation are evaluated with respect to distribution and densities of cacti, and with respect to indigenous cultures of people managing populations.
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1 - Salem College, Biology, 601 S. Chruch St., Winston-Salem, North Carolina, 27108, USA
2 - Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Garden, 1500 North College Avenue, Claremont, California, 91711, USA
3 - University of Georgia, Geography, Athens, GA, 30602, USA
4 - Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Botany, 1500 N. College Ave., Claremont, CA, 91711-3157, USA
5 - Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Centro de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas, Antigua Carretera a Pátzcuaro 8701, Apartado Postal 27-3 (Santa María de Guido), Morelia, Michoacán, 58190, México
Keywords:
Cactaceae
domestication
Genetic diversity.
Presentation Type: Poster:Posters for Sections
Session: P
Location: Exhibit Hall (Northeast, Southwest & Southeast)/Hilton
Date: Sunday, July 8th, 2007
Time: 8:00 AM
Number: P50003
Abstract ID:2265 |
