PHYLOGENETIC-RELATIONSHIPS OF CAJANUS-CAJAN (L) MILLSP (PIGEONPEA) AND ITS WILD RELATIVES BASED ON SEED PROTEIN PROFILES

Total seed storage protein of 9 accessions of cultivated C. cajan and 10 wild Cajanus species was reported and compared by sodium dodecyl su lphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. A considerable variation wa s detected among the protein profiles of different accessions of C. ca jan while those of wild species were very specific and distinctly diff erent from each other. Relative similarities between various taxa were estimated by Jaccard's similarity index and cluster analysis was perf ormed to produce a UPGMA dendrogram. The clustering of 10 wild species and C. cajan more or less agrees with their sectional classification and available data based on morphological characteristics, crossabilit y, genome pairing in hybrids and nuclear RFLPs. The species closest to C. cajan is C. cajanifolia although the accessions of C. cajan also s hare some bands present in the profiles of C. scarabaeoides, C. goensi s, C. lineatus, C. acutifolius and C. volubilis. This points towards p olyphyletic origin of the cultigen which has been discussed in this pa per.