Abstract

Bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.] germplasm is genetically diverse and widely distributed between 45°N and 45°S latitudes in the world. This study was conducted to assess genetic variation and relatedness of 33 Chinese accessions of common bermudagrass (C. dactylon var. dactylon) and 22 cultivars developed in China, Australia and the USA by sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) markers. 30 primer combinations generated a total of 274 clearly scorable bands encompassing 268 that were polymorphic. Percentage of polymorphic loci (PPL) for the domestic and introduced accessions was 93 and 83%, respectively. Cluster analysis by unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic averages (UPGMA) based on the polymorphic markers indicated three distinct clusters. Genetic similarity coefficient (GSC) among the genotypes ranged from 0.57 to 0.97. Genetic diversity estimate, He, for the domestic and introduced accessions were 0.26 and 0.24, respectively. The results of this molecular characterization will be valuable for breeding new bermudagrass cultivars in the future.

Key words: Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers., germplasm, sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP), genetic relationship.

Abbreviation

SRAP, Sequence-related  amplified  polymorphism;  PPL,

percentage of polymorphic loci; UPGMA, unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic average; ISSR, inter simple sequence repeat; SSR, Simple sequence repeats; RAPD, random amplified polymorphic DNA; GSC, genetic similarity coefficient; ORF, open reading frames; AFLP, amplified fragment length polymorphisms; He, Nei’s gene diversity.