Genetic Divergence and Isozyme Number Variation Among Four Varieties of Allium Douglasii (Alliaceae)

Allium douglasii comprises four, allopatric varieties confined to the northwestern United States: var. columbianum , var. constrictum , var. douglasii , and var. nevii. Although no apparent karyotypic differences distinguish the four taxa, evidence from starch gel electrophoresis indicates that they are very distinct at genes coding for enzymes. The mean genetic identity for pairwise comparisons of populations of all four varieties is 0.84. This value is lower than identity values generally observed for subspecific taxa, and may be indicative of a long period of geographic separation and subsequent lack of gene flow among the varieties. However, a higher genetic identity of 0.93 was observed between var. constrictum and var. columbianum relative to other varietal comparisons. In addition, var. constrictum exhibited two biochemical autapomorphies: 1) loss of expression for the gene coding for Tpi‐3 , and 2) duplication or reactivation of an ADH gene. These data indicate that var. constrictum may be a recent derivative of var. columbianum. The distribution of genetic variation within and among populations of the putative progenitor/derivative pair also supports this hypothesis.