Genetic divergence of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) populations in Serbia revealed by RAPD

Abstract

The ability of random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) to distinguish among Scots pine populations from Serbia was evaluated. Sixteen arbitrary 10-mer primers employed in the analysis produced 54 fragments of which 21 were polymorphic (38.89%). Certain rare and genotype-specific bands were identified which could be effectively used to distinguish between the populations. Polymorphism in RAPD markers among P. sylvestris populations was high and sufficient to distinguish each of the populations. The results obtained suggest that RAPD markers are valuable for the genetic divergence estimation in Pinus sylvestris and for the study of divergence among populations.