Molecular Analysis of White Birch (Betula papyrifera Marsh.) Populations From Northern Ontario (Canada).

The Greater Sudbury Region (Ontario) is one of the most ecologically disturbed areas of Canada.  This is due to previously uncontrolled emissions released from smelters and roast yards.  The harmful effects of heavy metal contamination on plants are still seen 'til this day.  Recent advances in molecular marker systems have lead to the ability to measure genetic variation within populations of the same species.  In this study, the genetic variation of white birch (Betula papyrifera Marsh.) from the Greater Sudbury Region was measured using Inter-Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR).  Results indicate that genetic variation in white birch from the Greater Sudbury Region is low to moderate.  The percent of polymorphic loci ranged from 24.25 to 56.29%.  Shannon and Nei’s indices ranged from 0.0625 to 0.1455 and 0.0985 to 0.2288.  The G_ST was 0.3755 indicating that 37.55% of the genetic variation was due to the differences among populations.  Three population specific markers were identified, ranging from 400bp – 1840bp.  These fragments were cloned and sequenced.  Details of molecular characterization will be discussed.