[Age dynamics of genetic variation in an isolated population of chalk pine Pinus sylvestris var. cretacea Kalenicz. ex Kom. from Donbass].

Based on analysis of variation at ten allozyme loci in three age groups (25-35, 40-80, and more than 100 years of age) of plants and in seed embryos, demographic dynamics of the gene pools was studied in a small (60.5 ha) isolated relict population of chalk pine Pinus sylvestris var. cretacea Kalenicz. ex Kom. from the steppe zone of Ukraine. The observed grenotype proportions in these tree groups were shown to fit Hardy-Weinberg expectations, while in the embryos of their seeds, an excess of homozygotes was observed at five to nine loci. The mean observed heterozygosity in the sample of old (> 100 years of age) trees (H(O) = 0.225) was substantially lower than in trees of the two other age groups (H(O) = 0.307; 0.311), but significantly higher than in the corresponding embryo samples (H(O) = 0.183-0.207). No allele and genotype heterogeneity of the maternal trees and embryos of their seeds was found. However, heterogeneity was high when the progeny of trees of different ages, particularly in pairs with old trees, were compared.