Molecular diversity in Carthamus species and species identification using RAPD markers

Abstract

The molecular genetic relationship between four Carthamus species and the cultivated variety A-1 was determined using 44 RAPD primers.The RAPD primers produced a large number of markers. On an average 11.65 bands per primer were produced. Totally 83.75 percent of the markers were polymorphic. The polymorphic markers were also used to assess the inter-relationships of the species and to estimate the overall genetic variation in the species.The Carthamus oxyacantha and. Carthamus palaestinus were more closely related to the cultivated species supporting the previous taxonomic studies based on cytogenetics. These two species were reported to be the proginators of cultivated Carthamus tinctorius L. The Carthamus glaucus L., which has a chromosome number of n = 10; as against n =12 of the cultivated species, formed a distinct solitary cluster and showed least similarity with cultivated species and its progenitors. The Carthamus species (unidentified) was distinct from all the other Carthamus species studied and formed a solitary cluster. The study revealed the significant genetic differences in the genome of Carthamus species and species specific markers were identified. The cultivated varieties A-1 and A-2 were crossed to different Carthamus species and interspecific hybrids were produced. The species specific markers were useful in identifying true interspecific hybrid plants.