Plant Diversity ›› 1998, Vol. 20 ›› Issue (01): 1-3.

• Articles •    

The Genetic Diversity of Castanea mollissima and the Effect of Artificial Selection

ZHANG Hui,LIU Liu   

  1. The Research Institute of Forestry, The Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijiang 100091;Jiangsu Institute of Botany, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjiang 210014
  • Online:1998-02-25 Published:1998-02-25

Abstract: Allozyme genetic variability in 9 populations of Castanea molltaima was investigated using starch gel electrophoresis at 12 loci coding for 11 enzyme systems. The level of genetic polymorphismand population differentiation was greater in C mollissima than was usual for an outbreeding species, with the proportion of polymorphic loci (P) 71 .3 %, average number of alleles (A) 2.27, average expected heterozygosity (He) 0.346. About 89.3% of the total genetic variation was partitioned within populations. The Nei's genetic distance ranged from 0.010- 0. 177. Excep;for these, a principal components analysis of the data based on allelic frequencies revealed a spa-tial pattern of genetic variability in Chinese chestnut and provide some data about selecting enzyme marker. Based on previous research, the effect of artificial selection on the genetic diversi-ty of C. mollissima was also studied and it could be inferred that the southwest area of China was the possible center of the genetic diversity.

Key words: Castanea moltheima