Clonal Structure and Genetic Differentiation in the Serpentine Plant Japonolirion osense (Petrosaviaceae) Using AFLP Markers

Abstract

Japonolirion osense Nakai (Petrosaviaceae) is a vulnerable plant of serpentine soils known to occur only on Mt. Shibutsu and Mt. Tanigawa (Gunma Prefecture), and at Toikanbetsu (Hokkaido), Japan. We investigated the clonal structure and genetic differentiation in these populations using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis. Japonolirion osense reproduces via rhizomes. The AFLP phenotype patterns indicated that genets were about 1-5 m in diameter. Some clones of the plant from the Mt. Shibutsu population had invaded open habitat to about 15 m where erosion from snow had caused landslides. Our population study showed that the populations of J. osense on Hokkaido and Honshu are genetically different.