不同杂种优势群玉米籽粒脱水速率分析

研究不同杂种优势群玉米自交系籽粒脱水速率的特性,筛选脱水速率快的自交系,为选育适应机械化作业的玉米杂交种提供借鉴。本试验采用烘干测定173份玉米自交系的籽粒的脱水速率及其相关性状,利用覆盖玉米全基因组的210对SSR标记对实验材料进行全基因组扫描,通过Structure V2.3.4 软件揭示其群体结构。对不同杂种优势群平均籽粒脱水速率进行方差分析,并筛选出各个群中籽粒灌浆速率快的自交系。研究结果如下：籽粒脱水速率在不同自交系间存在显著差异,与苞叶、穗轴及籽粒的含水率等性状间存在显著相关性。试验共筛选到脱水速率大于1%的自交系20个;授粉后40天时籽粒的含水率低于21%的自交系10个。参试自交系分成P、旅大红骨、瑞德、兰卡斯特和塘四平头5个杂种优势群;授粉后40天脱水速率依次是Reid群0.92%、Lancaster群0.85%、旅大红骨群0.82%、混合群0.80%、P群0.76%、塘四平头群0.56%。     

玉米骨干自交系黄早四的来源探究

玉米骨干自交系黄早四育成于20世纪70年代,具有适应性强、配合力高、株型紧凑、生育期短、灌浆速度快等优点。以其为基础材料选育衍生出数以百计的黄改系,形成我国特有的黄改群(或称塘四平头群)核心种质群。利用黄早四及其衍生系组配的杂交种已累计推广应用数十亿亩,包括目前的主导大品种郑单958、京科968等。该系在我国玉米育种史中发挥了极其重要作用,但黄早四的系谱尚未明确、来源尚不清晰。本文根据历史上所描述的黄早四选育过程,推断黄早四是由白粒的塘四平头自交系与另一个熟期更早、籽粒颜色为黄色的玉米材料"串粉"杂交,又在塘四平头自交系繁殖田中得到回交,再经人工自交选育而成。利用40对SSR核心引物对黄早四、塘四平头及1970年代初种植的9份黄粒农家种或自交系进行DNA分子指纹比对,发现黄早四与塘四平头自交系有28个位点指纹完全相同,而在剩余的12个位点中仅黄四平头与黄早四具有完全的共同带型。全基因组IBD遗传结构分析结果进一步表明,塘四平头是黄早四的主要供体,黄四平头是其另一个亲本来源。经表型形态性状契合比对,证明黄早四的表型特征和农艺性状表现符合塘四平头与黄四平头两者杂交选系的结果。破解了黄早四自交系的来源之谜。     

我国玉米自交系茎秆性状多样性分析

研究我国玉米自交系茎秆性状特征及其多样性,是培育宜机收玉米品种的重要前提。本研究以兰卡斯特、PB、四平头、旅大红骨和瑞德五大主要类群70份主要玉米自交系为材料,调查12个茎秆相关性状(茎高、穗位高、穗位系数、茎节数、穗位节、穗节系数、穗茎长、穗茎粗、茎鲜重、茎干重、含糖量和含水量),分析性状相关性和类群多样性。结果表明,我国地方种质四平头和旅大红骨茎秆性状表型变异丰富;灌浆期玉米茎秆含水量比较稳定;玉米植株高度与茎节长度显著相关;玉米雌、雄穗节之间的节间数比较恒定;玉米茎秆含糖量与茎节长度、茎粗、果穗着生位置有关;有效降低穗位高度应从降低果穗着生节入手;类群茎秆特征鲜明:兰卡斯特茎节较少,瑞德茎秆较粗,PB茎秆较细,旅大红骨茎秆较粗、茎节较短,四平头植株较矮、茎秆含糖量较低、干物质含量较低;兰卡斯特×四平头和兰卡斯特×PB类群间存在较强的生物量及籽粒产量杂种优势;挖掘和利用茎节较长、穗位较低的玉米地方种质是我国宜机收玉米育种的技术途径。本研究结果对玉米育种具有重要指导意义。     

