Abstract:

Thirteen pairs of AFLP primers were screened out and used for the analysis of forty-seven clones, which came from nineteen species and hybrids of four sections in Populus. Thirteen pairs of AFLP primers generated 858 fragments, 771 polymorphism fragments among them. Percentage of polymorphism fragments produced by each pair of AFLP primer was 89.9% in average, and varied from 80.7% to 98.1%. All these data indicated that considerable genetic variation existed among species and clones at DNA level. Molecular genetic distances among sections, species intrasections, clones intraspecies were calculated, and the relationship among them was described quantitatively. Compared with the classical taxonomy, the result of cluster analysis among sections was consistent completely, and the results of cluster analysis among species intrasections and clones intraspecies were basically similar. Finally, the feasibility of selecting and mating parents and early selection of progenies was discussed based on the results of molecular markers.

Key words: Populus, AFLP, genetic variation, genetic relationship