Exploration of intra- and inter-population genetic diversity in Hedysarum coronarium L. by AFLP markers

Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers were used to characterize the genetic diversity within and among natural populations and cultivars of Hedysarum coronarium. Twelve populations within Tunisia were evaluated with three AFLP primer combinations. A total of 207 reproducible bands was detected of which 178 (86%) were polymorphic. The great discriminative power of AFLP markers and their ability to represent genetic relationships among Hedysarum plants was demonstrated. Genetic diversity within and among populations was assessed through Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis by using the Neighbor-joining clustering algorithm. AFLP technology has provided evidence of a high degree of intra- and inter-population genetic diversity in H. coronarium. AFLP banding patterns provided molecular markers correlated with the plants' geotropism. In addition, AFLP markers can differentiate wild accessions from cultivars. Moreover, geographical origins did not correspond to population clustering.