I investigated the infraspecific diversity among individuals of Aspalathus linearis from five localities in the Cederberg Fynbos region using morphological traits and two DNA- based methods: inter-simple sequence repeats (ISSR) and a plastid marker. A principle component analysis (PCA) based on seven morphological variables grouped the samples into three different growth forms, specifically an erect-form, a prostrate-form and a shrub-form. The genetic variability of four plastid markers and one nuclear marker was determined for seven individuals selected from the populations. The trnL'UAAF-trnFGAA plastid marker was used to amplify the remaining samples and revealed four haplotypes, with a basal haplotype fixed in both the prostrate form and a single population of the erect form, a unique haplotype fixed in the shrub form, and a mix of two other haplotypes in the remaining erect forms. The congruence between haplotypes and regeneration strategy suggests a longstanding pattern of restricted gene flow. However, a small sample size associated with the plastid marker data limits or reduces the certainty of these findings.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uct/oai:localhost:11427/26701 |
| Date | 10 February 2017 |
| Creators | Potts, Alistair |
| Contributors | Verboom, George Anthony, Hoffmann, Timm |
| Publisher | University of Cape Town, Faculty of Science, Department of Biological Sciences |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Bachelor Thesis, Honours, BSc (Hons) |
| Format | application/pdf |
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