Abstract
Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis-random amplified polymorphic
DNA (DGGE-RAPD) was used to overcome the main drawbacks of RAPD (i.e.,
the low levels of reproducibility and polymorphism). As a model, six
barley cultivars of known origin were tested for RAPD markers using
DGGE methodology with 29 arbitrary primers. Among a total of 418 bands
observed, as high as 99 were polymorphic. Comparison between
agarose-RAPD and DGGE-RAPD revealed that the latter was highly
reproducible and gave higher level of polymorphism and consequently
more markers. The relationships among barley cultivars derived from
this study based on DGGE-RAPD are consistent with the known lineage of
these cultivars. In conclusion, we recommend the use of DGGE-RAPD as an
alternative tool to the more costly DNA-based analysis in cultivar
identification in laboratories with limited funds.