不同杂种优势群玉米子粒脱水速率分析

采用烘干法测定170份玉米自交系的子粒的脱水速率及其相关性状,利用覆盖玉米全基因组的210对SSR标记对试验材料进行全基因组扫描,通过Structure V2.3.4软件揭示其群体结构。对不同杂种优势群平均子粒脱水速率进行方差分析,并筛选出各个类群中子粒脱水速率快的自交系。结果表明:子粒脱水速率在不同自交系间存在显著差异,与穗轴和子粒的含水率等性状间存在显著相关性。试验共筛选到子粒脱水速率大于1%的自交系20个;授粉后40 d子粒含水率低于21%的自交系10个。参试自交系分成P、旅大红骨、瑞德、兰卡斯特和唐四平头5个杂种优势群;授粉后40 d子粒脱水速率依次是瑞德群0.92%、兰卡斯特群0.85%、旅大红骨群0.82%、混合群0.80%、P群0.76%、唐四平头群0.56%。本文旨在通过研究不同杂种优势群玉米自交系子粒脱水速率的特性,筛选子粒脱水速率快的自交系,为选育适应机械化作业的玉米杂交种提供借鉴。     

玉米抗腐霉茎腐病种质标记基因型鉴定与遗传多样性分析

腐霉茎腐病(Pythium stalk rot)是玉米生产上的重要病害。本研究利用14个与8个抗玉米茎腐病基因连锁的分子标记对196份抗腐霉茎腐病玉米种质进行抗病标记基因型鉴定,并采用42对多态性SSR标记对54份抗病自交系进行遗传多样性分析,以期阐明玉米抗腐霉茎腐病种质的标记基因型和遗传背景,并为资源的有效利用、新基因的挖掘和杂种优势模式确定提供参考信息。14个与抗病基因连锁的分子标记将196份抗性种质鉴定为128种标记基因型,表明存在多样的抗性基因组合方式。191份种质获得与齐319、X178或1145中一个或多个的相同的扩增,表明97.45%种质可能含有与3个抗玉米茎腐病材料相同的抗病基因;粤61、郑653、赤L136、白53和18--14共5份种质均未扩增出与齐319、X178和1145相同的标记基因型,可能携带其他抗茎腐病基因;遗传背景相近的抗性种质分属不同的标记基因型,表明抗病种质携带的抗病基因可能在育种选择中发生了分离。42对多态性SSR引物在54份抗病材料中共检测出119个等位基因(Na),多态位点百分率(PPB)为99.17%,平均有效等位基因数(Ne)为1.7070,平均Nei′s基因多样性(H)为0.3999,平均Shannon′s信息指数(I)为0.5844,平均多态信息含量(PIC)为0.5527,变幅为0.2061～0.7844;通过UPGMA聚类分析,54份抗病材料被划分为2个类群,共6个亚群中,分别是旅大红骨亚群、BSSS亚群、塘四平头亚群、PA亚群、PB亚群、Lan亚群,表现出较高的遗传多样性。结果表明,我国6个杂种优势群中均含有较为丰富的抗腐霉茎腐病种质资源,其中PA亚群包含的抗病种质最多。     

喀斯特高海拔山区玉米骨干自交系遗传多样性RAPD标记分析

以代表我国玉米6个主要杂种优势群旅大红骨、Lancaster、Reid、苏湾、墨白和塘四平头的标准测验种丹340、自330、7922、苏37、449、黄早四和适应我国喀斯特高海拔山区的玉米骨干自交系为材料,利用RAPD标记对其进行遗传多样性和杂种优势群划分.从90个随机引物中筛选出21个多态性好的引物扩增材料,共产生146条谱带,其中124条谱带有多态性,占86.3%,说明喀斯特高海拔山区的玉米骨干自交系具有较丰富的遗传多样性.通过UPGMA聚类分析,以遗传相似系数为0.632,可将我国喀斯特高海拔山区玉米种质资源的16个骨干自交系划分为5个类群.     

贵州70份玉米自交系的SSR标记遗传多样性及其杂种优势群分析

从251个SSR标记中筛选出均匀分布在玉米基因组上的88个SSR标记,用以分析评价贵州省2000年以来47个审定品种的70份亲本材料的遗传多样性。SSR标记检测的结果:88个标记共检测出466个等位基因,每个标记可检测等位基因2～18个,平均为5.31个;每个标记位点的多态性信息量(PIC)变化为0.213～0.965,平均为0.586,这表明贵州玉米自交系具有较为丰富的遗传多样性。POPTREE聚类分析结果:70份自交系分为Ⅰ、Ⅱ和Ⅲ类群。Ⅰ类群含8个自交系,以瑞德和兰卡斯特等温带种质为主。Ⅱ类群有11个自交系,以PN78599、瑞德和兰卡斯特等温带种质为主。Ⅲ类群拥有51个自交系,可分为A和B 2个亚群,B亚群还可再分为B1和B2 2个次亚群,A亚群中的10个系以我国地方温带种质为主,B1次亚群中的19个系以贵州地方亚热带种质为主,B2次亚群中的22个系以泰国苏湾热带种质为主。杂种优势利用分析的结果表明,贵州近些年在玉米育种中,主要是利用贵州地方亚热带种质和泰国苏湾热带种质2个杂种优势群,这与其多态位点百分率较高有关,与其群内SSR位点的平均等位数较多有关。贵州玉米育种利用的种质类型较少,有必要加强玉米种...     

