MICROSATELLITE POLYMORPHISMS IN NATURAL-POPULATIONS OF ARABIDOPSIS-THALIANA IN JAPAN

Microsatellite polymorphisms of Arabidopsis thaliana were surveyed for 29 loci using 12 Japanese natural populations as material. All the in dividuals examined were homozygous at all the microsatellite loci. Alt hough there was considerable variation among populations, no intra-pop ulation polymorphism was detected in three selected populations when e ight loci were studied. The microsatellites examined proved to be a su itable genetic marker for studying the genetic variation among natural populations of Arabidopsis thaliana. To compare the genetic similarit y and infer the evolutionary relationships among populations, neighbor -joining trees were constructed on the basis of distance matrices calc ulated by two different methods. Genetic relationships among the popul ations as revealed in the trees do not necessarily correspond to their geographic relationships. This may reflect their different origins or different times of introduction into the Islands of Japan.