Schriften zu Genetischen Ressourcen - Genres

Molecular diversity in the genus Amaranthus
Molecular diversity in the genus Amaranthus
K.J. DEHMER 1
Abstract
40 Amaranthus accessions from the IPK genebank and other donors, comprising 13
species, were examined by AFLPs in order to determine the genetic diversity in this
genus. The phenogram obtained after evaluating three primer combinations and a total
of 893 fragment size classes shows three main clusters, perfectly corresponding to the
genepools described for grain amaranth breeding. Furthermore, in almost all cases
species-specific subclusters were encountered; only the species of the grain amaranth
group displayed an ambiguous grouping.
Introduction
The genus Amaranthus includes about 60 species, some of them being cultivated for
more than 5.000 years for their grains (A. caudatus, A. cruentus, A. hypochondriacus;
all from Central/Southern America) or leaves (A. blitum/lividus; Central Europe, A. dubius;
Central America, A. tricolor; India/Southern China).
Amaranths, despite having been neglected over many years, are a promising food crop,
mainly due to their resistances to heat, drought, diseases and pests. In addition, the nutritional
value of both the seeds and leaves is excellent. With regard to their high grain
protein concentration of 14-18%, they are superior to corn and other major cereal foods
which contain only about 10%, the lysine level in the grain protein being double that of
wheat (NRC 1989; SAUNDERS and BECKER 1984), and the greens containing various
vitamins and trace elements (SREELATHAKUMARY and PETER 1993). Simultaneously, the
genus contains two of the most wide-spread and severe weeds world-wide, A. retroflexus
and A. viridis.
For an initial survey on the applicability of (identical primer combinations of) AFLPs on
more than a dozen species – in which it is sometimes difficult to distinguish, e.g., the
weedy A. retroflexus from genetic resources such as A. hybridus and A. powellii by col-
1 Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK)
Genebank Department, Molecular Markers Research Group
Corrensstr. 3
D-06466 Gatersleben, Germany
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