中国重要玉米自交系种质资源子粒性状特征分析

玉米子粒性状是决定玉米产量的重要因素。为了解析中国重要玉米种质资源子粒性状的遗传变异基础,本研究以具有广泛遗传多样性的627份重要玉米自交系为材料,运用相关分析与逐步回归的方法,探讨了我国玉米自交系种质资源的子粒性状特征。结果表明,百粒体积与百粒重存在极显著正相关。逐步回归分析表明,百粒体积对百粒重表型变异的贡献高达78%。针对不同杂种优势群的子粒性状特征分析表明,粒宽对百粒体积的贡献率在瑞德、旅大红骨、兰卡斯特和P群中均为最大,贡献率在54%~71%之间。而在塘四平头类群中,粒厚和粒长的贡献率分别为45%和22%。该研究旨在为利用不同类型种质资源开展子粒性状遗传解析提供参考和依据。     

玉米种质资源抗矮花叶病鉴定

采用摩擦接种方法,鉴定了3995份玉米种质对玉米矮花叶病毒(SCMV-MDB)的抗病性。经重复鉴定,筛选出抗病优良自交系73份,抗病丰产杂交种80份。玉米不同类群种质,对SCMV-MDB的抗病性有明显差异,改良Reid、Lancaster、旅大红骨类群种质大部分表现感病;塘四平头、外杂先锋选系类群种质大多数表现抗病。在不同类型种质中,硬粒型、马齿型和半马齿型表现抗病的较多,糯质型较少,甜质型和爆裂型中尚未发现抗源。     

玉米低密度育种芯片开发及在种质资源评价中的应用

SNP基因分型芯片是分子育种的重要工具,高密度SNP芯片往往存在标记冗余、价格高、目标性不强等问题,是分子育种走向常规化、规模化的主要限制因素之一。本研究介绍了一款新开发的低密度育种芯片,并就芯片在种质资源评价中的价值进行了分析。首先,对37份玉米自交系进行10×重测序,获得了18.2 Mb的SNP标记,从中挑选2080个SNPs;再从已开发55 K芯片中挑选3390个缺失率低、多态性高、标记类型为高多态分辨率的标记;最后从HapMap3中挑选586个标记,设计的育种芯片共包含6056个SNPs,采用靶向测序基因型检测(GBTS,genotyping by target sequencing)技术对标记进行检测。通过自然群体、双亲群体和多亲本重组自交系(MAGIC,multiparent advanced generation inter-cross)群体验证表明,育种芯片检测到的原始设计位点数为4773~5967个,自然群体中最小等位基因频率(MAF,minor allele frequency)>0.4和多态性信息含量(PIC,polymorphism information content)>0.4的标记比例分别为57.6%和88.6%,MAGIC群体平均捕获率为70.6%。用该芯片对226份玉米种质资源进行评价,主成分分析可以将其划分为温带和热带两大类群,UPGMA聚类分析进一步将其划分为6个已知类群,分别是瑞德、兰卡斯特、PB、旅大红骨、四平头和热带类群,利用Structure软件进行群体结构分析,没有出现最佳K值,但热带材料都独立成群;类群内和类群间的遗传距离平均值分别为0.394和0.471,其中PB群内的遗传距离最小(0.316),热带类群内的遗传距离最大(0.424);类群间,瑞德与热带之间的遗传距离最大(0.493);类群间的遗传分化系数(FST)表明,PB类群与其他类群间的FST均较大。     

RETRACTED ARTICLE: An analysis of population structure and linkage disequilibrium using multilocus data in 187 maize inbred lines

