Molecular phylogeography of Ficus benghalensis Linnaeus using nrDNA ITS 1, cpDNA trnL and cpDNA rps16 from the Indian subcontinent

Abstract

Ficus benghalensis Linnaeus (Moraceae) is the national tree of India and is well known for its pharmacolo-gical properties. The present study was aimed to determine the genetic diversity of F. benghalensis from the Indian subcontinent using sequence-based multi-locus phylogeography. A total of 20 geograph-ical isolates were collected from different regions, cov-ering major parts of its species range within the country. Sequence data from nuclear-encoded internal transcribed spacer region (ITS1), plastid-encoded trnL-F spacer region (trnL) and ribosomal intron re-gion (rps16) were generated. The trnL-based maxi-mum likelihood phylogram revealed the existence of two haplotypes, whereas ITS1 and rps16-based maxi-mum likelihood analysis did not reveal much variation for this species distributed in the Indian subcontinent. These results depict long-distance random gene flow across the subcontinent, and support the post-glacial population contraction events. To validate the impact of palaeo-historic climatic events on current geo-graphic and genetic distribution, species distribution modelling-coupled phylogeography is suggested.