Analysis of genetic diversity in Cassia brewsteri with randomly amplified DNA fingerprints (RAFs)

Genetic diversity in Cassia brewsteri (F.Muell.) F.Muell. ex Benth. was assessed with Randomly Amplified DNA Fingerprints (RAFs). Thirty accessions of C. brewsteri collected from throughout its natural distribution were analysed with three random decamer primers, along with three accessions of C. tomentella (Benth.) Domin and a single accession of each of C. queenslandica C.T.White and C. marksiana (F.M.Bailey) Domin. The three primers yielded a reproducible amplification profile of 265 scorable polymorphic fragments for the 35 accessions. These molecular markers were used to calculate Nei and Li similarity coefficients between each pair of individuals. A matrix of dissimilarity of each pair of individuals was examined by multidimensional scaling (MDS). The analysis supports the division of C. brewsteri into two subspecies and the suggestion that intergradation ofC. brewsteri and C. tomentella can occur where the distributions of these species meet.

RAPD-PCR typing of Yersinia enterocolitica (Enterobacteriaceae) O:3 serotype strains isolated from pigs and humans

Sixteen strains of Yersinia enterocolitica serotype O:3, isolated from apparently healthy pigs collected in Rio de Janeiro, and four human strains of serotypes O:4, O:5, O:6 and O:13 were analyzed by RAPD-PCR. The strains were grouped into five genotypic profiles according to the amplification patterns obtained with three random primers. Fifteen of the 16 pig strains had identical amplification patterns, which was named genotypic profile 1. The one different profile was named genotypic profile 2. Genotypic profile 1 was also exhibited by the O:6 human serotype strain. The O:4 and O:13 human serotype strains showed similar amplification profiles with two primers. However, the third primer induced a distinct profile in each strain. Therefore, these two strains were placed into genotypic profile 3 and 4, respectively. Each primer produced a completely different amplification profile in the O:5 human serotype strain; therefore, it was named genotypic profile 5. The presence or absence of plasmids in the strains studied did not affect the amplification results. These results show that genetic variations can exist within a serotype, and strains of different serotypes can exhibit the same amplification profile when compared using other primers.

Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNAs in the Cultivated Strawberry, Fragaria ×ananassa

Eight strawberry cultivars or advanced selections from the Univ. of California, Davis, breeding program were screened for polymorphisms using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and 43 random 10-base DNA primers. Over 60% of the primers screened resulted in replicable polymorphic banding patterns (amplification profiles), and a subset of ten primers that exhibited high levels of amplification profile polymorphism was used to identify each of the eight genotypes uniquely. There was also a significant product-moment correlation (r = 0.64, P < 0.01) between number of shared amplification profile phenotypes and pairwise coefficient of coancestry. This technology shows high promise as a means of verifying the identity of cultivars and developing a genetic map of the octoploid cultivated strawberry.