Biochemical Assessment of the Relationships of Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter with some Wild Eragrostis Species (Gramineae)

Biochemical studies of 11 cultivars of the Ethiopian cereal tef, Eragrostis tef(Zucc.) Trotter, and of 14 accessions of wild Eragrostis species were made by chromatography of leaf phenolics and electrophoresis of seed proteins. The data from both studies were analysed by appropriate numerical taxonomic methods and compared. Great variation was found in E. tef, and different cultivars showed similarities to several different wild Eragrostis species, suggesting the possibility of many species, particularly E. pilosa but also E. aethiopica and E. barrelieri and possibly also E. curvula and E. cilianensis, being involved in the evolution of tef. The classification of E. diplachnoides in a distinct genus, Diandrochloa de Winter, is supported.