Genic variabilities in natural population of haploid plant, Conocephalum conicum. I. The amount of heterozygosity.

Abstract

The amount of genetic variability expected in natural populations is different for diploid and haploid organisms under most selection models: diploid organisms are expected to be more polymorphic. I examined several natural Japanese populations of haploid moss, Conocephalum conicum by starch gel electrophoresis. Seven enzyme loci out of 11 examined turned out to be polymorphic. The average heterozygosity at the 11 loci was 0.167. This value is almost identical to those obtained in diploid organisms of various sources. Moreover, abundant genic variability was found within a local population, indicating the prevalence of sexual reproduction in natural populations of this species. The equality of genic variability between diploid and haploid organisms is most easily explained by the selective neutrality of allozyme polymorphisms, though other possibilities are not excluded from the present data alone.