Assessment of Genetic Diversity and Identification of Korean Wheat Varieties using RAPD Markers

Eleven RAPD primers were assessed to analyze genetic diversity of Korean wheat varieties and to develop DNA marker for cultivar identification. The average of the number of polymorphic bands was 5.2 and PIC values showed 0.48, respectively. Ten major clades were presented by phylogenetic analysis. Three cultivars containing Uri, Hanbeak and Jonong were distinct from the others in the phylogenetic dendrogram. Seven cultivar-specific fragments were detected from 11 RAPD fingerprinting among 35 wheat cultivars and they were sequenced. Four Korean wheat cultivars, Eunpa, Jopoom, Yeonbaek and Jeokjoong, were identified newly by four markers, 84, 173, 174 and KWSM011. We convince that these new DNA markers are useful for cultivar fingerprinting and are applied to marker-assisted selection in wheat breeding program.