Genetic Diversity of Agropyron pectiniforme by Morphological Traits and RAPD Markers

This study was conducted to analyze genetic diversity in 15 natural populations of Iranian Agropyron pectiniforme using morphological traits and RAPDs (Random Amplification of Polymorphic DNA) molecular markers. Five primers out of the 10 were highly polymorphic and produced 128 polymorphic bands ranging in length of 500 to 2200 bp. According to AMOVA (Analysis of Molecular Variance) results, there was higher genetic variation between populations (53%) than within them (47%). Cluster analysis based on RAPD data categorized the populations into five clusters. PCoA (Principal Coordinates Analysis) results showed the first four coordinates accounted for 95% of the total variation. The scatter of populations based on the first two components was in agreement with cluster analysis results. There was no significant mantel correlation coefficient between molecular and geographical data indicating the classification of A. pectiniforme based on RAPD marker was not in accordance with geographical distribution. With regard to morphological traits, characters such as plant height and the number of stems per plants were considered as suitable parameters for selection and breeding programs. The two marker systems gave different estimates of genetic variability among populations. Finally, our findings demonstrated the feasibility of the RAPD technique for quantifying genetic distances among A. pectiniforme populations. It was concluded that, there is sufficient genetic variation between Iranian populations of Agropyron pectiniforme making these populations potentially useful for breeding improved varieties.