Investigation of inter- and intra- population genetic diversity of Buxus hyrcana in forests of north of Iran using RAPD molecular markers

To investigation inter- and intra- population genetic diversity, three natural populations of Buxus hyrcana (Pojark.) in north of Iran (viz. Chashmeh Bolbol in Bandar Gaz, Sisangan in Nowshahr and Gharnabad in Gorgan) were investigated using RAPD markers. Results showed that there was a relatively desirable genetic variation among populations, ranging from 22.9% in Gharnabad`s poppulation (Gorgan) to 28.3% in Siasngan`s population (Nowshahr); Contribution of intra-population gene diversity in overall genetic diversity was estimated higher than inter-population gene diversity (90% vs. 10%). Also Investigation of Nei's genetic similarity coefficient showed that three studied populations had a high genetic similarity (between 92.9 to 96.2%). Least and highest genetic distances (3.9% and 7.4%, respectively) were observed between Bandar Gaz's and Nowshahr's populations, and between Gorgan's and Nowshahr's populations, that was confirmed by UPGMA-based cluster analysis. Investigation of Hardy-Winberg genetic equilibrium of populations showed that there were equilibrium at most loci, although there wasn't allelic equilibrium at some loci in some or all populations; highest genetic disequilibrium was observed for Gorgan`s population, probably due to decreasing genetic resources, It suggests that this habitat must be added to the list of Buxus hyrcana reservers. Altogether, on the basis of results of this research, it could be concluded that RAPD markers are efficient and reliable markers for studying the population genetic of Buxus hyrcana species in forests of North of Iran.