1 GENETIC SIMILARITY REVEALED WITH RAPD AND DAF MARKERS IN SOME MAIZE INBREDS

Knowledge of the genetic relationship among breeding materials could help to avoid the risk for an increasing uniformity in the elite germplasm and ensure long-term selection gains (Messmer et al., 1993). Molecular markers allow a direct comparison of the similarity of genotypes at the DNA level, such as RAPD and DAF, developed in our laboratory at Fundulea (Iuoraº, 1999). The plant ma-terial provided by breeding maize laboratory consisted in two heterotic groups of inbreds, related among them within each group. A number of 42 decamer primers were used in DNA-PCR amplification. Genetic similarity was calculated according to the formula proposed by Nei and Li in 1979 (Lübberstedt et al., 2000). Genetic similarity coefficient revealed a relationship among genotypes within each group. The increased number of bands in DAF patterns suggests that DAF analysis is more infor-mative than RAPD analysis. The unique RAPD and/or DAF bands confirmed by two different PCR amplifica-tions, or the lack of consistent bands comparative with other genotypes within the group could facilitate the selection of genotypes carrying new and valuable traits as a result of genetic recombination. Key words: molecular markers, maize inbred