Analysis of annual Medicago species using RAPD markers

Annual species of the genus Medicago have attracted interest as green manure and temporary forage crops. This study was conducted to determine if randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers could be used to assess the variability within and among species. Several accessions of each six species (M. scutellata Mill., M. disciformis DC., M. murex Willd., M. truncatula Gaertn., M. polymorpha L., and M. rugosa Desr.) were studied. A phylogeny reconstructed with the computer program Phylogenetic Analysis Using Parsimony (PAUP) showed the same relationships as traditional taxonomy. Variation was present among accessions of all species. Several accessions were considerably different from others within the species (one of each M. scutellata and M. polymorpha) and four accessions of M. murex were differentiated by both morphology and RAPD banding patterns from the other accessions. These accessions may be useful to include in a core collection. Variation within accessions was present. Although the species are autogamous, the original seed collections may have been made from a number of plants in the same area. Also, some outcrossing or seed mixing may have occurred. Finally, at least 10 RAPD primers appear to be necessary in order to develop reliable estimates of relatedness among annual Medicago accessions.