Genetic variation and differentiation of Abies alba Mill. populations from Ukrainian Carpathians

Using electrophoretic analysis of 11 enzyme systems, we studied the genetic structure and differentiation of eight natural populations of silver fir Abies alba Mill. in the Ukrainian Carpathians. Of 24 isozyme loci identified, 66.8% proved to be polymorphic. The mean numbers of alleles and genotypes per locus in the populations were respectively 3.1 and 4.5. Each A. alba tree was on average heterozygous at 15.9% of genes. In six populations, the genotypic distribution for all of the loci examined corresponded to Hardy-Weinberg proportions. The populations studied had low levels of subdivision (F(ST) = 0.018; GST = 0.019) and differentiation. Nei's genetic distances between the A. alba populations in the region ranged from 0.002 to 0.009, being on average 0.006.