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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Frederick, Maryland » Foreign Disease-Weed Science Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #118149
Title: COMPARISON OF NORTH AMERICAN AND EURASIAN YELLOW STARTHISTLE POPULATIONS USING AFLP FRAGMENT PATTERN ANALYSIS

Author
item Luster, Douglas - Doug
item Bruckart, William
item PITCAIRN, M. - CA DPT. FOOD & AGR
item CRISTAFARO, M. - INN BIOAG-ECO, ITALY

Submitted to: Western Society of Weed Science Meeting Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/11/2000
Publication Date: 3/1/2001
Citation: Luster, D.G., Bruckart, W.L., Pitcairn, M., Cristafaro, M. 2001. Comparison of north american and eurasian yellow starthistle populations using AFLP fragment pattern analysis. Western Society of Weed Science Meeting .Proceedings of "The First International Knapweed Symposium of the Twenty-First Centuary." p. 88.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Yellow starthistle (YST), Centaurea solstitialis, (Compositae, Carduinae) is an invasive annual weed of rangeland, natural areas and disturbed sites, primarily concentrated in the western U.S. YST was first reported in the U.S. in California in the mid 19th century, probably arriving as a contaminant in alfalfa or shipping ballast. An efficient colonizer, YST now infests over 10 M ha in California, with a genetically complex population structure suggestive of multiple introduction events. A clarification of the population structures and genetic complexity of North American YST populations by matching of weed genotypes is a primary objective of this research, and is expected to aid in the exploration for biocontrol pathogens and insects colonizing foreign YST populations most similar genetically to their North American relatives. To accomplish this, we are using automated fluorescent Amplified to compare genotypes of North American YST with those of Eurasia YST populations and other allopatric Centaurea spp. collected from areas surrounding the Mediterranean, Black and Caspian Seas. Results from pairwise DNA fragment binary scoring similarity analyses will be presented, comparing AFLP patterns from North America and Eurasian YST populations.