Diversity array technology (DArT) 56K analysis, confirmed by SNP markers, distinguishes one crested wheatgrass Agropyron species from two others found in Kazakhstan

Molecular genetic polymorphism in three species and four subspecies of crested wheatgrass, Agropyron, was studied using 56K diversity array technology (DArT), and the results confirmed with four selected SNP Amplifluor markers. In total, 82 accessions from three species-A. desertorum, A. fragile, and two subspecies of A. cristatum (ssp. cristatum and ssp. pectinatum)-were collected from various regions of Kazakhstan or ordered from Genebank in Russia, for morphological taxonomy and molecular phylogenetic analyses. In the DArT clone analysis, two Agropyron species with narrow linear spikes, A. fragile and A. desertorum, were found to be genetically similar and fell within a single clade (A). Both species share similar eco-geographical origins. All samples of A. cristatum including the two subspecies, ssp. pectinatum and ssp. cristatum, which have short broad spikes, were interspersed within two other clades, B and C, more genetically distanced from the other species. Four SNP Amplifluor markers developed for genetic fragments on different chromosomes confirmed the distinction between the studied species. These results, derived from multiple molecular markers, suggest that the morphological taxonomy of these Agropyron species should be re-considered carefully in the future.