Genetic diversity of prolamines in Agropyron mongolicum Keng indigenous to northern China

Genetic variability, based on prolamines, was studied among 40 populations of Agropyron mongolicum Keng that were collected from the extensive geographic areas of northern China. A high level of genetic diversity was detected in these A. mongolicum populations. In total, 81 electrophoretic bands were observed following acid polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (A-PAGE), among which 20, 16, 10, and 35 allelic variants were separated into alpha-, beta-, gamma-, and omega-fractions of prolamine. Each A. mongolicum population had unique electrophoretic pattern, which exhibited enough genetic diversity for identification and classification of populations in A. mongolicum. The proportion of diversity among and within geographic regions from which the populations of A. mongolicum originated indicated that 52.1% of the total variation was found within regions, and 47.9% among regions. According to the dentrogram based on the Nei' genetic distance matrix, the A. mongolicum populations from different regions were distinctly clarified. At Nei's distance of 0.75, the populations of A. mongolicum were divided into two groups. The UPGMA phenogram and the principal coordinate analysis (PCA) indicated that the populations from similar eco-geographical situations were clustered together.