Estimation of the mating system and genetic contamination a clonal seed orchard of Pinus brutia ten. in Asar-Antalya

ABSTRACT ESTIMATION OF THE MATING SYSTEM AND GENETIC CONTAMINATION IN A CLONAL SEED ORCHARD OF PINUSBRUTIA TEN. INASAR-ANTALYA Nuray KAYA Ph. D. Thesis in Biology Advisor: Prof. Dr. Kani IŞIK October 2001, xii + 81 Pages The aim of this study is to estimate patterns of mating system and pollen contamination level in a 11 year-old Turkish red pine (Pinus brutia Ten.) clonal seed orchard, located in Asar, Antalya, with the aid of isozyme markers. Isozyme analysis was performed on both maternal and embryo tissues of seeds collected from seed orchard and two neighboring natural populations (Population A and Population B). Fourteen loci encoding nine enzyme systems were analyzed. Genotypes of each of the 28 clones in the seed orchard were determined based on studies on the banding patterns of meğagametophyte tissues of seeds sampled from each clone. As expected, each of the 28 clones in the seed orchard had different genotypes. Yet, six percent of the 84 ramets studied in the seed orchard were not belong to the clones that they are supposed to be. Based on a multilocus estimator, the proportion of viable seeds originating from outcrossing (tm) was found to be 0.947. In other words, selfing in the seed orchard was estimated to be 5.3%. We estimated that 85.7% of the outcrossing was due to pollen contamination from outside of the seed orchard, and 9% of the outcrossing was due to cross pollination among the clones within the seed orchard. Therefore, the estimated proportion of seeds resulting from pollen contamination (pollination by non-orchard sources) was quite high (m=85.7%). This level of pollen contamination is expected to reduce predicted genetic gains in the seed orchard crop by 43%. mKEY WORDS: Mating system, pollen contamination, gene migration, Pinus brutia, isozyme COMMITTEE: Prof. Dr. Kani IŞIK Prof. Dr. Fatih TOPÇUO?LU Prof. Dr. Ibrahim UZUN Prof. Dr. Mustafe GÖKÇEO?LU Prof. Dr. Musa GENÇ iv