Evaluation of genetic polymorphism of the Quercus robur L. population in the old-growth oak grove of the Main Botanical Garden named after N. V. Tsitsin of Russian Academy of Sciences based on ISSR analysis method

The oak grove of the Main Botanical Garden named after N. V. Tsitsin has been known since 1731. From 1743 to 1917, it was the property of the Sheremetev counts. Some information from literary sources suggests that some of the oak ands may be of artificial origin. The aim of this study was to assess the genetic diversity of Quercus robur in the oak grove ecosystem on the territory of the Main Botanical Garden of the Russian Academy of Sciences and to establish genetic relationships with samples from the central regions of the European part of Russia. The ISSR analysis method as used to characterize the polymorphism of Q. robur samples. The analysis of genetic relationships using UPGMA and principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) clustering methods revealed the genetic isolation of samples from the Vladimir and Ryazan regions relative to samples from the Main Botanical Garden of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Tver, Tula, Voronezh and Lipetsk regions. The indices of genetic polymorphism in the formed population in the oak grove ecosystem on the territory of the Main Botanical Garden of the Russian Academy of Sciences have the following values: effective number of alleles (Ne) 1.480 ± 0.042; genetic diversity index (I) 0.455 ± 0.024; expected heterozygosity (He) 0.294 ± 0.020. The specified parameters can be considered the starting point for genetic monitoring of the population.