AFLP fingerprinting for analysis of yeast genetic variation

Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) was used to investigate genetic variation in commercial strains, type strains and winery isolates from a number of yeast species. AFLP was shown to be effective in discriminating closely related strains. Furthermore, sufficient similarity in the fingerprints produced by yeasts of a given species allowed classification of unknown isolates. The applicability of the method for determining genome similarities between yeasts was investigated by performing cluster analysis on the AFLP data. Results from two species, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Dekkera bruxellensis, illustrate that AFLP is useful for the study of intraspecific genetic relatedness. The value of the technique in strain differentiation, species identification and the analysis of genetic similarity demonstrates the potential of AFLP in yeast ecology and evolutionary studies.