PHYLOGENETIC-RELATIONSHIPS OF THE PIGEONPEA (CAJANUS-CAJAN) BASED ON NUCLEAR RESTRICTION-FRAGMENT-LENGTH-POLYMORPHISMS

Nuclear restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPS) were used to determine phylogenetic relationships in the genus Cajanus using 15 ra ndom genomic probes and six restriction enzymes. Twenty-four accession s representing 12 species of four genera (Cajanus, Dunbaria, Eriosema, and Rhynchosia) were examined to determine phylogenetic relationships in the genus Cajanus. Eriosema parviflorum was selected as the out-gr oup. Sufficient RFLP polymorphisms were detected among species to reso lve in-group taxa into distinct clusters. Topologies of trees from par simony and similarity matrix analyses were similar but not identical, and clustering patterns agreed broadly with published phylogenies base d on seed protein data and, to a lesser extent, data from cytology and breeding experiments. Accessions of cultivated C. cajan shared more D NA fragments with C. scarabaeoides than with C cajanifolia. Inconsiste ncies in taxonomic relationships based on data from morphology, cytolo gy, crossability, and RFLPs are discussed.