GENETIC-VARIATION AND CULTIVAR IDENTIFICATION OF JAMAICAN YAM GERMPLASM BY RANDOM AMPLIFIED POLYMORPHIC DNA ANALYSIS

We have used random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis to chara cterize eleven cultivars of the five economically most important yam s pecies grown in Jamaica (Dioscorea alata, D. cayenensis, D. rotundata, D. trifida and D. esculenta). Amplification of genomic DNA samples wi th nine different arbitrary 10mer primers revealed a total of 338 diff erent band positions, ranging in size from 0.3 to 2.5 kb. RAPD pattern s proved to be highly reproducible and somatically stable. While no va riation was observed among plants belonging to the same cultivar, a la rge number of intervarietal and interspecific polymorphisms enabled us to reliably discriminate between all Jamaican cultivars investigated.