PARENT SESSION
Poster Session #44: Plant Ecology II.
Friday, August 10, 2001. Presentation from 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM. Exhibition Hall

An AFLP methodology for the accurate identification of plant clones.

Douhovnikoff, Vladimir¹, ¹

ABSTRACT- In the development of ecological theory it is essential to acknowledge the influence of clonal growth where it applies. With the advent of new molecular genetic techniques, we believe it is now possible to reliably identify clones and evaluate the importance of plant cloning. Molecular genetic methods allow for identification of clones independent of environmental variation, they can be easily tested for accuracy and reproducibility, and they can give results after a single collection of vegetative material from the field. For the identification of clones, we believe that AFLPs are the genetic fingerprinting method of choice. However, to accurately identify clones it is essential to verify that the AFLP methodology used has an adequate level of resolution, and to calibrate the similarity threshold that distinguishes genetically similar genets from true clones. We have developed a unique methodology for resolution verification and threshold calibration using greenhouse grown plant siblings. Siblings are genetically similar but rarely identical. Therefore, any reliable test of clonality must be able to resolve siblings as unique genets. Also, the maximum similarity value between pairs of siblings serves as an objective point at which to calibrate the clone identification threshold. In a field test of a Salix exigua stand we found our AFLP methodology to be a powerful tool for the identification of plant clones.

KEY WORDS: clone, AFLP, Salix exigua, clonal growth