Genetic resources of teak (Tectona grandis Linn. f.) – strong genetic structure among natural populations

Twenty-nine provenances of teak (Tectona grandis Linn. f.) representing the full natural distribution range of the species were genotyped with microsatellite DNA markers to analyse genetic diversity and population genetic structure. Provenances originating from the semi-moist east coast of India had the highest genetic diversity while provenances from Laos showed the lowest. In the eastern part of the natural distribution area, comprising Myanmar, Thailand and Laos, there was a strong clinal decrease in genetic diversity the further east the provenance was located. Overall, the pattern of genetic diversity supports the hypothesis that teak has its centre of origin in India, from where it spread eastwards. The analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) gave an overall highly significant F st value of 0.227—population pairwise F st values were in the range 0.01–0.48. Applying the G″st differentiation parameter, the estimated overall differentiation was 0.632, implying a strong genetic structu...