Genetic variation among Amorphophallus sp. from Northern Thailand and their glucomannan content

Abstract

This study investigated the genetic variations among different accessions of Amorphophallus sp. collected in northern regions of Thailand. Forty-tree samples were characterized by RAPD with four primers (ERIC1R, ERIC 2, BOXA1R, RPO1) the data from which were used to calculate genetic distances which were then visualized using multidimensional scaling and cladogram. The psbM-trnD region of their chloroplast genome was also sequenced and phylogenetic relationships were determined using parsimony analysis. In addition, glucomannan content was determined to find the relationship between genetic variation and glucomannan content. The results from the RAPD analysis show that the genetic distance values vary between 0.075 and 0.949 and that A. muelleri can be separated from A. paeoniifolius. However, the separation of the other species was ambiguous. The DNA sequence data suggested the presence of 5 different clades. All genetic data indicated that genetic variation was high. Glucomannan content was between 1.53-65.78% (w/w) depending on the species and the regions of origin. As a result, these markers appear to be suitable for the use as selection tools aiming at improving the industrial production of konjac glucomannan