Skip to main content
ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Pullman, Washington » Plant Germplasm Introduction and Testing Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #235999
Title: Genetic Diversity of the USDA Brachypodium distachyon Collection Assessed by AFLP and TRAP Markers

Author
item Kisha, Theodore
item Bradley, Vicki
item Taylor, Lisa
item Hu, Jinguo

Submitted to: Plant and Animal Genome VX Conference Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/15/2008
Publication Date: 1/11/2009
Citation: Kisha, T.J. 2009. Genetic Diversity of the USDA Brachypodium distachyon Collection Assessed by AFLP and TRAP Markers. Plant and Animal Genome VX Conference Abstracts.

Interpretive Summary: The small grass species Brachypodium distachyon L has been employed as a model grass for genomics research for its small genome, minimum growth requirements and rapid generation time. We assessed the genetic diversity of all 30 accessions in the USDA B. distachyon collection held in Pullman, WA with both AFLP and TRAP (target region amplification polymorphism) markers. An approximately same amount of leaf tissue was sampled from 12 individuals from each accession and bulked for DNA extraction. Both marker systems were equally effective in clustering the accessions into three major groups which could be defined as the “Middle East”, the “Caucasus/Iraq” and the “Others”. Accessions in the “Others” group were collected from South Africa, Australia, Europe, North Africa and South America. Outliers included a French accession being grouped with the “Caucasus/Irag” and an Iranian accession being grouped with “Others”. Genetic variation within accessions, using 16 plants each, was minimal in comparison with that among accessions which is in agreement with the self-pollinating behavior of this species. This collection could be useful for functional genomics studies of B. distachyon.

Technical Abstract: The small grass species Brachypodium distachyon L has been employed as a model grass for genomics research for its small genome, minimum growth requirements and rapid generation time. We assessed the genetic diversity of all 30 accessions in the USDA B. distachyon collection held in Pullman, WA with both AFLP and TRAP (target region amplification polymorphism) markers. An approximately same amount of leaf tissue was sampled from 12 individuals from each accession and bulked for DNA extraction. Both marker systems were equally effective in clustering the accessions into three major groups which could be defined as the “Middle East”, the “Caucasus/Iraq” and the “Others”. Accessions in the “Others” group were collected from South Africa, Australia, Europe, North Africa and South America. Outliers included a French accession being grouped with the “Caucasus/Irag” and an Iranian accession being grouped with “Others”. Genetic variation within accessions, using 16 plants each, was minimal in comparison with that among accessions which is in agreement with the self-pollinating behavior of this species. This collection could be useful for functional genomics studies of B. distachyon.