DNA polymorphism of Desmanthus spp. accessions based on AFLP markers

Germplasm collections are key to assess genetic variability of forage germplasm. The objective of the present work was to study the amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) presented by five Desmanthus spp. accessions. The study assessed the AFLP polymorphism of Desmanthus pernambucanus (L.) Thellung in Pernambuco, Brazil, and D. pubescens B.L. Turner AusTRC from Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. The 38 primers pairs tested resulted in 32 combinations and amplified 707 amplicons, of which 436 (62%) were polymorphic and 271 (38%) monomorphic, indicating a wide variability among the five Desmanthus accessions. Nei's genetic distance matrix pointed that 89F and AusTRC, distinct species collected from different locations (Bom Jardim and Saint Croix, USA), presented lesser genetic distance (33.5%) than 43F and 100C, belonging to D. pernambucanus but collected in Bom Jardim and Sertania, respectively, with 57.1% distance. D. pernambucanus accessions 43F and 89F were the closest geographically located, however, presented expressive genetic distance (63.0%). The genetic variability of native germplasm could become important in increasing genetic adaptation and environmentally viable forage species.