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Chloroplast and mitochondrial DNA diversity in Theobroma cacao
V Laurent1, A M Risterucci, C Lanaud
1CIRAD-CP, BIOTROP, BP5035, 34032, Montpellier cedex, France.
Abstract:
The variability of cocoa (Theobroma cacao) cytoplasmic genomes has been investigated. A total of 177 cocoa clones was surveyed for restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) in chloroplast DNA and in mitochondrial DNA using two restriction endonucleases and various heterologous cytoplasmic probes. A high level of polymorphism was found for the mitochondrial genome. This study points up a structuring of the species that fits with the distinction between the Criollo and Forastero populations. In contrast to all previous analyses, a higher level of polymorphism is found among the Criollo clones while the Forastero clones form quite a homogeneous group.
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