BASED ON SINGLE-DOSE RESTRICTION FRAGMENTS

(Under the direction of Andrew H. Paterson) Bermudagrass (Cynodon sp.) is a perennial, warm season grass that is widely used in the turfgrass industry because of its rapid growth rate, its ability to tolerate very close mowing and its potential to generate a variety of textures needed for multiple uses. Genome mapping of this organism has proceeded at a slow pace however, due to its polyploid nature, which imposes limitations on conventional strategies. This study describes the first linkage maps of two bermudagrass species, Cynodon dactylon and Cynodon transvaalensis, based on single-dose restriction fragments (SDRFs). The maps cover 1978 cM and 973.4 cM respectively, with average marker spacing of 15.5 cM and 17.2 cM. We also demonstrate the utility of these maps for use in determining attributes of the bermudagrass genome, including recombinational length and mode of inheritance. Finally, comparisons of these maps to the genomes of Sorghum and rice reveal regions of conserved gene order. Index words: Cynodon, bermudagrass, autopolyploid, single-dose restriction fragments, genome, linkag