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Comparing the use of leaf and cambium tissue in a single genetic study of tropical trees

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Abstract

Amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs) are a useful molecular tool for studying species with little available genetic information; however, since universal primers are used contaminant DNA from non-target organisms may also be amplified. Cambium tissue may contain fewer biotic contaminants or plant defense chemicals, than the more commonly used leaf tissue, and therefore be more suitable for use as a source of DNA when using universal primers. On the other hand, cambium tissue can be difficult to identify, yields low DNA and requires the bark of the tree to be damaged, thereby increasing the risk of introducing disease. We show that within two tropical tree species, there are few differences between AFLP profiles obtained from either cambium or leaf tissue from the same tree. We studied 50 Brosimum alicastrum individuals at 119 AFLP loci and 40 Swietenia macrophylla individuals at 112 AFLP loci. The matrix of Sørensen similarity indices between individual AFLP profiles for cambium samples was strongly correlated to the matrix for leaf samples in each species (Mantel test; B. alicastrum r = 0.815, P < 0.001; S. macrophylla r = 0.895, P < 0.001). The phylogenetic relationship between the trees studied did not differ dependent on tissue type used and therefore shows that both tissues can be used within a single study without introducing substantial error.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Waldo Etherington and Mr Tec for tree climbing. We dedicate this work to the late Nicodemus ‘Chapal’ Bol from Las Cuevas Research Station, and thank Isidro Bol for tree identification and leaf collection. We thank Robyn Cowan for molecular assistance. We also thank Jennifer Rowntree and two anonymous referees for comments on the manuscript. This work was funded by a Natural Environment Research Council PhD studentship to S.E.Z.

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Author notes

  1. Sharon E. Zytynska

    Present address: Department of Ecology and Ecosystem Management, Technische Universität München, Freising, Germany

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Michael Smith Building, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK

    Sharon E. Zytynska & Richard F. Preziosi

  2. Jodrell Laboratory, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, TW9 3DS, UK

    Michael F. Fay

Authors
  1. Sharon E. Zytynska
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  2. Michael F. Fay
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  3. Richard F. Preziosi
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Correspondence to Sharon E. Zytynska.

Additional information

Communicated by S. González-Martínez

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Table S1

DNA purity from leaf and cambium samples (DOC 28 kb)

Fig. 4

DNA (microgram) obtained from 1 g of dried tissue. Error bars represent ± 1 standard error. C cambium, L leaf, BA Brosimum alicastrum, SM Swietenia macrophylla (JPEG 1868 kb)

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Zytynska, S.E., Fay, M.F. & Preziosi, R.F. Comparing the use of leaf and cambium tissue in a single genetic study of tropical trees. Tree Genetics & Genomes 8, 431–437 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11295-011-0453-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11295-011-0453-8

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