Analysis of the relationships between species of the genus Prosopis revealed by the use of molecular markers

The 44 species of the genus Prosopis L, include several which are utilised as multipurpose trees and shrubs within their natural range and as exotics in plantation programmes. However, domestication and exploitation of the ge nus has been hampered by poor understanding of its taxonomy. Randomly ampli fied polymorphisms of DNA (RAPD) from cotyledons were used to analyse the t axonomy of 15 Prosopis species from Senegal, India and Argentina. Molecular markers were identified which were present in all species analysed, only i n American species, specific to the section Strombocarpa, or specific to th e section Algorobia, except P. kuntzei. The different RAPD profiles showed by P. kuntzei suggest a low degree of relatedness of this species to the ot her Prosopis analysed. The use of RAPDs markers clearly distinguished the f ive sections of the genus. The profiles obtained for P. argentina in the mo nospecific section Monilicarpa confirm the distinct character of this speci es. However, the results suggest that regrouping of species within the sect ion Algarobia may be required. ((C) Inra/Elsevier, Paris.).