Paternity analysis and pollen flow for open-pollination progenies of Hippophae rhamnoides ssp. sinensis Rousi, a constructive species of shrub from the upper reaches of Heihe River
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Abstract
To explore the paternal origin of offspring and the pollen dispersal pattern in natural populations under open-pollination, we conducted paternity analysis for seeds of H. rhamnoides ssp. sinensis using SSR markers. Results showed that in 104 seedlings of 193 open-pollinated offspring, the pollen source was identified at an 80% confidence level. In 20 male parents deduced, 16 were H. rhamnoides ssp. sinensis and four were H. neurocarpa S. W. Liu et T. N. He. Pollination pattern analysis showed that the effective distance of H. rhamnoides ssp. sinensis pollen dispersal was in the range of 3-71 m, with an average distance of 20.4 m. Furthermore, 87.23% and 78.95% of the effective pollen received by the two respective female parents examined came from a distance range of 30 m. These results indicate that the natural populations of H. rhamnoides ssp. sinensis are mainly pollinated within a close range. In addition, in the seabuckthorn hybrid zone of the upper reaches of Heihe River, the average pollen contribution from H. neurocarpa to the offspring of H. rhamnoides ssp. sinensis reaches 14.84%, indicating that H. rhamnoides ssp. sinensis and H. neurocarpa possess a relatively high frequency of contemporary interspecific pollen flow.
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