title: Genetic diversity of Carica papaya as revealed by AFLP markers.
abstract: Genetic relationships among Carica papaya cultivars, breeding lines, unimproved germplasm, and related species were established using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers. Seventy-one papaya accessions and related species were analyzed with nine EcoRI-MseI primer combinations. A total of 186 informative AFLP markers was generated and analyzed. Cluster analysis suggested limited genetic variation in papaya, with an average genetic similarity among 63 papaya accessions of 0.880. Genetic diversity among cultivars derived from the same or similar gene pools was smaller, such as Hawaiian Solo hermaphrodite cultivars and Australian dioecious cultivars with genetic similarity at 0.921 and 0.912, respectively. The results indicated that self-pollinated hermaphrodite cultivars were as variable as open-pollinated dioecious cultivars. Genetic diversity between C. papaya and six other Carica species was also evaluated. Carica papaya shared the least genetic similarity with these species, with an average genetic similarity of 0.432; the average genetic similarity among the six other species was 0.729. The results from AFLP markers provided detailed estimates of the genetic variation within and among papaya cultivars, and supported the notion that C. papaya diverged from the rest of Carica species early in the evolution of this genus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Hawaii, Honolulu 96822, USA.
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: P H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zee
authors.forename: M M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Fitch
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Steiger
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Manshardt
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Paull
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Drew
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sekioka
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ming
mesh_terms: D029441:Carica / Q000235:genetics*; D005819:Genetic Markers; D014644:Genetic Variation; D021141:Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques; D010802:Phylogeny; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers