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POPULATION DIVERSITY OF AELUROPUS LAGOPOIDES: A POTENTIAL CASH CROP FOR SALINE LAND

MUHAMMAD ZAHEER AHMED^1,2, SYED ABDULLAH GILANI², AKIRA KIKUCHI², SALMAN GULZAR¹_, M. AJMAL KHAN¹* AND KAZUO N. WATANABE²

Abstract: Aeluropus lagopoides is a salt tolerant grass which propagates both through genets and ramets. Six disjunct populations of A. lagopoides from Pakistan were selected to test the hypothesis that genetic diversity would be low within but higher among populations. Genetic diversity was investigated using RAPD markers. AMOVA showed higher genetic diversity within population (74%) and lower among population (26%). Furthermore, there were no genetic differences between coastal and inland populations. However, substantial (11%) genetic variation existed among populations of Sindh and Balochistan. Higher genetic diversity within populations are possibly due to physical disturbances that may provide more opportunity for establishment of seeds and increase the possibility of out crossing. Low diversity among populations or between coastal and inland populations indicates fragmentation of a single meta-population due to anthropogenic activity. Geographical barrier between Sindh and Balochistan, appears to mediate gene flow among populations of A. lagopoides.

¹Institute of Sustainable Halophyte Utilization (ISHU), University of Karachi, Karachi-75270, Pakistan

²Gene Research Center, Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences,  University of Tsukuba-Ibaraki-305-8572, 1-1-1 Tennoudai, Tsukuba, Japan