DNA-FINGERPRINTING SUPPORTS NOTIONS OF CLONALITY IN A RARE MALLEE, EUCALYPTUS-ARGUTIFOLIA

DNA fingerprinting was used to test for genetic variation within putat ive clones of Eucalyptus argutifolia, a rare multistemmed (mallee) spe cies endemic to Western Australia. Hybridization of the M13 repeat seq uence to HaeIII digested DNA samples was able to discriminate between seedlings from the same maternal plant, demonstrating the capability o f this probe in detecting different individuals of this species. Each of the putative clones yielded a unique banding pattern, but no variat ion was found within clones. These results are consistent with the not ion of clonality in E. argutifolia and reaf-firm that populations are likely to contain considerably fewer individuals than originally antic ipated.