Analysis of Genetic Diversity and Phylogenetic Relationship of Kenaf Germplasm by SRAP

The genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationship were analyzed by sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) marker system on 84 varieties of kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) germplasm collected from 26 countries and regions around the world. Twenty-six of total 225 SRAP primer combinations showed polymorphisms. Analysis of 84 kenaf varieties by using the 26 polymorphic primer combinations had identified a total of 329 reproducible bands. Among them, 248 bands (75.4%) were polymorphic. The number of polymorphic fragments produced by an individual primer combination ranged from 5 to 15, with an average of 9.54 bands. DNA fragment size ranged from 300 bp to 1500 bp. Cluster analysis of the SRAP fingerprints clearly separated the 84 varieties into three distinct groups: cultivar, wild, and intermediate types. The cultivars were further delineated into four subgroups. High genetic similarity was found among varieties from the same geographic region, resulting from the fact that kenaf is a plant dominated by cross-pollination. This research indicated that SRAP molecular marker could be used to perform kenaf varieties identification, genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationship assessment, and germplasm evaluation.