PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION OF GENETIC VARIATION WITHIN AND BETWEEN CULTIVATED AND NATURAL POPULATIONS OF BANKSIA COCCINEA AND BANKSIA MENZIESII

The randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique followed by analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) was used to determine the level of variation within and between commercial plantations of Banksia coccinea R.Br. and B. menziesii R.Br. in South Australia and natural populations in Western Australia. For B. coccinea, the majority of variation was within populations (66.1%), while between all populations accounted for 20.8%. The variation between cultivated and natural populations was 13.2%. There was close clustering between the cultivated populations, which appeared to be most closely related to the inland natural populations. In contrast, the variation between cultivated and natural populations for B. menziesii was 0.4% with the majority of the variation within populations (93.2%) and 6.4% between all populations. The cultivated and natural populations formed a single cohesive cluster. These data indicate that the full range of natural genetic diversity of B. menziesii appears to occur in the cultivated plantations, but this was not the case for B. coccinea.