Characterization of Gladiolus Germplasm Using Morphological, Physiological, and Molecular Markers

Estimation of variability and genetic relationships among breeding materials is one of the important strategies in crop improvement programs. Morphological (plant height, spike length, a number of florets/spike), physiological (chlorophyll content, chlorophyll fluorescence, and rapid light curve parameters) and Directed amplification of minisatellite DNA (DAMD) markers were used to investigate the relationships among 50 Gladiolus cultivars. Cluster analysis based on morphological data, physiological characteristics, molecular markers, and cumulative data discriminated all cultivars into seven, five, seven, and six clusters in the unweighted pair-group method using arithmetic mean (UPGMA) dendrogram, respectively. The results of the principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) also supported UPGMA clustering. Variations among the Gladiolus cultivars at phenotypic level could be due to the changes in physiology, environmental conditions, and genetic variability. DAMD analysis using 10 primers produced 120 polymorphic bands with 80% polymorphism showing polymorphic information content (PIC = 0.28), Marker index (MI = 3.37), Nei's gene diversity (h = 0.267), and Shannon's information index (I = 0.407). Plant height showed a positive significant correlation with Spike length and Number of florets/spike (r = 0.729, p < 0.001 and r = 0.448, p = 0.001 respectively). Whereas, Spike length showed positive significant correlation with Number of florets/spike (r = 0.688, p < 0.001) and Chlorophyll content showed positive significant correlation with Electron transport rate (r = 0.863, p < 0.001). Based on significant morphological variations, high physiological performance, high genetic variability, and genetic distances between cultivars, we have been able to identify diverse cultivars of Gladiolus that could be the potential source as breeding material for further genetic improvement in this ornamental crop.

The extent of clonality and genetic diversity in lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea L.) revealed by RAPDs and leaf-shape analysis

Numerous plant species reproduce mainly by clonal growth, implying that levels of genetic variation may be comparatively low. In this study we describe the genetic and genotypic diversity within and between four Swedish populations of the clonal shrub lingonberry, Vaccinium vitis-idaea L. Two approaches were used to assess the amount and partitioning of variation: automated image analysis of leaf shape and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis. Morphometric analyses, using moment invariants and elliptic Fourier coefficients, revealed that most of the variation could be attributed to within-population variation. With the use of 43 polymorphic RAPD markers, we were able to identify 29 different genotypes (i.e. putative clones) among 129 plants from two populations. The genotypic diversity (D: mean 0.84) and evenness (E: mean 0.81) were higher than the average for clonal plant species. Within-population gene diversity was similar to values reported in nonclonal plants, suggesting that sexual reproduction has played a significant role in these populations despite low levels of seedling recruitment in present-day populations. An analysis of molecular variance revealed that most of the variation (89.2%) resided within populations. Comparisons between the different suites of characters indicated a congruent pattern of partitions of diversity, particularly when comparing moment invariants and RAPDs. When comparing the ability of the two descriptor suites to assign the plants to the RAPD-defined clones, elliptic Fourier coefficients yielded the best result; a classification test correctly reassigned 96.9% and 98.1% of the plant material in the two respective populations.