Genetic Diversity of Snap Bean Cultivars Determined Using Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) Markers

Abstract

DNA extractions from 77 snap bean and 2 dry bean cultivars were evaluated for molecular polymorphisms. In total, 100 10-mer oligonuceotide primers were evaluated, and 31 primers that amplified clear and repeatable polymorphisms among bean cultivars were selected. These primers amplified a total of 49 polymorphisms between the cultivars and were used to differentiate the cultivars and evaluate the genetic diversity between them. All cultivars were clustered according to genetic similarities using GenStat 5.0 software, and groupings of pod types were observed when cultivars were separated based on a dissimilarity index. The RAPD polymorphisms will be useful for cultivar determination, seed purity testing and estimation of genetic distances.