NOTULAE BOTANICAE HORTI AGROBOTANICI CLUJ-NAPOCA, cilt.39, sa.2, ss.299-304, 2011 (SCI-Expanded)
Turkish Red Pine (Finns brutia Ten.) is an important forest tree species in Turkey for various economic and ecological reasons. In this study, nine RAPD (Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA) primers were used to determine genetic variation within and among populations of P brutia located at the Duzlercami common-garden test site. This site was established in 1979 and includes six natural populations of P brutia from two altitudinal transects extending from the coast to higher elevations in the Antalya region of Turkey A total of 32 polymorphic RAPD loci were found in the analyzed six populations. The mean proportion of polymorphic loci among population samples equals 100%, mean number of alleles for each locus = 2.0, effective allele number = 1.71, Shannon's information index = 0.58, and mean Nei (1973)'s gene diversity value = 0.4. According to G(ST) results, a high proportion of genetic diversity (95-99%) is found within populations. A relatively high genetic differentiation was found among altitudinal population pairs in both transect. Also, data on quantitative traits (total height and/or diameter) at different ages (13, 17, 30 years) were compared with molecular data. There are similarities between the results obtained from RAPD markers and those obtained from the quantitative traits. The differentiation in quantitative traits appears to be due to local adaptation of populations. Data suggest that priority should be given to the selection of material based on geographic origin along the altitudinal gradients of P. brutia populations to conserve the genetic resource of species.