ISHS Acta Horticulturae 457: Symposium on Plant Biotechnology as a tool for the Exploitation of Mountain Lands
GENETIC VARIABILITY OF FOREST TREE SPECIES IN NORTH-WESTERN ITALY |
| Author: | P. Belletti |
| Keywords: | Fagus sylvatica, Larix decidua, genetic diversity |
| Abstract:
Genetic erosion is one of the most serious problems which threatens the survival of forest ecosystems all over the world. Among the more sensitive areas, an important role is played by the mountain regions, where the unfavourable climate and orography make the environment particularly delicate. A large genetic variability is essential to guarantee a good adaptability to populations, as the forest ones, consisting of individuals with very long life-cycle and unable to move to more favourable sites. In order to apply any program aimed at bio-diversity preservation, it is essential to deep the knowledge on amount, structure and distribution of existing genetic variability. In this field, it is necessary to emphasise the very low amount of available information related to forest tree species, mainly in Italy. A research project has been carried out at the University of Turin (DI.VA.P.R.A.), aimed at studying the genetic variability of several forest species (among which European beech and European larch), by means of allozyme variation. The aim of the research is also the identification of the most valuable stands for production of high quality seed: it is well-known that high levels of genetic variation and heterozygosity of populations are associated with adaptative ability and therefore with survival capacity of the populations. Only 4.4 (beech) and 2.6% (larch) of the observed genetic diversity was due to differentiation among populations, and the mean value of genetic distances was 0.014 (beech) and 0.011 (larch). The low interpopulation variability suggests the presence of single gene pools and a lack of barriers to gene flow between populations. | |
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