USING RAPDS TO STUDY PHYLOGENETIC-RELATIONSHIPS IN ROSA

Nineteen species of rose (Rosa sp.) were analysed using Random Amplifi ed Polymorphic DNA markers (RAPD). Each 10-base-long arbitrary primer produced a specific DNA banding pattern that grouped plants belonging to the same species and botanical sections as predicted from their gen etic background. One hundred and seventy-five amplification products w ere examined by cluster analysis to assess the genetic relationships a mong species and their genetic distances. All of the accessions belong ing to 1 species grouped together before branching to other species. D endrograms constructed for intra- and inter-specific studies showed a good correlation with previous classifications by different authors ba sed on morphological and cariological studies. Our results show that t he RAPD technique is a sensitive and precise tool for genomic analysis in rose, being useful in assigning unclassified accessions to specifi c taxonomic groups or else allowing accessions classified by tradition al criteria to be re-classified.