STUDY OF GENETIC DIVERSITY AMONG SIX IRAQI WHEATGENOTYPES USING RANDOM AMPLIFIED POLYMORPHIC DNA

Abstract

The degree of genetic divergence was estimated in six Iraqi soft wheat genotypes,
four exotic genotypes, one produced by hybridization and one produced by gamma
irradiation, through random amplified polymorphic DNA methodology. A total of
42 DNA fragments were generated by the 3 random primers, with an average of
about 7.4 bands per primer. The 42 fragments showed polymorphism among the six
wheat genotypes. Jaccard similarity matrix ranged from 25 to 66.7%, which
indicated a high genetic diversity among the genotypes. We conclude that random
amplified polymorphic DNA analysis can be used for the characterization and
grouping of wheat genotypes; these results will be helpful in our wheat breeding
program.