Allozyme differentiation and phylogeny of cedar species

The isozyme variation patterns of 21 populations belonging to four Cedar species (Cedrus libani, C. atlantica, C. deodara, C. brevifolia) were studied at six loci (6PGD-B, LAP-A, LAP-B, IDH-A, DIA-A, PGI-B) by horizontal starch and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Species specific alleles (DIA-A1 and LAP-Al for C. deodara, IDH-A1 for C. atlantica, LAP-A3 for C. libani and C. brevifolia) and alleles with a particular geographic variation pattern (6PGD-B4 for C. libani) were detected in most of the species. Great variation was observed in heterozygosity levels among species which ranged from 0.136 (C. deodara) to 0.316 (C. brevifolia). The construction of a dendrogram revealed five distinct clusters corresponding to the following taxa: i) C. libani ssp, libani, ii) C. libani ssp. skenocoma, iii) C. libani ssp. brevifolia, iv) C. deodara, v) C. atlantica.