Chloroplast DNA polymorphism revealed by a fast, nonradioactive method in Beta vulgaris ssp. maritima (original) (raw)

L n contrast to the frequent use of chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) as a phylogenetic marker, few population studies of cpDNA diversity have been realized so far. As cpDNA is maternally inherited in most Angiosperms (Sears 1980; Corriveau &Coleman 1988), it might prove as good a cytoplasmic marker for plant population studies as mitochondrial DNA is for animal populations. The plant mitochondrial genome, although highly polymorphic in structure, cannot easily be used in such population studies because its mode of evolution is still not well understood (Palmer & Herbon 1988; Andre et al. 1992; Yamato et al. 1992). On the other hand, cpDNA has already been used to measure seed migration rates in Trifolium pratense (Milligan 1991). The main drawback of cpDNA is its conservative mode of evolution (Curtis & Clegg 1984) generating a low level of polymorphism. Analysis of restriction patterns of purified cpDNA is the most efficient method to assess cpDNA variability, as the whale length of the cpDNA genome is thereby checked for polymorphic restriction sites. This approach, however, is not suitable for population studies, as it requires rather high amounts of DNA and extraction of pure cpDNA is relatively difficult and time-consuming. An alternative approach is to hybridize heterologous cloned cpDNA sequences to restricted total DNA. This method, which allows for the mapping of restriction sites, is one of the most accurate for phylogenetic studies. The drawback here is that some cpDNA sequences are difficult to clone

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