DNA amplification variation within cultivars of turf-type Couch grasses (Cynodon spp.).

Arbitrary primed polymorphic DNA was employed to investigate relationships among 18 Cynodon cultivars available in Australia. Thirteen out of the 20 random primers screened gave reproducible banding patterns for all samples. The cultivars showed a high level of polymorphism. Each cultivar was readily distinguishable with a combination of primers. One primer was able to discriminate between all the cultivars except Tifdwarf and its `off-type' sample. The Cynodon grasses used in this study separated into two distinct groups based on a distance matrix calculated from the DNA amplification data. The results clearly demonstrate a methodology based on arbitrary primed DNA amplification can be used to identify and fingerprint Cynodon cultivars.