Genetic diversity of side-oats grama [Bouteloua curtipendula (Michx.) Torr.] populations as revealed by amplified fragment length polymorphism markers

Biligetu, B., Schellenberg, M. P. and Fu, Y.B. 2013. Genetic diversity of side-oats grama [Bouteloua curtipendula (Michx.) Torr.] populations as revealed by amplified fragment length polymorphism markers. Can. J. Plant Sci. 93: 1105–1114. Side-oats grama [Bouteloua curtipendula (Michx.) Torr.] is a warm-season grass widely distributed in North America and is considered as an important grass for reclamation and summer forage production in drier regions. This study assessed genetic diversity of nine wild populations of side-oats grama grass, their corresponding balanced multiple-site composite (BMSC), and a population selected for forage type (FT), using the amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) technique. Five AFLP primer pairs were employed to genotype 157 plants, and 312 polymorphic AFLP bands were detected. The frequencies of AFLP bands ranged from 0.01 to 0.99, and averaged 0.39. The AFLP analysis revealed 6% of the total AFLP variation present among the nine wild populations and 94% of variati...