Phenotypic and Molecular (RAPD) Differentiation of Four Infraspecific Groups of Cultivated Flax (Linum usitatissimum L. subsp. usitatissimum)

Abstract

Based on agro-botanical characterization data, 3101 accessions of cultivated flax (Linum usitatissimum L. subsp. usitatissimum) from the flax collection held by Plant Gene Resources of Canada (PGRC) were grouped into four infraspecific groups according to the classification proposed by Kulpa and Danert (1962) . The objective of this study was to investigate phenotypic and RAPD variation within and among the four groups to better understand phenotypic and genotypic differentiation within the genepool of cultivated flax. The results of the phenotypic characterization of characters defining the convarieties (capsule dehiscence, plant height, technical stem length and 1000 seed weight) and of other quantitative (petal width, oil content in seeds) and qualitative (RAPD, petal colour, anther colour, petal longitudinal folding and margin folding, ciliation of capsule septa, seed colour) are presented using descriptive statistics. The most frequent convariety in the PGRC genebank was intermediate flax (convar. usitatissimum; 80.7 %), followed by fibre flax (convar. elongatum Vav. et Ell. in Wulff; 13.4%), large-seeded flax (convar. mediterraneum [Vav. ex Ell.] Kulpa et Danert; 5.6%) and dehiscent flax (convar. crepitans [Boenningh.] Kulpa et Danert; 0.3%).Analyses of RAPD data and two qualitative characters (longitudinal and marginal folding of petals) did not show marked differences among the proposed convarieties. However, differences among the convarieties in quantitative traits defining them (plant height, technical stem length and seed size) were considerable. Patterns of variation among the convarieties for other quantitative characters (petal width and seed oil content), as well as the frequencies of character expressions of four qualitative characters (petal colour, anther colour, ciliation of capsule septa and seed colour) were significantly associated with the four proposed convarieties, underlining the phenotypic and genotypic validity of this grouping. The patterns of geographic distribution of the convarieties and important characters showed that certain convarieties dominate in some areas of origin. The infraspecific classification and the presented characterization data increase the transparency of genetic diversity available in cultivated flax and in particular in the PGRC flax collection.

SSR and EST-SSR-based population genetic structure of Linum L. (Linaceae) species in Iran

“…In recent years, molecular marker systems such as randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP), inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR), simple sequence repeat (SSR) and inter-retrotransposon amplified polymorphism (IRAP) have been used to measure genetic variation and relationships in cultivars and landraces of flax (Everaert et al 2001;Wiesnerova and Wiesner 2004;Diederichsen and Fu 2006;Fu 2006;Uysal et al 2010;Bickel et al 2011;Deng et al 2011;Ž iarovská et al 2012;Soto-Cerda et al 2013;Sheidai et al 2014a, b).…”

Genetic evidence for early flax domestication with capsular dehiscence

“…In contrast, cultivated flax has variable seed dormancy, grows fast with large variation in the generative plant parts, and has early flowering, almost indehiscent capsules and large seeds. Interestingly, some of these domestication syndromes (Hammer 1984) have been used to group cultivated flax such as dehiscent cultivated flax with spontaneously opening capsules and winter flax with a vernalization requirement (Elladi 1940;Dillman 1953;Kulpa and Danert 1962;Diederichsen and Fu 2006). These intraspecific classifications should not only facilitate flax germplasm management and utilization, but also enhance genetic studies of flax domestication history.…”

Pedigrees and genetic base of flax cultivars registered in Canada

“…In the last two decades, most of these Canadian collections (over 90%) have been resampled to be characterized and evaluated for morphologic, phenological, and agronomic characters such as plant height, seed color, seed weight, seed oil content, fatty acid profile, seed coat mucilage content, fiber content, adaptation to dry growing conditions, disease resistance, seed vigour, seed lignin content, and so on (Diederichsen 2001;Diederichsen and Raney 2006;Diederichsen and Fu 2008;Diederichsen and Ulrich 2009). Molecular markers of randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) have also been used to evaluate the genetic variation and geographic patterns of more than 2700 flax accessions and cultivars (Fu et al 2002(Fu et al , 2003Fu 2005Fu , 2006Diederichsen and Fu 2006). Large-scale characterization and evaluation demonstrate a wide range of diversity of economically relevant traits within and among accessions is a valuable source of genetic variation for breeding (Diederichsen and Fu 2008).…”