Genetic Differentiation of Jack Pine (Pinus banksiana) and Red Pine (P. resinosa) Populations From Metal Contaminated Areas in Northern Ontario (Canada) Using ISSR Markers

Abstract

Abstract Metal accumulation in soil and plant tissues has caused severe ecological damage in forest ecosystems in the Sudbury region. The main objective of the present study was to determine the levels of genetic diversity in jack and red pine populations growing in metal contaminated and uncontaminated areas. Newly introduced populations were compared to 40 to 60 old populations. For jack pine, the percentage of polymorphic loci (P %) ranged from 14.6% to 45.8% with a mean of 31.6%. Nei’s gene diversity (h) varied from 0.046 to 0.169 with an average of 0.100, and Shannon’s index (I) ranged from 0.070 to 0.250 with an average of 0.153. The level of genetic variation was much lower in the red pine populations. For this species, the level of polymorphic loci varied from 4.55% to 27.27%. The mean for Nei’s gene diversity and Shannon’s information index, were 0.034 and 0.053, respectively. The highest genetic diversity values were observed in new plantations being developed by the Sudbury reforestation program. Overall, the genetic distance among the Pinus banksiana populations revealed that all the populations analyzed were genetically close to each other. There was no association between metal accumulation and genetic diversity for both species.