The use of cotyledon proteins to assess the genetic diversity in sweet holm oak

Abstract

Sweet holm oak (Quercus ilex ssp. ballota Desf. Samp.) is an important broad-leaved tree spread in the Mediterranean basin. In Spain, few studies on the genetic variability of this species have been displayed. Storage seed proteins are a useful tool in the evaluation of the genetic variability of many species. The objective of this study was to analyze the usefulness of cotyledon proteins as markers of the genetic diversity in sweet holm oak. The evaluated populations were highly polymorphic for the glutelins, being detected up to 32 polymorphic bands with a wide distribution among all them. Considering all evaluated populations, about 35.8% of the total allelic variation was distributed among populations. This method of analysis of cotyledon storage proteins (glutelins) could be considered an additional tool for the evaluation of genetic diversity in this species.

Keywords

• seed storage proteins
• genetic resources
• sweet holm oak