RAPDs were used to confirm clonal fidelity and distinguish individuals
of varying degrees of relationship in Eucalyptus globulus. RAPD varia
tion was examined amongst ramets derived from 10 ortets which were eit
her Full-sibs, half-sibs, or unrelated, as well as heir parents. Genet
ic similarity amongst samples was calculated from 117 RAPD bands using
the simple matching coefficient. RAPD variation within clones was tri
vial compared to the variation found even between full-sib clones. Gen
etic similarity decreased with pedigree distance. The pedigree of the
material was successfully displayed by UPGMA clustering of the genetic
similarity matrix, with parents generally clustering with their offsp
ring. In a second experiment, 120 RAPD bands allowed the successful di
scrimination of selfs from their intra- and interprovenance half-sib o
utcrosses and again genetic similarity decreased with pedigree distanc
e. These results clearly indicate that RAPDs have great potential for
estimation of outcrossing rates and pedigree analysis.