RAPD Analysis in Crocus sativus L. Accessions and Related Crocus Species

In the present paper a Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) investigation was carried out on DNAs from five Crocus sativus L. (saffron) accessions cultivated in different countries and on six closely related Crocus species. Aims of the study are to check whether cultivated saffron has maintained a constant genomic organisation and to clarify its relationships with possible ancestor species. For the fifteen primers, which produced positive results, DNAs of saffron corms from different accessions present the same amplification pattern, in accordance with the similar DNA content and base composition pointed out in previous studies. The amplification of the seven Crocus species DNAs with twenty-one primers provided 217 repeatable and interpretable fragments, which were scored for presence/absence and employed for a cluster analysis. Results indicated that C. sativus is very closely related to C. cartwrightianus and also similar to C. thomasii. This result, concurring with part of the previous evidence, would rule out the hypothesis of close relationships between C. sativus and C. pallasii.