ABSTRACT
The species in the Davidsonia genus, commonly called Davidson's plums, are important edible fruit crops for the Australian native food industry and are also of conservation concern, because two of the three species in the genus are endangered. The reproductive system in D. jerseyana was found to be predominantly self-fertilising. A progeny array analysis was conducted on the progeny from two mature mother trees, growing approximately two metres apart. The trees were grown in cultivation and were from genetically distinct populations. The results of the genetic analysis of natural populations also support self-fertilisation in this species. Within natural populations, there were very few polymorphic loci, almost all individuals were homozygous and most of the genetic variation was found among rather than within populations. Germplasm contains the underlying natural genetic variation in a species, and it is important to conserve, characterise and make available as much of this natural variation as possible through germplasm collections.
