Genetic diversity within spelta and macha wheats based on RAPD analysis

Genetic diversity in a crop species is basic to improvement of the species and can be estimated at the molecular level. The objective of this study was to estimate genetic diversity within and between spelta and macha wheats. Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis was conducted on 69 spelta and 32 macha wheat accessions. The classification of spelta and macha accessions, based on Jaccard genetic similarity coefficients for RAPD markers, was consistent with their geographic origin. The results indicated that the germplasm of macha wheat was more diverse than that of spelta wheat. In the dendrogram of macha wheat, four spelta-like accessions grouped together, separate from the remaining macha accessions, suggesting that these accessions were misclassified. In addition, accessions with identical RAPD patterns were found, indicating that these accessions were probably duplicated. Thus RAPD analysis can be used to estimate genetic diversity and identify duplicate accessions in wheat germplasm collections. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.