USE OF RAPD MARKERS TO DETERMINE THE GENETIC DIVERSITY OF DIPLOID, WHEAT GENOTYPES

The genetic diversity of two diploid wheat species, Triticum monococcum and Triticum urartu (2n = 2x = 14), was assessed using random primers and the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Electrophoretic analysis of the amplification products revealed a higher incidence of polymorphism in T. urartu than T monococcum. Pair-wise comparisons of unique and shared polymorphic amplification products, were used to generate Jaccard's similarity coefficients. These were employed to construct phenograms using an unweighted pair-group method with arithmetical averages (UPGMA). The UPGMA analysis indicated a higher similarity among T monococcum than T urartu. Analysis of RAPD data appears to be helpful in determining the genetic relationships among genotypes.