Areškevičienė, R., Žvingila, D., Gabrilavičius, R. and Kuusienė, S. 2005. The Estimation of Genetic Diversity within and between Lithuanian Populations of Norway Spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) by using RAPD. Baltic Forestry, 11 (2): 2-8

The genetic diversity and genetic differentiation of eight Lithuanian populations of Norway spruce (Picea abies(L.) Karst.) were studied using random amplified polymorphic DNA method. Seven random oligonucleotide primers produced 74 scorable fragments. Differences in the level of DNA polymorphism among populations were established. Out of the 74 amplified loci scored, 69 (93.2%) were polymorphic among all studied populations. The highest RAPD polymorphism (79.73%) and observed number of alleles (1.8) was obtained for Alytus population, but the highest effective number of alleles (1.453), Shanon’s index (0.391) and Nei’s gene diversity (0.262) were found for Telsiai population. According to Nei’s genetic distances the most geneticaly close are Dubrava and Rokiskis populations, whereas the most distant - Rokiskis and Plunge. The results showed the high intra-populational (90.35%) and comparatively low inter-populational (9.65%) genetic variation. The average number of migrants per generation (Nm) among populations was 4.7.

Key words: RAPD, Picea abies, population, genetic diversity