Genetic variability and relationship between MT-1 elephant grass and closely related cultivars assessed by SRAP markers.

Genetic variability and relationships among elephant grass cultivars were estimated by the SRAP (sequence-related amplified polymorphism) assay. A total of 60 individuals collected from five cultivars in China were analysed. Sixty-two selected primer combinations generated 1395 bands, with an average of 22.5 per primer combination. The average value of percentage of polymorphic bands (PPB) was 72.8% at species level. The PPB was from 15.2% to 75%, with an average of 39.6% at cultivar level. H(POP), within-cultivar Shannon's index was 1.738 at cultivar level; at species level, the Shannon's index (H(SP)) was 3.880. An assessment of diversity between cultivars (H(SP)-H(POP))/H(SP)] indicated that most of the diversity (55.2%) was detected among cultivars, and only 44.8% was within cultivars in total genetic variation. According to UPGMA dendrogram, the five cultivars were clustered into three main groups. One group included MT-1 and Mott with a bootstrap support of 100%, another consisted of Huanan and N51 with a bootstrap support of 81%, and last one was only Guimu-1. The results indicate that the MT-1 and Mott have a closest genetic relationship; Huanan and N51 possess a relatively close relationship, and Guimu-1 is the most distinct from the other four cultivars.