Community characteristics of Arabidopsis thaliana natural populations in the northern Tianshan Mountains along with relevant environmental factors

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1003.2009.08169

Abstract

Abstract:

Arabidopsis thaliana is a model organism widely-used to study molecular and developmental biology, physiology and cell biology. The Tianshan Mountains is one of the main distribution regions of A. thaliana. To evaluate the distribution and the environmental stress of A. thaliana in arid land, we characterized A. thaliana communities in the northern Tianshan Mountains along with relevant environmental factors. Eight communities found in the middle Tianshan Mountains were herb types and their dominant species were similar, but another five communities distributed in the western Tianshans and Altai region were markedly different. The recorded 77 species were classified into 22 families and 64 genera, and species richness of the 13 communities was relatively low. Most species belonged to Cosmopolitan (areal-type 1), North Temperate (areal-type 8), Mediterranean, and West Asia to Central Asia (areal-type 12) areal-types, reflecting the arid and semi-arid geographical features of the area. Based on the Two-Way Indicator Species Analysis (TWINSPAN) method, the 13 communities were classified into five hierarchical levels: Seriphidium kaschgaricum-Salsola collina-Ceratocephalus testiculatus, S. kaschgaricum-S. collina, S. kaschgaricum-Lappula semiglabra, S. kaschgaricum-Eremopyrum triticeum, and Myosotis sylvatica-Cyperus microiria. Interspecific association analysis showed that among 62 main species in the 13 communities, 119 species-pairs exhibited significant a positive association; more than the 72 species-pairs with a negative association. In particular, A. thaliana showed a statistically significant, positive association with the dominant species in each community, indicating a strong positive dependence of A. thaliana with other species. Detrended Canonical Correspondence Analysis (DCCA) showed that longitude, topography, soil organic matter and pH were the dominant factors affecting the distribution of A. thaliana populations in the northern Tianshan Mountains. Abundance and distribution of species differed among communities. Populations were more prevalent in the middle northern Tianshan Mountains with lower rainfall than in the western Tianshan Mountains. Further research is needed to explain whether there is the adaptive differentiation.

Key words: Arabidopsis thaliana, vegetation-environment relationships, flora analysis, classification, ordination, interspecific association, arid and semi-arid area

Ye Tao, Dan Wang, Tong Liu, Chengguo Jiang, Wei Zhai, Yongguan Li, Cheng Tang. Community characteristics of Arabidopsis thaliana natural populations in the northern Tianshan Mountains along with relevant environmental factors[J]. Biodiv Sci, 2009, 17(1): 51-61.

