Phylogeography of Juniperus przewalskii (Cupressaceae) inferred from the chloroplast DNA trnT-trnF sequence variation

The topological effect of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau during the Quaternary climatic oscillation must have important effects on the patterns of spatial distribution and genetic structure of organisms distributed there. To obtain a better understanding of the historical dynamics of present-day species in this region, we examined the population structure of chloroplast trnT-trnF sequence variation in Juniperus przewalskii, an endemic tree species mainly distributed in the northeast plateau. Data were obtained for 392 trees from 20 populations covering the total distributional range of the species. Three cpDNA haplotypes were recorded and were structured into two geographical areas: haplotype A was present on the plateau platform, while all three haplotypes occurred along the plateau edge. Total genetic diversity, HT, was 0.511, with most variation distributed among rather than within populations (G(ST)=0.847). Along the low altitudinal plateau edge, haplotypes A, B and C tended to be fixed or nearly fixed in different populations, indicating that the species may have survived the last glacial period in different refugia within this area, and the bottlenecks due to the repeated reduction and expansion of the population size resulted in the reduction of biodiversity. However, in one population both haplotypes occurred at intermediate frequencies, indicating the possibility of a contact zone or less strong bottleneck effect. On the eastern plateau platform, haplotype A was commonly fixed in the current disjunct populations, suggesting a common postglacial recolonization and a following founder effect. Our results indicate that there might exist in multi-glacial refugia in the plateau edge and both bottleneck and founder effects resulting from the repeated climatic oscillation combined had played important roles in shaping the current haplotype distribution pattern of this tree species.