Comparative Analysis of Variability of Mitochondrial DNA Markers in Scots Pine

The experience of using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) markers for population genetic studies of Pinus sylvestris L. throughout the range indicates the need to use a large number of these markers to identify the structure of variability in the eastern part of the range. We investigated the variability of nine mtDNA markers in 17 southern and eastern populations of Scots pine. These markers were previously used to study the phylogeography of Scots pine and were expected to detect variability in a number of southern and eastern populations of Scots pine that are not variable in other mtDNA markers. However, our study did not reveal any variability in these areas.