Add to citation manager EndNote|Ris|BibTeX

URL: https://www.biodiversity-science.net/EN/10.3724/SP.J.1003.2009.08169

https://www.biodiversity-science.net/EN/Y2009/V17/I1/51

Figures/Tables 6

References 36

[1]	Agricultural Chemistry Committee of Soil Science Society of China (中国土壤学会农业化学专业委员会) (1983) Coventional Methods for the Agricultural Chemical Analysis of Soil (土壤农业化学常规分析方法). Science Press, Beijing. (in Chinese)
[2]	Bakker EG, Stahl EA, Toomajian C, Nordborg M, Kreitman M, Bergelson J (2006) Distribution of genetic variation within and among local populations of Arabidopsis thaliana over its species range. Molecular Ecology, 15, 1405-1418.
[3]	Brooker RW, Meastre FT, Callaway RM, Lortie CL, Cavieres LA, Kimstler G, Liancourt P, Tielbörger K, Travis JMJ, Anthelme F, Armas C, Coll L, Corcket E, Delzon S, Forey E, Kikvidze Z, Olofsson J, Pugnaire F, Quiroz CL, Saccone P, Schiffers K, Seifan M, Touzard B, Michalet R (2008) Facilitation in plant communities: the past, the present, and the future. Journal of Ecology, 96, 18-34.
[4]	Clauss MJ, Koch MA (2006) Poorly known relatives of Arabidopsis thaliana. Trends in Plant Science, 11, 449-459.
[5]	Hill MO, Šmilauer P (2005) TWINSPAN for Windows version 2.3. Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and University of South Bohemia, Huntingdon and Ceske Budejovice.
[6]	Hoffmann MH (2002) Biogeography of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. (Brassicaceae). Journal of Biogeography, 29, 125-134.
[7]	Hoffmann MH (2005) Evolution of the realized climatic niche in the genus Arabidopsis (Brassicaceae) Evolution, 59, 1425-1436.
[8]	Kawecki TJ, Ebert D (2004) Conceptual issues in local adaptation. Ecology Letters, 7, 1225-1241.
[9]	Koch MA, Matschinger M (2007) Evolution and genetic differentiation among relatives of Arabidopsis thaliana. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 104, 6272-6277.
[10]	Koornneef M, Alonso-Blanco C, Vreugdenhil D (2004) Naturally occurring genetic variation in Arabidopsis thaliana. Annual Review of Plant Biology, 55, 141-172.
[11]	Liu T (刘彤), Zhao XJ (赵新俊), Cui YH (崔运河) Liu LC (刘龙昌), Jia YM (贾亚敏), Luo C (骆郴), Wei P (魏鹏), Zhang YH (张元杭) (2008) Spatial associations and patterns of Arabidopsis thaliana and its adjacent species in the middle part of northern Tianshan Mountain. Acta Ecologica Sinica (生态学报), 28, 1842-1849. (in Chinese with English abstract)
[12]	Lysak MA, Berr A, Pecinka A, Schmidt R, McBreen K, Schubert I (2006) Mechanisms of chromosome number reduction in Arabidopsis thaliana and related Brassicaceae species. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 103, 5224-5229.
[13]	Mao ZM (毛祖美), Zhang DM (张佃民) (1994) The conspectus of ephemeral flora in northern Xinjiang. Arid Zone Research (干旱区研究), 11, 1-26. (in Chinese with English abstract)
[14]	Mitchell-Olds T, Schmitt J (2006) Genetic mechanisms and evolutionary significance of natural variation in Arabidopsis. Nature, 441, 947-952.
[15]	Pan XL (潘晓玲) (1997) Floristic analysis of seed plant families in Xinjiang. Bulletin of Botanical Research (植物研究), 17, 397-402. (in Chinese with English abstract)
[16]	Pan XL (潘晓玲), Ma YJ (马映军), Gao W (高炜), Qi JG (齐家国), Shi QD (师庆东), Lu HY (陆海燕) (2004) Eco-environmental evolution in arid area of west China. Journal of Desert Research (中国沙漠), 24, 663-673. (in Chinese with English abstract)
[17]	Pigliucci M (1998a) Ecological and evolutionary genetics of Arabidopsis. Trends in Plant Science, 3, 485-489.
[18]	Pigliucci M, Byrd N (1998b) Genetics and evolution of phenotypic plasticity to nutrient stress in Arabidopsis: drift, constraints or selection? Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 64, 17-40.
[19]	Price RA, Palmer JD, Al-Shehbaz IA (1994) Systematic relationships of Arabidopsis: a molecular and morphological perspective. In: Arabidopsis (eds Meyerowitz EM, Someville CR), pp. 7-19. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, NY.