This study analyzes population structure and linkage disequilibrium (LD) among 187 commonly used Chinese maize inbred lines, representing the genetic diversity among public, commercial and historically important lines for corn breeding. Seventy SSR loci, evenly distributed over 10 chromosomes, were assayed for polymorphism. The identified 290 alleles served to estimate population structure and analyze the genome-wide LD. The population of lines was highly structured, showing 6 subpopulations: BSSS (American BSSS including Reid), PA (group A germplasm derived from modern U.S. hybrids in China), PB (group B germplasm derived from modern U.S. hybrid in China), Lan (Lancaster Surecrop), LRC (derivative lines from Lvda Reb Cob, a Chinese landrace) and SPT (derivative lines from Si-ping-tou, a Chinese landrace). Forty lines, which formerly had an unknown and/or miscellaneous origin and pedigree record, were assigned to the appropriate group. Relationship estimates based on SSR marker data were quantified in a Q matrix, and this information will inform breeder’s decisions regarding crosses. Extensive inter- and intra-chromosomal LD was detected between 70 microsatellite loci for the investigated maize lines (2109 loci pairs in LD with D′ > 0.1 and 93 out of them at P < 0.01).This suggests that rapidly evolving microsatellites may track recent population structure. Interlocus LD decay among the diverse maize germplasm indicated that association studies in QTLs and/or candidate genes might avoid nonfunctional and spurious associations since most of the LD blocks were broken between diverse germplasm. The defined population structure and the LD analysis present the basis for future association mapping. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Genetic diversity and population structure of a diverse set of rice germplasm for association mapping

Germplasm diversity is the mainstay for crop improvement and genetic dissection of complex traits. Understanding genetic diversity, population structure, and the level and distribution of linkage disequilibrium (LD) in target populations is of great importance and a prerequisite for association mapping. In this study, 100 genome-wide simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were used to assess genetic diversity, population structure, and LD of 416 rice accessions including landraces, cultivars and breeding lines collected mostly in China. A model-based population structure analysis divided the rice materials into seven subpopulations. 63% of the SSR pairs in these accessions were in LD, which was mostly due to an overall population structure, since the number of locus pairs in LD was reduced sharply within each subpopulation, with the SSR pairs in LD ranging from 5.9 to 22.9%. Among those SSR pairs showing significant LD, the intrachromosomal LD had an average of 25–50 cM in different subpopulations. Analysis of the phenotypic diversity of 25 traits showed that the population structure accounted for an average of 22.4% of phenotypic variation. An example association mapping for starch quality traits using both the candidate gene mapping and genome-wide mapping strategies based on the estimated population structure was conducted. Candidate gene mapping confirmed that the Wx and starch synthase IIa (SSIIa) genes could be identified as strongly associated with apparent amylose content (AAC) and pasting temperature (PT), respectively. More importantly, we revealed that the Wx gene was also strongly associated with PT. In addition to the major genes, we found five and seven SSRs were associated with AAC and PT, respectively, some of which have not been detected in previous linkage mapping studies. The results suggested that the population may be useful for the genome-wide marker–trait association mapping. This new association population has the potential to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) with small effects, which will aid in dissecting complex traits and in exploiting the rich diversity present in rice germplasm.     

Molecular diversity and association mapping of fiber quality traits in exotic G. hirsutum L. germplasm

The narrow genetic base of cultivated cotton germplasm is hindering the cotton productivity worldwide. Although potential genetic diversity exists in Gossypium genus, it is largely ‘underutilized’ due to photoperiodism and the lack of innovative tools to overcome such challenges. The application of linkage disequilibrium (LD)-based association mapping is an alternative powerful molecular tool to dissect and exploit the natural genetic diversity conserved within cotton germplasm collections, greatly accelerating still ‘lagging’ cotton marker-assisted selection (MAS) programs. However, the extent of genome-wide linkage disequilibrium (LD) has not been determined in cotton. We report the extent of genome-wide LD and association mapping of fiber quality traits by using a 95 core set of microsatellite markers in a total of 285 exotic Gossypium hirsutum accessions, comprising of 208 landrace stocks and 77 photoperiodic variety accessions. We demonstrated the existence of useful genetic diversity within exotic cotton germplasm. In this germplasm set, 11–12% of SSR loci pairs revealed a significant LD. At the significance threshold (r² ≥ 0.1), a genome-wide average of LD declines within the genetic distance at < 10 cM in the landrace stocks germplasm and > 30 cM in variety germplasm. Genome wide LD at r² ≥ 0.2 was reduced on average to  1–2 cM in the landrace stock germplasm and 6–8 cM in variety germplasm, providing evidence of the potential for association mapping of agronomically important traits in cotton. We observed significant population structure and relatedness in assayed germplasm. Consequently, the application of the mixed liner model (MLM), considering both kinship (K) and population structure (Q) detected between 6% and 13% of SSR markers associated with the main fiber quality traits in cotton. Our results highlight for the first time the feasibility and potential of association mapping, with consideration of the population structure and stratification existing in cotton germplasm resources. The number of SSR markers associated with fiber quality traits in diverse cotton germplasm, which broadly covered many historical meiotic events, should be useful to effectively exploit potentially new genetic variation by using MAS programs.     

