STUDIES ON GENETIC VARIABILITY OF THE SPECIES FRITILLARIA MELEAGRIS IN WESTERN ROMANIA.

Fritillaria meleagris species is found in several locations in Romania, but the geographical areas are shrinking and the population become smaller. In western Romania, the species is found in the protected area "Meadow Pogonici". The study aimed at assessing the genetic variability of the species Fritiliaria meleagris in this area. For the evaluation of the genotypic variability, were used RAPD molecular markers. Using the five RAPD molecular primer allowed the classification of plants by the average cluster method. The plants studied are grouped into four main clusters, which have a similarity of about 61%. The first cluster is composed of plants between that there is a similarity average of about 68%. The second cluster is composed of three subclusters, which have a diversity of 32%. A special case is a plant that show a allelic diversity about 49%, to the rest of the plants included in the study. These studies show that the population presented genetic variability, with the possibility of of maintaining even if the population is reduced in number. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]