[20]	Qiu Y (邱扬), Zhang JT (张金屯) (2000) The ordination axes clustering based on detrended canonical correspondence analysis ordination and its application to the analysis of the ecological gradients of plant communities. Acta Ecologica Sinica (生态学报), 20, 199-206. (in Chinese with English abstract)
[21]	Sharbel TF, Haubold B, Mitchell-Olds T (2000) Genetic isolation by distance in Arabidopsis thaliana: biogeography and postglacial colonization of Europe. Molecular Ecology, 9, 2109-2118.
[22]	Shen ZH (沈泽昊), Zhang XS (张新时) Jin YX (金义兴) (2000) Spatial pattern analysis and topographical interpretation of species diversity in the forests of Dalaoling in the region of the Three Gorges. Acta Botanica Sinica (植物学报), 42, 620-627. (in Chinese with English abstract)
[23]	Shindo C, Bernasconi G, Hardtke CS (2007) Natural genetic variation in Arabidopsis: tools, traits and prospects for evolutionary ecology. Annals of Botany, 99, 1043-1054.
[24]	Stenøien HK, Fenster CB, Tonteri A, Savolainen O (2005) Genetic variability in natural populations of Arabidopsis thaliana in northern Europe. Molecular Ecology, 14, 137-148.
[25]	ter Braak CJF (1997) Update Notes: CANOCO, Version 4.8. Agricultural Mathematics Group, Wageningen.
[26]	Thompson L (1994) The spatiotemporal effects of nitrogen and litter on the population dynamics of Arabidopsis thaliana. Journal of Ecology, 82, 63-68.
[27]	Tonsor SJ, Alonso-Blanco C, Koornneef M (2005) Gene function beyond the single trait: natural variation, gene effects, and evolutionary ecology in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant, Cell and Environment, 28, 2-20.
[28]	Wang BS (王伯荪), Peng SL (彭少麟) (1985) Studies on the measuring techniques of interspecific association of the lower subtropical evengreen broadleaved forest. I. The exploration and the revision on the measuring formulas of interspecific association. Acta Phytoecologica et Geobotanica Sinica (植物生态学与地植物学丛刊), 9, 274-285. (in Chinese with English abstract)
[29]	Wang Y (王永), Zhou GL (周桂玲), Meng HM (孟红梅) (2006) Analysis on geographical elements of Brassicaceae area of Xinjiang. Journal of Xinjiang Agricultural University (新疆农业大学学报), 29, 5-9. (in Chinese with English abstract)
[30]	Wu ZY (吴征镒) (1991) The area-types of Chinese genera of seed plants. Acta Botanica Yunnanica (云南植物研究), 13(Suppl. IV), 1-139. (in Chinese with English abstract)
[31]	Xing SH (邢韶华), Zhao B (赵勃), Cui GF (崔国发), Wang JZ (王九中), Zheng WJ (郑万建) (2007) Inter-specific association of dominant species in Baihua Mountain meadow of Beijing. Journal of Beijing Forestry University (北京林业大学学报), 29, 46-51. (in Chinese with English abstract)
[32]	Ye W (叶玮) (2000) The climatic characteristics and environmental patterns during Holocene in north Xinjiang. Journal of Desert Research (中国沙漠), 20, 185-191. (in Chinese with English abstract)
[33]	Zhang WH (张文辉), Lu T (卢涛), Ma KM (马克明), Zhou JY (周建云), Liu SL (刘世梁) (2004) Analysis on the environmental and spatial factors for plant community distribution in the arid valley in the upper reach of Minjiang River. Acta Ecologica Sinica (生态学报), 24, 552-559. (in Chinese with English abstract)
[34]	Zhang XJ (张学杰), Fan SJ (樊守金), Sun ZY (孙稚颖), Li FZ (李法曾) (2003) A summary on phytogenetic classification of Brassicaceae from China. Journal of Wuhan Botanical Research (武汉植物学研究), 21, 267-272. (in Chinese with English abstract)
[35]	Zhang ZY (张志勇), Tao DD (陶德定), Li DZ (李德铢) (2003) An analysis of interspecific associations of Pinus squamata with other dominant woody species in community succession. Biodiversity Science (生物多样性), 11, 125-131. (in Chinese with English abstract)
[36]	Zhu SC (朱圣潮) (2006) Community characteristics and interspecific association of the Songyang population of Isoetes sinensis. Biodiversity Science (生物多样性), 14, 258-264. (in Chinese with English abstract)

