RANDOM AMPLIFIED POLYMORPHIC DNA ANALYSIS OF AUSTRALIAN RICE (ORYZA-SATIVA L) VARIETIES

The genetic relationships between rice varieties were analysed by usin g the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), with arbitrary oligonucleotide primers in the random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) method. PCR wit h 22 arbitrary primers applied to 37 varieties produced 144 useful mar kers, of which 67% were polymorphic. Thus, with selected primers suffi cient polymorphism could be detected to allow identification of indivi dual varieties. Visual examination of electrophoresis gels and analysi s of banding patterns confirmed that commercial Australian and USA lin es and their relatives were very closely related, with similarity indi ces of 88-97%. Three varieties originating from more distant geographi cal centres were easily distinguished, producing variety-specific ampl ification profiles and expressing a lower similarity index of 80% to a ll other varieties tested. PCR offers a potentially simple, rapid and reliable method for rice genotype identification and recognition of li nes that could contribute genetic diversity to new commercial varietie s.