Source: SEAMEO BIOTROP's Research Grant | 2012
Abstract:
The characterization of geographical patterns of phenotypic variation in natural plant populations is a fundamental first step towards suggesting hypotheses about possible patterns of genetic variation, adaptive significance of specific traits, and plastic responses to environmental gradients. The research is aimed to: (1). assess the magnitude of variation in leaf, seed and seedling traits of A. cadamba and the extent of genetic control in these param-eters, (2). assess genetic variation and structure of natural population of A. cadamba based on AFLP markers in Indonesia, and (3). assess seedling adaptation of A. cadamba to drought and water logging stress. Three aspects of research were carried out, i.e. : (1). Provenance Variation in Leaf, Seed, and Seedling Traits of Anthocephalus cadamba Miq., (2). Variation and Genetic Structure of Anthocephalus cadamba Miq. Based on AFLP Markers, and (3). Adaptation of Anthocephalus cadamba Miq. Seedlings to Drought and Water Logging. The study on provenance variation in leaf, fruit, seed, and seedling of Anthocephalus cadamba includes 11 seed sources/provenances. The result showed that different seed sources revealed a wide range of variability with respect to leaf, fruit, seed and seeding traits in terms of mean values, criti¬cal difference, and coefficient of variation, broad sense heritability, and genetic gains. Several traits showed sig¬nificant correlation with geographical factors viz. latitude and altitude, but most of the traits did not show any significant correlation with altitude, latitude, longitude, precipitation and annual mean temperature. The stud¬ies revealed that selection of some important characters can be made for improvement and breeding strategies. Such an investigation may help in selec¬tion of superior provenance/seed source for a given site to evolve strategies for conservation, breeding and improvement in this species. Such an investigation may help in selec¬tion of superior provenance/seed source for a given site to evolve strategies for conservation, breeding and improvement in this species. Analysis AFLP until this report written is still running. The limited AFLP analysis materials become the constraint this process. From more than 200 samples from 11 populations, the analysis only can be done for 35 samples caused limited materials for AFLP analysis. AFLP data is still limited so it not yet can be analyzed for predicting the population genetic of A. cadamba. In the preliminary study of A. cadamba seedling adaptation, drought and water logging stress reduced seedling performance. A. cadamba seedlings coped with water stress by avoidance mechanisms such as significantly decreased leaf development (number of leaf and leaf area) and also by tolerance mechanisms such as a decreasing root shout ratio in water stress.Download full report