Linkage disequilibrium in European elite maize germplasm investigated with SSRs

Information about the extent and genomic distribution of linkage disequilibrium (LD) is of fundamental importance for association mapping. The main objectives of this study were to (1) investigate genetic diversity within germplasm groups of elite European maize (Zea mays L.) inbred lines, (2) examine the population structure of elite European maize germplasm, and (3) determine the extent and genomic distribution of LD between pairs of simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. We examined genetic diversity and LD in a cross section of European and US elite breeding material comprising 147 inbred lines genotyped with 100 SSR markers. For gene diversity within each group, significant (P<0.05) differences existed among the groups. The LD was significant (P<0.05) for 49% of the SSR marker pairs in the 80 flint lines and for 56% of the SSR marker pairs in the 57 dent lines. The ratio of linked to unlinked loci in LD was 1.1 for both germplasm groups. The high incidence of LD suggests that the extent of LD between SSR markers should allow the detection of marker-phenotype associations in a genome scan. However, our results also indicate that a high proportion of the observed LD is generated by forces, such as relatedness, population stratification, and genetic drift, which cause a high risk of detecting false positives in association mapping.     

Genetic diversity, linkage disequilibrium, and association mapping analyses of peach (Prunus persica) landraces in China

The genetic diversity, population structure, and linkage disequilibrium (LD) of peaches are greatly important in genome-wide association mapping. In the current study, 104 peach landrace accessions from six Chinese geographical regions were evaluated for fruit and phenological period. The accessions were genotyped with 53 genome-wide simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. All SSR markers were highly polymorphic across the accessions, and a total of 340 alleles were detected, including 59 private alleles. Of the six regions studied, the northern part of China as well as the middle and lower reaches of the Changjiang River were found to be the most highly diverse genetically. Based on population structure analysis, the peaches were divided into five groups, which well agreed with the geographical distribution. Of the SSR pairs in these accessions, 18.07% (P?<?0.05) were in LD. The mean r ² value for all intrachromosomal loci pairs was 0.0149, and LD decayed at 6.01?cM. The general linear model was used to calculate the genome-wide marker-trait associations of 10 complex traits. The traits include flesh color around the stone, red pigment in the flesh, flesh texture, flesh adhesion, flesh firmness, fruit weight, chilling requirement, flowering time, ripening time, and fruit development period. These traits were estimated by analyzing the 104 landraces. Many of the associated markers were located in regions where quantitative trait loci (QTLs) were previously identified. Peach association mapping is an effective approach for identifying QTLs and may be an alternative to QTL mapping based on crosses between different lines.     

Linkage disequilibrium in French wild cherry germplasm and worldwide sweet cherry germplasm

A basic knowledge on linkage disequilibrium (LD) is necessary in order to determine resolution of association studies. We investigated the extent and patterns of LD in a self-incompatible species (Prunus avium L.), in 3 groups (wild cherry, sweet cherry landraces and sweet cherry modern varieties), using a set of 35 microsatellite markers and the gametophytic self-incompatibility locus. Since population structure might create spurious LD, we thus used the information provided by a structure analysis published in a previous study to perform the LD analysis. In the current study, we detected a greater LD extent in sweet cherry than in wild cherry, which is plausibly due to the bottleneck associated with domestication and breeding. Higher LD values in sweet cherry sub-groups may be explained by smaller sample sizes. We also showed that the remaining structure in the groups of sweet cherry, in particular landraces, is responsible for a part of the LD extent. Intra-group relatedness may also account for extensive LD in two sub-groups. These results demonstrate, if ever necessary, the importance of controlling the genetic structure and relatedness when estimating LD. Moreover, LD decays very rapidly with genetic linkage distance in both wild and sweet cherries, which seems promising for future association studies.     

