ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Systematics and Evolution
Analysis of the population genetic structure and demographic history of Tilia amurensis and Tilia japonica in China using SSR markers
Provisionally accepted
- 1Shandong Agricultural University, Taian, China
- 2Shandong Provincial Center of Forest and Grass Germplasm Resources, Jinan, China
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Tilia amurensis, a deciduous broad-leaved tree, is distributed in regions neighbouring those of Tilia japonica populations in China; these plants belong to the Malvaceae family. To date, the genetic status and demographic history of T. japonica remain unknown, and the demographic history of T. amurensis is not well defined. This study uses standard population genetic and approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) analyses of SSR data to determine the genetic status and divergence times of these two lime taxa. The results revealed that the genetic diversity of T. japonica (I = 1.181, HO = 0.484, HE = 0.602) was high at the population level. The results of the genetic structure revealed that the genetic variation was dominated primarily by within-population variation. Additionally, there was significant genetic differentiation and bidirectional introgression between T. amurensis and T. japonica. The ABC analysis suggests a (Middle) Pleistocene divergence. These findings have important implications for the formulation of appropriate conservation strategies.
Keywords: Tilia amurensis, Tilia japonica, SSR, tree genetics, Genetic structure, demographic history
Received: 22 Jun 2025; Accepted: 26 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhang, Zang, Liu, Ma, Lu, Wu and Zang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Qichao Wu
Dekui Zang
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