Genetic diversity and differentiation through isozymes in natural populations of Pinus wallichiana A.B. Jacks (Blue Pine) in India

Eighteen natural populations of Pinus wallichiana A.B. Jacks. (Blue Pine) occurring in the Northwest Himalayas of India were studied on the basis of ten enzyme systems, representing 16 isozyme loci. Allele frequencies, genetic multiplicity, diversity and genetic differentiation values are presented. A marked allele frequency difference was found in different populations. The mean number of alleles per locus was 1.79, with a range from 1.56 to 2.06, and the gene pool diversity varied from 1.11 to 1.20. Out of 46 alleles 11 (23%) appear to be rare. Of the 16 isozyme loci scored, 14 (87.5 %) were polymorphic, based on the 99% criterion. Only the loci Pgm-A and Idh-A were found to be monomorphic in all the populations. The percentage of polymorphic loci ranged from 37.5% to 68.7575% among populations. Nei’s genetic distance ranged from 1.7% to 11%. The results show that natural populations of Pinus wallichiana in India contain an appreciableamount of genetic variation (P99 = 53.4%, Ho = 0.152, He = 0.14545) comparable to other pines (on average P99 = 52, H0 = 0.159, He = 0.159).