CHLOROPLAST DNA VARIATION AND EVOLUTION IN THE GENUS LENS MILL

Chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) restriction site diversity was assessed by 21 enzyme/probe combinations in 30 accessions of six Lens species, includ ing the recently recognized L. lamottei and L. tomentosus. A total of 118 fragments were scored and 26 restriction site mutations were ident ified. The cpDNA restriction pattern supports circumscribing L. lamott ei and L. tomentosus as independent species. The value of the data for reconstructing phylogeny in the genus is discussed. The cpDNA of all 13 accessions of the lentil's wild progenitor, L. culinaris subsp. ori entalis, differed from that of the single lentil cultivars used in thi s study. This diversity indicates that other populations of this subsp ecies from Turkey and Syria examined by Mayer and Soltis (1994) are po tentially the founder members of lentil. Examination of L. lamottei x L. nigricans hybrids between accessions having different restriction p atterns showed paternal plastid inheritance in L. nigricans.