Does harvest affect genetic diversity in grey wolves?

Harvest can affect vital rates such as reproduction and survival, but also genetic measures of individual and population health. Grey wolves (Canis lupus) live and breed in groups, and effective population size is a small fraction of total abundance. As a result, genetic diversity of wolves may be particularly sensitive to harvest. We evaluated how harvest affected genetic diversity and relatedness in wolves. We hypothesized that harvest would (a) reduce relatedness of individuals within groups in a subpopulation but increase relatedness of individuals between groups due to increased local immigration, (b) increase individual heterozygosity and average allelic richness across groups in subpopulations and (c) add new alleles to a subpopulation and decrease the number of private alleles in subpopulations due to an increase in breeding opportunities for unrelated individuals. We found harvest had no effect on observed heterozygosity of individuals or allelic richness at loci within subpopulations but was associated with a small, biologically insignificant effect on within‐group relatedness values in grey wolves. Harvest was, however, positively associated with increased relatedness of individuals between groups and a net gain (+16) of alleles into groups in subpopulations monitored since harvest began, although the number of private alleles in subpopulations overall declined. Harvest likely created opportunities for wolves to immigrate into nearby groups and breed, thereby making groups in subpopulations more related over time. Harvest appears to affect genetic diversity in wolves at the group and population levels, but its effects are less apparent at the individual level given the population sizes we studied.     

Relatedness structure in Rhododendron metternichii var. hondoense revealed by microsatellite analysis

The relatedness structure of Rhododendron metternichii Sieb. et Zucc. var. hondoense Nakai was analysed in a 150 x 70-m quadrat in Hiroshima Prefecture, western Japan. The population of R. metternichii occurred as three subpopulations at the study site (A1-A3). Pairwise relatedness based on microsatellite genotypes at eight loci and Mantel tests revealed a hierarchical structure of relatedness within and among subpopulations: (i) relatedness between individuals within 10 m of one another was significantly positive; (ii) relatedness between individuals in the same subpopulation was significantly positive, but negative between individuals in distant subpopulations; and (iii) relatedness was not significantly different from zero among neighbouring subpopulations. In detail, however, relatedness within each subpopulation was significantly positive in subpopulation A1, relatively weak but significantly positive in subpopulation A2, and not significantly different from zero in subpopulation A3. Relatedness within each subpopulation was inversely related to correlations between interindividual distance and relatedness. The aggregation of related individuals at short distances from one another may lead to decreasing relatedness within subpopulations as a whole. Moreover, negative correlations between interindividual distance and relatedness corresponded to high flowering densities at less than 10-m distance, implying that high flowering densities reduce pollinator foraging distance and lead to stronger genetic structure within subpopulations. Small individuals (< 2.0 m in height) showed stronger genetic structure compared with that of large individuals (> or = 2.0 m in height). The different relatedness structure within and among subpopulations may be caused by various degrees of gene flow affected by distribution patterns of individuals and population density.     

Fine-scale genetic structuring in a natural population of European wild rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus)

The genetic structure of a free-living tagged population of European wild rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) was investigated for two consecutive years (1990 and 1991) using 10 polymorphic microsatellite loci. A specific social behaviour, the formation of stable breeding groups, influenced the genetic structure of the population. These breeding groups were shown to constitute genetically differentiated units with low levels of gene flow between them. The average relatedness among members of a social group was higher than within the population as a whole. As a result of female philopatry coupled with male-biased natal dispersal, the relatedness of females was higher than that of males, both within social groups and in the whole population. Furthermore, the average relatedness of females within groups was twice the relatedness of females between groups. This study reveals marked fine-scale, intrapopulation genetic structure, which is attributable to the social behaviour of the European wild rabbit.     

Genetic structure of three Naikpod subpopulations of Andhra Pradesh, India

The genetic structure of three subpopulations of the Naikpod tribe of Andhra Pradesh, India, was examined by studying three blood group, six red cell enzyme, and five protein systems and phenylthiocarbamide taste sensitivity. The gene frequency data of 15 loci are compared among the subpopulations as well as with those reported for other population groups from India. The analysis of gene diversity revealed that the gene differentiation among the subpopulations relative to total population is only 0.02, indicating that the genetic differentiation between subpopulations is very small compared with that within them. This is corroborated by the small genetic distances found among them. The effect of differentiation of microgeographical and breeding isolation on gene diversity and genetic differentiation among the three subpopulations is apparently low.