GENOME RELATIONSHIPS AMONG LOTUS SPECIES BASED ON RANDOM AMPLIFIED POLYMORPHIC DNA (RAPD)

The ability of random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) to distinguish among different taxa of Lotus was evaluated for several geographically dispersed accessions of four diploid Lotus species, L. tenuis Waldst. et Kit, L. alpinus Schleich., L. japonicus (Regel) Larsen, and L. uli ginosus Schkuhr and for the tetraploid L. corniculatus L., in order to ascertain whether RAPD data could offer additional evidence concernin g the origin of the tetraploid L. corniculatus. Clear bands and severa l polymorphisms were obtained for 20 primers used for each species/acc ession. The evolutionary pathways among the species/accessions present ed in a cladogram were expressed in terms of treelengths giving the mo st parsimonious reconstructions. Accessions within the same species gr ouped closely together. It is considered that L. uliginosus which is m ost distantly related to L. corniculatus, may be excluded as a direct progenitor of L. corniculatus, confirming previous results from isoenz yme studies. Lotus alpinus is grouped with accessions of L. corniculat us, which differs from previous studies. With this exception, these fi ndings are in agreement with previous experimental studies in the L. c orniculatus group. The value of the RAPD data to theories on the origi n of L. corniculatus is discussed.