XVI International Botanical Congess

Genetic diversity and relationships of 37 accessions of Ipomoea, representing 10 species of series Batatas, were examined using ISSR, cpDNA PCR-RFLP, and AFLP markers. Over 189 ISSR loci were detected with 15 primers. RFLP of cpDNA revealed 47 informative restriction site- and length-mutations. A total of 1182 bands were scored using six pairs of AFLP primers, of which 915 were parsimony informative. All three data sets revealed similar relationships at the interspecific level. However, the high polymorphism of AFLP resulted in the best separation of intraspecific accessions. This study showed that I. trifida was the most closely related to sweet potato and I. tiliacea was the next closest relative, whereas I. ramosissima and I. umbraticola were the most distantly related to sweet potato in the series Batatas.