AFLP fingerprinting of tartary buckwheat accessions (Fagopyrum tataricum) displaying rutin content variation

In light of the economic importance of buckwheat as well as existence of enormous accessions of Fagopyrum species in the Himalayan regions of India, the characterization of tartary buckwheat for rutin content variation vis-à-vis DNA fingerprinting was undertaken so as to identify fingerprint profiles unique to high rutin content accessions. Rutin content analysis in mature seeds of 195 accessions of Fagopyrum tataricum showed a wide range of variation (6 μg/mg to 30 μg/mg D.W.) with most of the accessions (81%) containing 10-16 μg/mg of rutin followed by 14% accessions with significantly higher rutin content (17 μg/mg to 30 μg/mg) and 5% accessions with low rutin content (≤10 μg/mg). AFLP fingerprinting of 18 accessions having high (≥17 μg/mg) and low rutin content (≤10 μg/mg) with 19 EcoRI/MseI primer combinations yielded 136 polymorphic fragments out of total 907. The hierarchical and model-based cluster analyses of AFLP data strongly suggested that the 18 populations of F. tataricum were clustered into two separate groups. The high and low rutin content accessions were clustered into two separate groups based on AFLP fingerprinting. The AFLP fingerprints associated with high rutin content accessions of F. tataricum are expected to be useful for evaluation, conservation and genetic improvement of buckwheat.