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Genetic relationship of myrmecophyte ( Anthorrhiza caerulea ) individuals within and among territories of the arboreal ant ( Dolichoderus sp.) detected using random amplified polymorphic DNA markers
Author(s) -
Maeyama T.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
austral ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.688
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1442-9993
pISSN - 1442-9985
DOI - 10.1046/j.1442-9993.2000.01034.x
Subject(s) - rapd , biology , caerulea , population , arboreal locomotion , ecology , genetic relationship , botany , zoology , genetic diversity , habitat , demography , sociology
Abstract The polymorphic bands of random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers of the population of epiphytic myrmecophyte, Anthorrhiza caerulea Huxley & Jebb (Rubiaceae: Hydnophytinae), and those of its obligatory occupant ant, Dolichoderus sp. (Formicidae: Dolichoderinae), were analyzed in this study in a Papua New Guinean secondary forest. All the reproducible polymorphic bands were used as RAPD markers. Euclidean distances were calculated as the similarity indices of the band patterns, and similarities of the band patterns were analyzed using cluster analysis (group average method). It was frequently observed that the occupant ants gathered the seeds of A. caerulea and buried them into their carton trails on the bark of host trees. The colony boundaries of Dolichoderus sp. were assessed using RAPD analysis, and were clearly detected by this method. From the analyses of genetic relationships in the population of A. caerulea , it was revealed that the myrmecophytes within a certain ant territory consisted of close relatives. Therefore, it was inferred that the descendants of A. caerulea were dispersed only within the territory of a certain ant colony.