AOBPreview originally published online on June 26, 2003
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Annals of Botany 92: 223-230, 2003
© 2003 Annals of Botany Company
Allozyme Variation in Endangered Castanea pumila var. pumila
1 Department of Horticulture, Auburn University, AL 36849, USA
* For correspondence. E-mail fdane{at}acesag.auburn.edu
Present address: Department of Entomology, Texas A & M University, College Station, TX 77843-2475, USA.
Received: 14 February 2002; Returned for revision: 22 July 2002; Accepted: 6 May 2003 Published electronically: 26 June 2003
Allozyme genetic variation in 12 populations of the endangered Castanea pumila var. pumila (Allegheny chinkapin), sampled across the natural range of the species in the United States, was evaluated using 11 loci from seven enzyme systems. At the species level, the percentage of polymorphic loci (Ps) was 72·7 %, the mean number of alleles per locus (As) was 1·9, the mean number of alleles per polymorphic locus (APs) was 2·3, the effective number of alleles per locus (Aes) was 1·5 and the genetic diversity (Hes) was 0·296. At the population level, Pp = 49·2 %, Ap = 1·5, Aep = 1·4, APp = 2·1 and Hep = 0·21. Most of the allozyme variation (70 %) in C. pumila var. pumila occurred within populations. Wrights gene flow rate [Nm(W)] was as low as 0·57. Population differentiation along the species range was not detected. Populations of C. pumila var. pumila in Florida had the most variable levels of genetic diversity, but populations in Virginia and Mississippi also showed high levels. Based on the results of this study, conservation management strategies are discussed.
Key words: Allozyme, Allegheny chinkapin, Castanea pumila var. pumila, gene flow, genetic diversity, population structure, conservation.