A Chloroplast DNA Probe Identifies Unexpectedly High Levels of Polymorphism in Pinus banksiana and Pinus contorta

A cloned, 500 base pair (bp) restriction fragment from the chloroplast genome of Pinus contorta hybridized to restriction fragments of a previously known polymorphism when used in molecular mapping experiments with total cellular DNAs of P. banksiana and P. contorta. Unexpectedly however, a large number (as many as 20) of additional, extremely polymorphic, DNA fragments were also identified by this probe. Study of a large number of individuals of P. banksiana and P. contorta, using the cloned 500 bp P. contorta fragment, leads to the following conclusions: 1) in random samples from across the allopatric ranges of the two species, as well as in samples from two populations of a sympatric region shared by P. banksiana and P. contorta, many individuals have identifiably unique autoradiogram patterns; 2) in a restricted set of germplasm, representing seven individuals from a single P. banksiana provenance, nearly every individual has an identifiably unique genotype; and 3) at least some of the highly-variable bands appear to reside in the chloroplasts. The 500 bp probe may be useful for clonal identification in tree improvement programs. Because of the inheritance of chloroplasts through pollen in conifers, this cloned fragment may also be suitable for paternity resolution.

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Author(s): Diddahally R. Govindaraju, D. B. Wagner, J. Lidholm, P. Gustafsson, A. E. Szmidt

Publication: Tree Improvement and Genetics - Southern Forest Tree Improvement Conference - 1989

Section: Concurrent Session 1A