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Genetic diversity in white clover and its progenitors as revealed by DNA fingerprinting

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Biologia Plantarum

Abstract

The genetic diversity and ancestral relationships of a number of Trifolium species was revealed by using the amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) and the random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers. Both markers produced few species-specific markers. Using distance and parsimony methods, in NTSYS-pc and PAUP software programs, we clearly differentiated the accessions of white clover from other closely related progenitors. The phylogenetic trees, produced by PAUP, also reinforced the close affinity of T. nigrescens and the allopolyploid white clover in support of former views that this diploid species could have been the donor of one of two genomes of the allotetraploid T. repens. In addition, the dendrograms, produced by NTSYS-pc, also indicated close affinity of T. nigrescens and T. occidentale to the accessions of T. repens. These data is congruent with karyological and phylogenetic affinities between the white clover and T. occidentale. The relationships between the examined accessions, in the T. repens gene pool, may be regarded to indicate the presence of shared alleles between T. repens, T. occidentale and T. uniflorum. Further, T. occidentale showed close phylogenetic relations to T. pallescens.

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Abbreviations

AFLP:

amplified fragment length polymorphism

RAPD:

random amplified polymorphic DNA

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Acknowledgements

The authors express their thanks and gratitude to Professor Linda Watson, Chairman of Botany Department, Oklahoma State University for providing facilities for AFLP analysis and for linguistic advice on the manuscript. We also thank the Fulbright Foundation for funding AB visit to conduct the AFLP analysis at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, USA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Botany Department, Faculty of Science, Tanta University, 31527, Tanta, Egypt

    A. Badr

  2. Faculty of Education, Ain Shams University, Roxy, Heliopolis, 11341, Cairo, Egypt

    H.H. El-Shazly

  3. Botany Department, Faculty of Science, Suiz Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt

    L. Mekki

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  1. A. Badr
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  2. H.H. El-Shazly
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  3. L. Mekki
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Correspondence to A. Badr.

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Badr, A., El-Shazly, H. & Mekki, L. Genetic diversity in white clover and its progenitors as revealed by DNA fingerprinting. Biol Plant 56, 283–291 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10535-012-0088-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10535-012-0088-0

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