Phenetics, Population structure and pine genetic fund preserving

Vidyakin A.I.

The Biology Institute of Komi Scientific Centre of the Ural Department of the Science Academy of Russia, Russia, ecolab@vshu.Kiriv.ru

The preservation of the genetic fund of forest wood plants is the most acute problem nowadays.

Its salvation largely depends on the degree of investigation of the species population-chronological structure. The investigation of this structure is being interfered with by the necessity of many features-markers analysis of a large quantity of examples. The reason of that is determined by1) large habitats and considerable heterogeneity of environmental circumstances within these habitats; 2) diversity of forms of inner-species variability and gradual, step-by-step investigation of them. The investigation of many scores and hundreds of examples with the help of molecule-genetic markers requires much effort and finance. That is why alongside with this methods we should elaborate and test traditional approaches to the species population structure investigation with the help of phenotype markers that include the methods of phenetics.

The main problem of Phenetics consists in investigation and identification of phenes. With pine as an example we have worked out the methodic of their identification and tested it. With this methodic the genes of generative sphere were pointed out, the marked by them levels of structural organization of the species were established, variability of phenes within a habitat was investigated, the population structure was found out and different measures aiming at preservation of the genetic fund were worked out.

The essence of this methodic is in the fact that complex symptoms, individually characterized by continuous changeability, are dividable into more simple symptoms, discrete variations among them. The discrete variations are to be investigated in the future taking into consideration changeability in course of time, they are investigated within one tree, a clone, within adjoining contrasted forests different in type. The stable discrete symptoms of phenes were considered. To find out structural organization of the species which is marked by the phenes and other rigidly pre-determined genotypic symptoms, we analyzed their density in the adjoining districts of a dead wood and a bog, where there are two different populations of pine formed. Thus we found out that on the border of the bog and the dead wood the frequency of one group of symptoms changes, of the other – remains stable.

The phenes-markers of population level in pine structural organization are the first level of seed colour is grey and brown, the second level is of one colour, spotted, the third level is very inconspicuous; micro-strobiles are yellow and red; the stroboles are with front and hind type of apophesis development; the colour of strobiles is grey-green, brown, fawn. The markers of the first over-population level are the indexes of strobile form, the form of the bottom and the front part of the apothesis; the markers of the second level are the quantity of seed-lobes, the form of seed wing, the form of seeds.

It has been found out that the population-chronological structure of pine is a three-level hierarchy system that includes populations, groups of populations, migration complexes. The borders of the populations coincide with the borders of physic-geographic districts. Groups of populations occupy large forms of landscape – highlands, lowlands, planes, big rivers terraces. Migration complexes cross several natural zones.

The population-chronology structure is the basis of keeping gene-fond of every definite population as well as of the species on the whole. We must 1) contribute to natural renew of forest fell, 2) optimize the programs of plus selection as well as the percentage of forests grown from selection and non-selection seeds, 3) organize one gene-reservation at least within each population.