Variation in allele frequencies in the outcross pollen pool of eucalyptus regnans F. Muell. throughout a flowering season

Abstract

Individual trees within a stand of Eucalyptus regnans were found to vary in fecundity and time of flowering. Allele frequencies at three enzyme loci were estimated for the outcross pollen pool taking these differences into account, and were found to vary with time. These frequencies were compared to those estimated using methods that assume allele frequencies in outcross pollen pools are constant throughout a flowering season. For times when the bulk of trees were in flower the allele frequencies estimated by all methods were similar, but early and late in the season they differed dependent on the genotypes of the trees in flower. The demonstrated temporal heterogeneity of allele frequencies did not have a major effect on single locus, maximum likelihood estimates of the level of outcrossing in this population. © 1987, The Genetical Society of Great Britain.