Abstract
Araucaria angustifolia (araucaria) is a conifer tree of high ecological and social values in the Brazilian subtropical region. However, the species is threatened with extinction. We examined the genetic variability and gene flow between populations of araucaria through a coalescent approach. DNA samples were collected from 185 trees in a provenance and progeny established with seeds collected in 15 natural populations. The genotyping was performed using a 3 K Axiom SNPs array to verify the intensity and direction of the migratory flow between neighboring populations. All models were run with MIGRATE-N software. The migration rate, the effective number of migrants per generation (\(x{N}_{i}{m}_{{ij}}\)), and the effective population size (Ne) were estimated. The mean Ne observed for the southernmost populations (729 ± 293) was found higher than that of the northernmost ones (390 ± 176). We identified neighboring populations that stand out as the main sources of migrant individuals and the ones that receive a high migration flow. By correlating the migration parameters with climatic variables, we observed that the minimum average temperature in the coldest month, and the amount of rain in the driest month show a high and significant correlation with \(x{N}_{i}{m}_{{ij}}\) values. In general, the observed gene flow suggests a connection between the remnant populations of araucaria, which constitute the greatest sources of genetic diversity of the species found in the southernmost region of Brazil.
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Acknowledgements
We thank FAPESP and CNPq for funding this project. We also thank the EMBRAPA (Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa agropecuárias), and IPA (Instituto de pesquisas ambientais) teams for their support.
Funding
Bruno M. de Souza was funded by FAPESP (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo), Grant number: 2020/09216-0. Dr. Ananda V. de Aguiar and Dr. Miguel Luiz M. Freitas were also supported by CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico), processes 307064/2023-9 and 313459/2021-5, respectively. Dr. Evandro V. Tambarussi was supported by a CNPq research fellowship (grant #303789/2022-0).
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Bruno Marchetti de Souza: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. João Ricardo Bachega Feijó Rosa: Conceptualization, Supervision, Formal analysis, Validation, Writing – review & editing. Evandro Vagner Tambarussi: Conceptualization, Supervision, Formal analysis, Validation, Writing – review & editing. Marcos Silveira Wrege: data collection; Formal analysis Elenice Fritzsons: data collection; Resources. Lucileide Vilela Resende: Data curation, Formal analysis, Validation. Eliseu Binneck: Resources Writing – review & editing. Leandro Eugenio Cardamone Diniz: Resources, Writing – review & editing. Alexandre Magno Sebbenn: data collection, Writing – review & editing. Dario Grattapaglia: Conceptualization, Data curation, Resources, Validation, Writing – review & editing. Valderês Aparecida de Sousa: Conceptualization, data collection, Validation, Writing – review & editing. Miguel Luiz Menezes Freitas: Conceptualization, Resources, Supervision, Writing – review & editing. Ananda Virgínia de Aguiar: Conceptualization, Project administration, data collection, Resources, Supervision, Formal analysis, Validation, Writing – review & editing.
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The research was conducted in accordance with all applicable institutional, national, and international guidelines for the use and conservation of plant genetic resources. Sampling was performed within a provenance and progeny test established under a legally authorized breeding program in Brazil. The test site and plant material are part of a public research initiative, and no endangered or protected wild populations were disturbed during the study. The study did not involve human participants or animals. Nevertheless, all activities were carried out in accordance with ethical principles for biodiversity research, including compliance with Brazil’s Law N° 13.123/2015 (Access to Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge) and the Nagoya Protocol.
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de Souza, B.M., Rosa, J.R.B.F., Tambarussi, E.V. et al. Genetic structure and historical gene flow in Araucaria angustifolia populations across two Brazilian regions. Heredity 134, 584–595 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41437-025-00791-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41437-025-00791-9
