ISOZYME POLYMORPHISM PROVIDES FINGERPRINTS FOR GERMPLASM OF ARACHIS-GLABRATA BENTHAM

Arachis glabrata Bentham, a wild, perennial relative of the cultivated peanut, has been under development as a forage plant for the subtropi cs and tropics since the early 1960s. To complement the limited geneti c resources available in those years, a significant germplasm collecti on has been assembled in recent years. But little is known about the g enetic diversity in this species because research has focused mainly o n agronomy. This study aimed to investigate the utility of isozymes fo r characterising A. glabrata germplasm. Polyacrylamide gel electrophor esis (PAGE) was applied to rhizome-tip tissue. Isozyme characterisatio n by PAGE showed a high degree of intraspecific polymorphism for the i sozymes alpha-EST, ACP, GOT, and DIA. When analysed together, the four isozyme systems could clearly distinguish all 15 accessions of A. gla brata held in the germplasm collection at CIAT. Although several acces sions originated from the same region, similarity in isozyme patterns was not correlated with geographic origin. Examining rhizome-tip tissu e is useful in A. glabrata, a species which produces few seeds.