Euphytica 105: 25–32, 1999. © 1999 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands. 25 Genetic relationship among 19 accessions of six species of Chenopodium L., by Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA fragments (RAPD) Paulo M. Ruas 1,2,∗ , Alejandro Bonifacio 1,3 , Claudete F. Ruas 1,2 , Daniel J. Fairbanks 1 & William R. Andersen 1 1 Department of Botany and Range Science, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, U.S.A.; 3 Bolivian Institute of Agriculture Technology (IBTA), Bolivia; 2 Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Londrina, Paran´ a, Brazil; ( ∗ author and address for correspondence: Departamento de Biologia Geral, Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Londrina, Paran´ a, Brazil – 86051-990) Received 22 January 1998; accepted 23 July 1998 Key words: Chenopodium, genetic relationship, molecular markers, RAPD Summary The RAPD technique was used to identify genetic relationships in 19 accessions, including six species of the genus Chenopodium. A dendrogram was constructed using UPGMA from 399 DNA markers. The molecular data clustered species and accessions into five different groups. Group 1 with three cultivated varieties of C. nuttalliae, Group 2 included eight cultivars and two wild varieties of C. quinoa, Group 3 with C. berlandieri and C. album, Group 4 with two accessions of C. pallidicaule, and Group 5 with 2 accessions of C. ambrosioides. The polymorphic patterns generated by RAPD profiles showed different degrees of genetic relationship among the species studied. A low level of intraspecific variation was found within the accessions of C. quinoa, C. nuttalliae, and C. pallidicaule. The RAPD markers were found to be a useful tool for detecting genetic variation within the genus Chenopodium. Introduction The genus Chenopodium (Chenopodiaceae) comprises about 250 species (Giusti, 1970) that includes herba- ceous, suffrutescent, and arborescent perennials, al- though most of the species are colonizing annuals, dis- tributed in the Americas, Asia, and Europe. The genus is characterized by small perfect or rarely unisexual flowers with the perianth five-parted, rarely three or four parted or lobed. The flowers have five or fewer stamens and have didymous or oblong anthers. The style usually has two to five stigmas (Standley, 1916). Six species of Chenopodium are considered here (Ta- ble 1) three of which have economical importance, i.e., C. quinoa, C. pallidicaule, and C. nuttalliae. Chenopodium quinoa is utilized for human con- sumption as a grain crop, and the whole plant is used for animal feed in Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and Columbia. This species is native to South America and it has been introduced in the United States and Eu- rope, mainly in England and Denmark. Chenopodium quinoa has been used, on a very small scale, in the United States and England, for human consumption, and in Denmark, beyond of being used as grain crop, it is also used for animal feed. There is no clear information about the domestication of C. quinoa; however, it is supposed that this species was domes- ticated in different times and localities, such as Peru (5000 B.C.), Chile (3000 B.C.), and Bolivia (750 B.C.) by old civilizations. Following the Spanish conquest, the cultivation of C. quinoa was discouraged, possibly because of its importance in Inca society and religious belief (Galwey et al., 1990). Nowadays, C. quinoa has been exploited both as human food and as animal feedstuff due to its high level of lysine and methionine which usually show low content in cereal grains and legumes. Other importance of this crop is its adap- tation to marginal soils with problems of stoniness, poor drainage or excessively free drainage, low natural