RANDOM AMPLIFIED POLYMORPHIC DNA VARIATION IN THE EGGPLANT, SOLANUM-MELONGENA L (SOLANACEAE)

RAPD analysis was carried out on 52 accessions of Solanum melongena (e ggplant) and related weedy forms known as ''insanum''. Twenty-two prim ers amplified 130 fragments. Solanum melongena exhibited 117 of the fr agments, all of which were also present in insanum. Insanum displayed an additional 13 fragments not found in S. melongena. Overall, the ins anum accessions were more diverse than those of S. melongena. The calc ulated similarity between them was 0.947. The RAPD results were closel y concordant with the results of an electrophoretic isozyme survey per formed on the same accessions. The concordance of the results shows th at even though S. melongena and insanum are highly diverse morphologic ally, it is no longer appropriate to distinguish them taxonomically.