Plant Genetic Resources

Table of Contents - 2009 - Volume 7, Issue 02  

Research Article

Efficiency of three DNA markers in revealing genetic variation among wild Cajanus species

Rupakula Arunaa1 c1, D. Manohar Raoa2, S. Sivaramakrishnana3, L. Janardhan Reddya1, Paula Bramela4 and Hari Upadhyayaa1

a1 International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Patancheru 502 324, India

a2 Department of Genetics, Osmania University, Hyderabad 500 007, Andhra Pradesh, India

a3 Department of Biotechnology, Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University, Hyderabad 500 030, Andhra Pradesh, India

a4 International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, PMB 5320 Ibadan, Nigeria

Abstract

Wild relatives of pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan L.) possess many useful genes that can be utilized for crop improvement, most importantly genes for resistance to Helicoverpa armigera, the legume pod borer. The present study aimed at quantifying diversity in a collection of Cajanus scarabaeoides, Cajanus sericeus, Cajanus reticulatus and C. cajan species selected from a wide geographic range using two PCR-based marker systems, amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) and simple sequence repeats (SSRs), and the hybridization-based restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). Polymorphism was higher among the wild accessions than among the cultivated genotypes. Wild and cultivated Cajanus accessions belonging to different species clustered into four distinct major groups largely based on the interspecific differences. C. scarabaeoides accessions derived from same geographical origins formed one group reflecting similar genetic makeup of these accessions. Dendrograms generated using AFLP, RFLP and SSR marker data were comparable with minor clustering differences, which suggests that either method, or a combination of both can be applied to expanded genetic studies in Cajanus. Mantel testing confirmed the congruence between the genetic distances of three markers, indicating that the markers segregated independently, giving similar grouping patterns of all accessions having similar genetic origin.

(Received June 19 2008)

(Accepted August 01 2008)

(Online publication September 09 2008)

Key Words:

Correspondence:

c1 Corresponding author. E-mail: a.rupakula@cgiar.org

0Comments
Related Content