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Deciphering the genetic diversity of Avicennia officinalis L. across the salinity gradient in the Sundarbans mangrove forest of Bangladesh

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Abstract

Mangroves adaptive plasticity in the changing environmental conditions is of vital importance for conservation management. Genetic diversity of mangrove brings about adaptive plasticity, enabling a species to cope with different habitat conditions. The Sundarbans of Bangladesh is the largest coastal wetland and mangrove forest with diversified habitat conditions that support a wide diversity of flora and fauna. Avicennia officinalis L. is the pioneer species in mangrove succession in the low-salinity, medium-salinity and high-salinity zones of the Sundarbans. Adopting RAPD-PCR analysis, the genetic diversity of A. officinalis was studied to explore the ecotypes of this species in the Sundarbans. The genetic distances of A. officinalis between the low-salinity and medium-salinity zones (0.50) and between the low-salinity and high-salinity zones (0.52) are significantly (p < 0.05) higher than that between the medium-salinity and high-salinity zones (0.09). The expected heterozygosity of A. officinalis of medium-salinity (0.54 ± 0.14) and high-salinity zones (0.55 ± 0.10) are higher than that of low-salinity zone (0.37 ± 0.12). The genetic diversity of A. officinalis of medium-salinity (0.5417 ± 0.3167) and high-salinity (0.5458 ± 0.3189) zones is significantly (p < 0.05) higher than that of low-salinity zone (0.3750 ± 0.2313). This genetic diversity of A. officinalis bears significant ecological consequences. A. officinalis growing in the low-salinity zone is the low salt-adapted ecotype while that growing in the medium-salinity and high-salinity zones is the high salt-adapted ecotype in the Sundarbans. These two ecotypes of A. officinalis are of both in-situ and ex-situ conservation importance for the Sundarbans and coastal plantations of Bangladesh to face the climate change induced salinity regime changes in the future.

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Acknowledgements

The authors sincerely acknowledge the financial support from Nagao Natural Environment Foundation (Granted in 2015), 3-3-7 Kotobashi, Sumida-ku, Tokyo 130-0022, Japan. The authors acknowledge the technical support from Plant genetics Laboratory of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering Discipline of Khulna University, Bangladesh. The authors would like to express gratitude to Md. Towhidur Rahman Nurunnabi and Md. Ashraul Alam, PhD students of Khulna University for their cordial help during laboratory processing.

Funding

There is no funding source for publication. However, there was funding from Nagao Natural Environment Foundation (Granted in 2015), 3-3-7 Kotobashi, Sumida-ku, Tokyo 130-0022, Japan for conducting this research experiment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Forestry and Wood Technology Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna, 9208, Bangladesh

    Md. Rabiul Alam & Hossain Mahmood

  2. Mangrove Silviculture Division, Bangladesh Forest Research Institute, Chittagong, Bangladesh

    Md. Masudur Rahman

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  1. Md. Rabiul Alam
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  2. Hossain Mahmood
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  3. Md. Masudur Rahman
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Correspondence to Md. Rabiul Alam.

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Alam, M.R., Mahmood, H. & Rahman, M.M. Deciphering the genetic diversity of Avicennia officinalis L. across the salinity gradient in the Sundarbans mangrove forest of Bangladesh. Wetlands Ecol Manage 28, 449–460 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-020-09723-2

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