Relationships among spruces (Picea A. Dietr., Pinaceae) of the Russian Far East

To estimate genetic relationships between spruces of the Russian Far East, the genetic differentiation in twenty-one populations of Picea ajanensis, P. microsperma, P. komarovii, P. kamtchatkensis, P. obovata, P. koraiensis and P. glehnii was studied. Nei's (1978) genetic distance values based on 20 isozyme loci were low within and between the mainland and Sakhalin populations of P. ajanensis, P. microsperma, and P. komarovii and do not warrant their taxonomic recognition within P. jezoensis. Higher values were revealed between the P. jezoensis and P. kamtchatkensis populations and between the P. obovata and P. koraiensis populations studied. The highest levels of genetic differentiation were revealed among P. glehnii, P. jezoensis P. kamtchatkensis and P. obovata-P. koraiensis and each of the species was clearly separated by the UPGMA and NJ methods of clustering. The UPGMA dendrogram was largely in agreement with the morphological classification while the NJ dendrogram was in agreement with crossability between spruces.