Restriction fragment length polymorphism in Oryza sativa L.

Abstract

Seventy varieties of rice, representing the breadth of the species Oryza sativa, were assayed with 10 rice restriction fragment length polymorphism markers. Polymorphism was detected for all probes and 58 of 70 varieties tested could be uniquely distinguished from one another by combining all probe – enzyme combinations. Within-population variation, usually in the form of homozygous variant alleles, was found for 26% of the varieties. Based on genetic distance calculations, the ratio of the genetic variation between versus within rice varieties was estimated to be approximately 12:1. A restriction fragment length polymorphism based dendrogram has also been constructed depicting genetic distances among rice varieties.Key words: Oryza sativa, rice, polymorphism, genetic variation, restriction fragment length polymorphism.