分布区类型 Areal-type	属数 (百分比) No. of genera (%)	种数 (百分比) No. of species (%)
1 世界分布 Cosmopolitan	13	20
2 泛热带分布 Pantropic	2 (3.92)	2 (3.51)
8 北温带分布及其变型 North temperate	22 (39.21)	25 (43.86)
8-4 北温带和南温带(全温带)间断 North temperate and South temperate disjuncted	8 (15.68)	10 (17.55)
10 旧世界温带分布及其变型 Old World temperate	1 (1.96)	1 (1.75)
10-3 欧亚和南非洲(有时也在大洋州)间断 Eurasia and South Africa (sometimes Australasia also) disjuncted	1 (1.96)	1 (1.75)
11 温带亚洲分布 Temperate Asia	3 (5.88)	3 (5.26)
12 地中海、西亚至中亚分布及其变型 Mediterranean, West Asia to Central Asia	11 (21.57)	12 (21.06)
13 中亚分布及其变型 Central Asia	2 (3.92)	2 (3.51)
13-3 西亚至喜马拉雅和西藏 West Asia to Himalayas and Tibet	1 (1.96)	1 (1.75)

分布区类型 Areal-type	属数 (百分比) No. of genera (%)	种数 (百分比) No. of species (%)
1 世界分布 Cosmopolitan	13	20
2 泛热带分布 Pantropic	2 (3.92)	2 (3.51)
8 北温带分布及其变型 North temperate	22 (39.21)	25 (43.86)
8-4 北温带和南温带(全温带)间断 North temperate and South temperate disjuncted	8 (15.68)	10 (17.55)
10 旧世界温带分布及其变型 Old World temperate	1 (1.96)	1 (1.75)
10-3 欧亚和南非洲(有时也在大洋州)间断 Eurasia and South Africa (sometimes Australasia also) disjuncted	1 (1.96)	1 (1.75)
11 温带亚洲分布 Temperate Asia	3 (5.88)	3 (5.26)
12 地中海、西亚至中亚分布及其变型 Mediterranean, West Asia to Central Asia	11 (21.57)	12 (21.06)
13 中亚分布及其变型 Central Asia	2 (3.92)	2 (3.51)
13-3 西亚至喜马拉雅和西藏 West Asia to Himalayas and Tibet	1 (1.96)	1 (1.75)

排序轴 Axis	特征值 Eigenvalues	梯度的长度 Lengths of gradient	物种累积解释量/ % Cumulative percentage variance of species	物种-环境关系累积解释量 Cumulative percentage variance of species-environment relation (%)
第一轴 Axis1	0.649	3.403	28.5	27.8
第二轴 Axis2	0.260	1.823	39.9	38.5
第三轴 Axis3	0.074	1.126	43.1	41.5
第四轴 Axis4	0.031	1.150	44.5	42.8

排序轴 Axis	特征值 Eigenvalues	梯度的长度 Lengths of gradient	物种累积解释量/ % Cumulative percentage variance of species	物种-环境关系累积解释量 Cumulative percentage variance of species-environment relation (%)
第一轴 Axis1	0.649	3.403	28.5	27.8
第二轴 Axis2	0.260	1.823	39.9	38.5
第三轴 Axis3	0.074	1.126	43.1	41.5
第四轴 Axis4	0.031	1.150	44.5	42.8

	第一轴 Axis1		海拔 Elevation		纬度 Latitude		经度 Longitude		坡向 Aspect		坡度 Slope		坡位 Slope position
第一轴 Axis1	1.000		0.506		0.445		-0.717^**		0.815^**		0.676^*		0.140
第二轴 Axis2	0.141		0.670^*		0.047		-0.294		0.434		-0.040		0.624^*
		有机质 Organic matter		全氮 Total N		电导率 Conductivity		pH		有效磷 Available P		有效钾 Available K
第一轴 Axis1		0.876^**		0.559		-0.651^*		-0.798^**		-0.031		-0.622^*
第二轴 Axis2		0.018		0.095		-0.287		-0.071		-0.388		-0.508