Evaluation of amplified fragment length polymorphism markers in tef, Eragrostis tef(Zucc.) Trotter, and related species

Tef is an important cereal crop in Ethiopia. This study was conducted to in vestigate (1) genetic diversity within and among three Eragrostis species ( E. tef, E. pilosa and E. curvula), and (2) the relationship between E. tef, E. pilosa and E. curvula. A total of 630 AFLP markers were obtained, out o f which 58% (368) were polymorphic, using 10 primer combinations. The three species were separated distinctly using amplified fragment length polymorp hism (AFLP). However, diversity revealed at the morphological trait level w as not commensurate with that observed for AFLP. This was due to the small number of morphological traits available and their interaction with the env ironment. Within tef, 'Rubicunda' and DZ-01-1093 were found to be distantly related to the rest of the tef accessions. The diversity within species wa s such that E. pilosa was the most diverse followed by E. curvula and E. te f. Moreover, E, pilosa was more closely related to E. tef than E. curvula. Therefore, further study is needed of E. pilosa accessions and of 'Rubicund a' and DZ-01-1093 in a crossing programme to generate a population for sele ction and/or genetic mapping. A total of 20 cultivars or accessions had one or more unique fragments using one or more AFLP primers, indicating the po tential of the technology in fingerprinting tef in a breeding or seed multi plication programme.