AFLP fingerprinting in Medicago spp.: Its development and application in linkage mapping

Cultivated alfalfa (Medicago sativa L., 2n= 4x= 32) is one of the most important forage crops in temperate climates. The genus Medicago includes diploid species that are a valuable source of wild germplasm for studying the reproductive system of alfalfa and its abnormalities. A linkage map of an apomeiotic mutant of Medicago falcata (L.) Arcang. (2n= 2x= 16) that spanned 368.6 cM and included 29 amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP), 35 random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and three restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) loci was constructed using a one-way pseudo-testcross mapping strategy. The success of such a strategy depends on the presence of sufficiently high levels of heterozygosity in the individual plant which is being mapped and on the informativeness of the marker system that is used. In general: (1) highly informative and reproducible RAPD and AFLP fingerprints were generated and several genome-specific primers selected; (2) of 67 marker loci mapped, 51 were arranged in 11 main linkage groups and eight additional couples of linked marker loci were detected; (3) mapping of an F₁ population theoretically allowed a better estimation of linkage distances since it avoided segregation distortion (x² analyses revealed segregation distortion in only 5.2% of marker loci); (4) the high frequency of unlinked marker loci obtained suggests that, in this alfalfa genotype, DNA markers are distributed throughout the genome. This type of genetic map should find application and prove useful in marker-assisted selection and map-based breeding programmes in meiotic mutants of alfalfa for which there is a lack of suitable genetic markers.