Allozyme variation within and between three populations of browntop(Agrostis capillaris)

Abstract

Abstract Allozyme variation in the tetraploid browntop (Agrostis capillaris) cultivar ‘Grasslands Muster’, and two resident hill country browntop populations was investigated. The aim was to develop a set of genetic markers that would allow this cultivar to be reliably distinguished from the resident populations, enabling persistence of this cultivar in hill country pastures to be monitored following oversowing. Screening of 17 enzyme systems yielded three polymorphic loci: Gpi; Pgm; and Mdh. For Gpi, 12 alleles were found among the three populations sampled, allele frequencies ranging from 0 to 0.245. Pgm showed six alleles, and frequencies ranged from 0 to 0.792. Mdh could only be analysed in terms of phenotype frequencies, and four phenotypes were recognised, with frequencies ranging from 0 to 0.6. Pairwise G‐tests and the calculation of geometric distances between the populations on the basis of this data suggested that allele frequencies at the loci Gpi and Pgm differ sufficiently between ‘Grasslands...