Chronic irradiation as an ecological factor affecting genetic population structure

Genetic structure of two Centaurea scabiosa L. populations was studied by frequency distribution of leucine aminopeptidase (LAP) locus genotypes. The experimental population has been growing under conditions of chronic irradiation, with the dose per generation amounting to 1.2 to 25.5 Gy. In it, mutational variants are observed with a frequency of 5.4.10(-3)-4.5.10(-2) per generation (as compared to control population frequency at 5.4.10(-4)). Indexes for heterozygosity, mean number of genotypes, and effective number of alleles were higher in the experimental population. Segregation analysis revealed no differences in viability in the control population, and all genotypic combinations were found to be nearly neutral. In the experimental population, however, significant differences in relative viability of the genotypes were disclosed. The relative viability of heterozygotes for mutant allele C' was nearly maximum, while heterozygotes for other mutant alleles showed minimum viability. We reach the conclusion that the differences in genetic structure of the populations under investigation can be explained by the chronic irradiation factor that brought out differences in adaptability of both normal and mutant genotypes. The suggestion is that intra-locus interactions of the C' allele with normal alleles determine plant resistance to a wide range of unfavorable environmental conditions