Genome analysis of amaranths: Determination of inter- and intra-species variations

Amaranths are an important group of plants and include grain, vegetable and ornamental types. Despite the economic importance of the amaranths, there is very little information available about the extent and nature of genetic diversity present in the genusAmaranthusat molecular level. We now report the randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) profiles of different species ofAmaranthusas well as different accessions of the species. These RAPD analyses have been carried out using 65 arbitrary sequence decamer primers. From the RAPD data, an UPGMA dendrogram illustrating the inter-as well as intra-species relationships has been computed. The putative hybrid origin of A.dubiousfromA. hybridusandA. spinosusis also ruled out by the RAPD data. The trends of species relationships amongst the amaranths determined by RAPDs is consistent with their cytogenetic and evolutionary relationships that have already been determined.