The use of RAPD markers in Hordeum phylogeny

The phylogenetic relationships among 39 wild Hordeum species, subspecies, and cultivated barley were investigated using RAPD markers as discriminating characters. Seventy-six RAPD fragments were generated using 12 single decameric primers of arbitrary nucleotide sequences; Amplification reactions resulted in fragments ranging in length between 200 and 2000 bp. Clearly resolved bands were scored for their presence or absence in a binary matrix. Amplified products were treated as independent characters to generate a phenogram using the NTSYS-PC package. Tree topology was generally found to be consistent with those based on morphological treatments. However, a few species like H. erectifolium, H. jubatum and, to a lesser extent, H. bulbosum occupied a position different from previous classifications. The results demonstrated that RAPD technology represents a useful and reliable tool for detecting polymorphism for phylogenetic studies.