RAPD markers of mitochondrial origin exhibit lower population diversity and higher differentiation than RAPDs of nuclear origin in Douglas fir

We developed a method of screening RAPD markers for the presence of organelle DNA products using enriched organelle DNA probes, then used these markers to compare the structure of nuclear and mitochondrial RAPD diversity in Douglas fir. Of 237 screened RAPD fragments from 25 primers, 16% were identified as originating in the mitochondrial genome and 3% in the chloroplast genome. The mitochondrial DNA probe correctly distinguished fragments with known maternal inheritance (which is exclusive for the mitochondrial genome in the Pinaceae), and neither of the organelle probes hybridized to biparentally inherited fragments. Mitochondrial RAPD markers exhibited low diversity within populations compared to nuclear RAPD diversity (HS = 0.03 and 0.22, respectively), but were much more highly differentiated than were fragments of nuclear origin at both the population (GST = 0.18 and 0.05, respectively) and racial levels (GST = 0.72 and 0.25, respectively). Both nuclear and mitochondrial DNA based phylogenetic analyses identified the varieties as monophyletic groups; the nuclear RAPD markers further separated the north and south interior races.