Assessment of genetic relationships between Setaria italica and its wild relative S. viridis using AFLP markers

AFLP markers were used to assess genetic diversity and patterns of geograph ic variation among 39 accessions of foxtail millet (Setaria italica) and 22 accessions of green foxtail millet (S. viridis), its putative wild progeni tor. A high level of polymorphism was revealed. Dendrograms based on Nei an d Li distances from a neighbour joining procedure were constructed using 16 0 polymorphic bands. Bootstrap values revealed that no specific geographic structure can be extracted from these data. The high level of diversity amo ng Chinese accessions was consistent with the hypothesis of a centre of dom estication in China. The results also showed that accessions from Eastern E urope and Africa form two distinct clusters. The narrow genetic basis of th ese two gene pools may be the result of local-adaptation.