AFLP-based analysis to study genetic variability and relationships in the Spanish species of the genus Aegilops

Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) DNA markers were used to characterize the genetic diversity and relationships in wild species of the genus Aegilops. Fifty populations, which included the species Aegilops biuncialis (UUMM), Ae. neglecta (UUMMNN), Ae. ovata (UUMM), Ae. ventricosa (DDNN) and Ae. triuncialis (UUCC) were selected. These populations are distributed in the Iberian peninsula and Balearic islands. Five AFLP selective primer combinations generated a total of 527 amplification products of which 517 (98.10%) detected polymorphisms. Aegilops neglecta showed the least variation in contrast with Ae. biuncialis that presented the highest degree of polymorphism. Genetic relationships within the populations were evaluated by generating a similarity matrix based on the Jaccard index. In the resulting phenogram Ae. ventricosa appears segregated from the other species, probably owing to the influence of the D genome. The species sharing the U genome are located in the main cluster. The branching pattern of the U genome group reflects the proximity of the species sharing the M genome. Ae. biuncialis and Ae. ovata are clearly separated suggesting that the super index system should be used to differentiate the M genomes of both species. The variation among populations within species in relation to their geographical origin and results previously obtained by the authors using biochemical and molecular markers are discussed.