Applications of the AFLP molecular genetic marker in Entomology

Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) is a novel molecular fingerprinting technique based on PCR reaction and the RFLP technique. The superiority of AFLP analysis resides in its rich polymorphism, good stability and reliability, high power of reproducibility, ability to work with smaller quantities of DNA and no requirement for prior sequence knowledge of the genome. AFLP has been used extensively for the construction of genetic mapping, genetic diversity studies, phylogenetic study and taxonomy, genetic breeding and qualitative judgment, location of target genes and so on. This review describes its principles and applications in entomology.