Genetic organization of aromatic rice as revealed by RAPD markers: A case study in conserving crop genetic resources on farm

Summary On-farm conservation of landraces is one strategy to maintain the diversity of crop germplasm in local agro-ecosystems. The genetic structures of landraces are a key biological factor in on-farm conservation strategies. To accumulate a genetic understanding that will help establish a methodology for on-farm conservation, the genetic organization of landraces of aromatic rice in Namdinh province, Vietnam was analyzed using RAPD markers. Eighteen RAPD markers detected 38 genotypes among 320 aromatic rice samples growing at 23 sites of farmers' fields and in the experimental field that derived from 13 sites. Geographical variation was observed in the frequency of genotypes, whereas individual landraces could not be distinguished by RAPD markers. Genetic variation within a site was generally smaller than that among sites. The degree of genetic similarity of the plants in a site varied among sites, as did the number of genotypes. Changes in genetic structure over time were investigated using experimental populations each derived from approximately 30 plants from 13 farmers' fields. The differences detected by DNA markers between the genetic structural in the farmers' fields and those in experimental fields suggested that genetic drift is a major cause of these differences. The present study suggests that DNA markers are an essential means to monitor the genetic structures of heterogeneous landraces of rice, and are useful for selecting study sites for the on-farm conservation of genetic diversity as well as for successive monitoring.