Genetic diversity among Chinese landraces and cultivars of broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum) revealed by the polymerase chain reaction

Broomcorn millet is widely grown in Asia and Europe. This cereal is a very efficient user of soil water and is particularly adapted to sandy, dry soils and dry weather conditions. As one of the oldest crops in ancient China, it has played an important role in the formation and development of Chinese civilisation and culture. It is still one of the major grain crops in northern China where harsh climate conditions prevail. The genetic diversity and relationships among 32 accessions of broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum) from the major areas for broomcorn millet growing in China, in addition to six Indian landraces, were evaluated by PCR analysis with six introns splice junction or long random primers. A total of 56 DNA fragments across all materials were scored; among them, 42 (75%) were polymorphic as indicated by their absence in at least 1 of the 38 accessions tested, indicating a high variation at the DNA level among those accessions. Pair‐wise genetic dissimilarity (Dice’s coefficient) ranged from 0.0286 to 0.4737. The clustering largely corroborated with the geographical location of the origins of those accessions. The data indicated that the glutinous/non‐glutinous trait is also associated with the clustering. Majorities of the landraces from Yulin of Shaanxi were clustered into five groups, and majorities of the cultivars or breeding lines from Inner Mongolia were clustered into three groups. The results of this study suggest that the landraces from Yulin of Shaanxi were extensively utilised in the breeding programme of Shanxi, whereas this feature was not observed in the breeding programme of Inner Mongolia.