Fingerprinting of Some Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Germplasm via AFLP Markers

Rice is the main source of carbohydrates for more than a third of the world''s population. It is also a principal food stuff for the Iranian people. In this study، AFLP markers were used to evaluate and fingerprint a number of rice (Oryza sativa L.) genotypes، including 28 Iranian local varieties and 19 exotic varieties. Using 10 primer combinations، 675 bands were obtained out of which 429 bands (63. 5%) showed polymorphism. Among the used primers، E-TTG، M-CAT with107 bands and E-AGG، M-CTG with 34 bands had the highest and the lowest band numbers، respectively. Average polymorphism information content (PIC) was at 0. 34. The best primer combination to differentiate rice samples were E-TTG، M-CAT with the marker index of 24. 1. The average genetic similarity based on Nei coefficient، was estimated at 0. 67 (0. 97 to 0. 40). The dendrogram obtained by using the UPGMA determined three main groups among the investigated varieties which was in concordance with the PCR analysis results. In conclusion، AFLP markers could provide unique fingerprinting patterns for all the studied varieties. The finding of this study could be used in inbreeding programs to produce hybrid and promising varieties based on the genetic distances and the identification of heterotic groups.