CLASSIFICATION OF AUSTRALIAN GARLIC CULTIVARS BY DNA-FINGERPRINTING

Garlic (Allium sativum L.) reproduces only by vegetative propagation y et displays considerable morphological variation within and between cu ltivars. The origins of Australian cultivars are uncertain and the des criptive names applied to them may not reflect their derivation. Twent y common Australian garlic cultivars were analysed by the random ampli fied polymorphic DNA-polymerase chain reaction (RAPD-PCR) technique us ing 20 random decamer primers. The amplification products of 5 of thes e primers resulted in 65 clear polymorphic bands. These bands were tra nsformed into a binary format, and genetic similarities calculated usi ng a simple matching coefficient. The similarities were used to perfor m a cluster analysis and produce a dendrogram grouping the cultivars. Bolting and intermediate/nonbolting types could be differentiated from each other. These could be further subdivided into 4 groups based on length of growing season.