Genetic variation among Orobanche species collected in southern Spain revealed by RAPD markers

RAPD markers were used to study inter-specific variation among 20 species of the genus Orobanche collected across Andalusia (Southern Spain), mainly on wild hosts. A total of 202 amplification products obtained with five RAPD decamer primers were obtained. Jaccard's coefficient fo similarity was calculated and the species were grouped by cluster analysis using UPGMA. The estimated Jaccard's similarity coefficients among the 20 Orobanche species varied from 0 to 0.864. The relationship among the species were consistent with those previously obtained with cytological and morphological traits. Differences between the sections Trionychon and Orobanche as well as relatedness among species within sections are discussed.