Evaluation of genetic diversity in Pistacia lentiscus L. (Anacardiaceae) from the southern Iberian Peninsula and North Africa using RAPD assay. Implications for reafforestation policy

Abstract

9 RAPD primers were used to investigate the genetic diversity of Pistacia lentiscus in populations from SE and S Spain and from Morocco. A total of 135 amplification products were obtained with 115 (85%) polymorphic bands. Dice's similarity coefficient, UPGMA clustering, and analysis of the principal coordinates show that the Moroccan populations are genetically very distant from the Spanish populations (p <0.001). Plants from SE and S Spain are genetically similar (p <0.05). As a consequence, it is recommended that North African plants should be excluded from reafforestation projects in Spain in favor of autochthonous plants.