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Variability for restriction fragment lengths and phylogenies in lentil
1Agricultural Research Service, USDA, Grain Legume Genetics and Physiology Unit, Washington State University, 99164-6421, Pullman, WA, USA.
Summary
Wild lentil relatives, Lens culinaris ssp. orientalis and L. culinaris ssp. odemensis, exhibit high genetic diversity using restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs). This diversity is crucial for understanding lentil domestication and breeding potential.
Area of Science:
- Plant genetics
- Molecular biology
- Agricultural science
Background:
- Lentil (Lens culinaris) genetic diversity is key to crop improvement.
- Understanding wild relatives aids in domestication studies.
- Restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) are valuable genetic markers.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess genetic variability in wild and domesticated lentil accessions.
- To compare genetic diversity estimates between RFLPs and isozymes.
- To investigate the evolutionary relationships among lentil subspecies.
Main Methods:
- Evaluation of 30 lentil accessions (domesticated and wild) for RFLPs.
- Utilized ten low-copy-number probes from lentil genomic and cDNA libraries.
- Calculated Nei's average gene diversity and constructed a dendrogram based on genetic distances.
Main Results:
- Wild lentils L. culinaris ssp. orientalis and L. culinaris ssp. odemensis displayed the highest RFLP variability.
- These wild subspecies were genetically proximate to domesticated lentil in the dendrogram.
- L. nigricans subspecies showed limited RFLP variability, supporting independent domestication hypotheses.
- RFLP-based genetic variability estimates exceeded those from isozymes.
Conclusions:
- Wild lentil relatives, particularly L. culinaris ssp. orientalis and L. culinaris ssp. odemensis, are rich sources of genetic diversity.
- The genetic data supports the hypothesis of independent domestication for the L. nigricans group.
- RFLPs provide a more sensitive measure of genetic variability in lentil compared to isozymes.
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