RESTRICTION-FRAGMENT-LENGTH-POLYMORPHISM AND MOLECULAR TAXONOMY IN VITIS-VINIFERA L

Forty-six accessions of grapevine (V. vinifera L.) were compared by re striction fragment length polmorphism (RFLP) analysis, and 111 informa tive or unique restriction fragments were found that revealed an impor tant level of polymorphism. RFLP patterns were compared in two ways: b y calculating electrophoretic similarity degree values further analyze d by principal component analysis and by studying the distribution of rare restriction fragments. Six taxonomic groups could be defined, whi ch partially confirmed relationships derived from ampelographical data . Our data support the existence of ecogeographical groups.