CHLOROPLAST HAPLOTYPE DIVERSITY IN LOBLOLLY PINE

Forest Biotechnology Group, Department of Forestry, 6113 Jordan Hall, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-8008 USA

Gene diversity was estimated for 20 chloroplast microsatellite loci in loblolly pine. The gene diversity for 8 loci ranged from 0.2 to 0.6. The gene diversity for the remaining loci was less than 0.05. The variants all involved a series of single nucleotide differences that were challenging to score accurately. The 8 moderately variable loci defined a multilocus haplotype. The haplotype diversity was 0.96. We used the high level of haplotype diversity to estimate a pollen contamination level of 0.36 in a seed orchard crop. There was significant differentiation between allele frequencies in the Atlantic Coastal Plain and western provenances.