2008 Volume 58 Issue 1 Pages 71-75
Petunia axillaris complex and P. integrifolia complex consist of three subspecies (ssp. axillaris, ssp. parodii and ssp. subandina) and two species (P. integrifolia and P. inflata), respectively. Since these taxa within each complex can only be distinguished by the flower morphology, it would be useful to discriminate them by DNA markers. In this study, we sequenced the 19th intron and the 20th exon of the PolA1 gene, a single gene encoding the largest subunit of RNA polymerase I, and showed clear differences between P. axillaris complex and P. integrifolia complex, and also among all the taxa within each complex. These sequence variations will be promising to develop PCR-based markers to discriminate taxa within P. axillaris complex and P. integrifolia complex.