IDENTIFICATION OF PINUS MERKUSII LANDRACE BELONGING TO KERINCI - WEST SUMATRA, INDONESIA, USING SEQUENCE-RELATED AMPLIFIED POLYMORPHISM (SRAP) TECHNIQUE

Pinus merkusii is a potential wood that naturally grows in Central Sumatra (Kerinci) and North Sumatra (Aceh and Tapanuli), Indonesia. The Kerinci landrace has a different morphology from the other two Sumatran Pinus landraces, namely, Aceh and Tapanuli, but its placement is at the same taxonomic level. Hence, additional characters need evaluation to validate taxa on P. merkusii landrace belonging to Kerinci. This study aims to identify differences in genetic characters between Kerinci and Aceh (Rao and TAHURA [Taman Hutan Raya]) landraces using SRAP for long-term use and future conservation. DNA extraction ran from the leaves of 24 individual trees belonging to three populations of P. merkusii, i.e., one naturally occurring population in Kerinci and the two cultivated populaces found in Rao and TAHURA, Indonesia. Using seven SRAP combination primers, the analysis revealed an immense variety of alleles (bands). Overall, the amplification produced 62 bands, with nine, on average, per primary pair. However, most bands were polymorphic (91.79%), and only 0.57% were monomorphic. With 45% informative bands, the Kerinci landrace has the highest band variation. A combination of primer C (Me1 + Em3) at 900 bp and primer I (Me3 + Em1) at 1050 bp band size indicated specific bands that served as molecular characteristics. A crucial molecular characteristic distinguishes the landraces of P. merkusii found in Kerinci and other populations in Rao and TAHURA, Indonesia. The study revealed superior genetic variation among the P. merkusii populations evaluated.