DIVERSITY AND GENETIC DIFFERENTIATION AMONG POPULATIONS OF INDIAN ANDKENYAN TEA (CAMELLIA-SINENSIS (L) KUNTZE,O) REVEALED BY AFLP MARKERS

AFLP markers were successfully employed to detect diversity and geneti c differentiation among Indian and Kenyan populations of tea (Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze). Shannon's index of diversity was used to pa rtition the total phenotypic variation into between and within populat ion components. On average, most of the diversity was detected within populations, with 79% of the variation being within and 21% being betw een populations of Indian and Kenyan tea. A dendrogram constructed on the basis of band sharing distinctly separated the three populations o f tea into China type (sinensis), Assam type (assamica) and Cambod typ e (assamica ssp. lasiocalyx) in a manner consistent with the present t axonomy of tea, the known pedigree of some of the genotypes and their geographical origin. Principal coordinate (PCO) analysis grouped Assam genotypes both from India and Kenya sup porting the suggestion that t he Kenyan clones have been derived from collections made in this regio n. The China types were more dispersed on the PCO plot which is a refl ection of wider genetic variation. As would be expected, clones collec ted from the same region exhibited less overall genetic variation. AFL P analysis discriminated all of the tested genotypes from India and Ke nya, even those which cannot be distinguished on the basis of morpholo gical and phenotypic traits.