Evaluation of genetic variability in Algerian clover (Trifolium L.) based on morphological and isozyme markers

Abstract

Genetic variation within and among fifteen Trifolium species represented by 157 accessions was assessed using morphological and isozyme markers. Most of morphometric characters contributed to the discrimination of the species. No significant relationship between the environment of the collection site and morphological features was detected. The two isozyme systems analysed, esterase (EST) and glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT), proved polymorphic. Phenotype diversity of isozyme markers ranged from 0.07 to 0.61 with an average of 0.31 based on the polymorphic information content. The pairwise Jaccard's similarity coefficient ranged between 0.10 and 0.60, indicating that the collection represents genetically diverse species. A considerable number of species-specific zymograms were detected which can be used for the species identification. The clustering pattern of isozyme markers was incongruent with the groupings based on quantitative traits. The rich isozyme variability present among the Algerian clover species indicates that they can provide good gene resources for breeding.

Keywords

• clover
• isozymes
• morphology
• page
• polymorphism