Genetic Variation in Natural and Cultivated Populations of Primula Veris

Primula veris, a well-known pharmaceutical plant, is a long-lived perennial protected by law in Poland, so its rhizomes and roots can be collected as pharmaceutical stock only from cultivation. Genetic variation of three natural P. veris populations numbering 500–1200 individuals and of three cultivated populations derived from seeds collected from natural sites was investigated in respect of two enzyme systems: phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6PGD) and diaphorase (DIA). Four presumptive loci were identified from these two enzyme systems. In 6PGD, only one (6PGD-2) of two detected loci was polymorphic, consisting of three alleles a, b and c. Each of two electrophoretically detected loci in DIA was polymorphic and had two alleles. Comparison of the cultivated and natural populations revealed slight differentiation in the presence and composition of genotypes for 6PGD-2, while for DIA all populations except one preserved the same set of genotypes. Mean values of the polymorphism index for three loci ranged from 0.239 to 0.345 for natural populations and from 0.303 to 0.446 for cultivated populations, indicating that cultivated populations were more polymorphic than natural ones. The level of heterozygosity in the examined populations was very low. Mean values for Ho calculated for three polymorphic loci ranged from 0.033 to 0.056. The observed low heterozygosity level was confirmed by high values of Wright’s fixation index, ranging from 0.798 to 0.910.