CHLOROPLAST DNA VARIATION IN THE GENUS SECALE (POACEAE)

The chloroplast genomes of 44 accessions of Secale were surveyed for restriction site polymorphisms. The accessions were chosen to represent the geographic as well as taxonomic range of the genus. Using 12 restriction enzymes a total of 348 sites were detected. Twenty-nine mutation sites were phylogenetically informative and used in a cladistic analysis. Further, a 0.1 kb insertion separated Secale from the outgroup species. Only the annual species S. sylvestre was distinct from the rest of the taxa. Cultivated rye together with both wild annual and wild perennial accessions were mixed among each other. Sequence divergence (p) among taxa of Secale was low, varying from 0.000 to 0.005, suggesting a rather recent origin of the genus.