Genetic Diversity Based on Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and Its Relationship with the Performance of Diploid Potato Hybrids
RAPD analysis was conducted on in vitro plantlets of Solanum phureja Juz. & Buk. monoploids and diploid heterozygous pollinators. Among 60 decamer primers screened, 11 did not show polymorphism while some primers produced complex banding patterns or faint bands that were difficult to score. Genetic distance estimates were based on 151 polymorphic RAPD markers of 208 bands scored using 33 primers. Simple matching and Jaccard coefficients were calculated to estimate genetic similarity (GS). Genetic distance (GD=1-GS) among genotypes ranged from 0.0 to 0.664. Cluster analysis yielded groups of genotypes that were consistent with known genomic compositions or genetic relationships inferred from their pedigree. Field evaluation of 14 F1 families resulting from five S. phureja doubled monoploids (DMs) crossed to three heterozygous pollinators (IDs) revealed significant differences in total tuber number, total tuber yield, average tuber mass, and vigor. Total tuber yield per family ranged from 174 to 404 g per plant and was significantly lower than the control `Kennebec'. The general combining ability of DM BARD 13-14/202 was superior to other DM parents. Specific combining ability was observed in progeny of AD2-4/3s.8 H ID 4. Among male parents, ID 8 performed better than ID 4 or ID 5. Using simple matching, the largest parental genetic distance was always associated with the highest total tuber yield among progenies of DM parents. A similar trend was obtained using Jaccard coefficients. Based on our results, RAPD markers may facilitate the identification of diverse parents to maximize the expression of heterosis in S. phureja hybrids.