Genetic diversity of wild relatives of foxtail millet distributed in the major foxtail millet production regions of China

Representive populations of Setaria viridis and S.glauca,wild relatives of foxtail millet (S.italica),which were collected in the major foxtail millet production regions of northern China,were analyzed with starch gel electrophoresis of allozymes.The data of 21 loci of 12 allozymes (AAT,ADH,AMP,DIA,GDH,IDH,MDH,ME,PGD,GPI,PGM,SKD) showed that green foxtail (S.viridis) had higher genetic variability compared with other annual selfpollinated plants.AAT3,PGD and PGM were monomorphic in all the materials.IDH1 was not expressed in S.glauca.The results indicated that there were considerable differences between various green foxtail entries from different geographic regions and foxtail millet.Cluster analysis revealed the relationships between genetic variability of green foxtail and geographic regions.The results supported the view that foxtail millet and green foxtail should be classified into one species,i.e.Setaria italica subsp.italica and S.italica subsp.viridis.The implication of the present results in assessing the ecological safety of transgenic crops was also discussed.