Genetic structure analysis of populations of the soybean cyst nematode, Heterodera glycines, from north China

To elucidate the genetic differentiation of the host populations of Heterodera glycines, 348 individuals from 13 populations of three host plants (Nicotiana tabacum, Glycine max and Rehmannia glutinosa) in north China were genotyped using eight microsatellite loci. A significant departure from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (F-is) was found in all populations. BOTTLENECK results showed that only three populations (ZT, CR, and MR) may have experienced a genetic bottleneck. The pairwise F-ST values among the three host populations ranged from 0.0503 to 0.2867. There was no significant relationship between the genetic distance and geographical distance. STRUCTURE analyses suggest that R. glutinosa might have important influence on the genetic differentiation of H. glycines in north China. Our study demonstrates that H. glycines is an inbred species that is highly genetic differentiated.