Chloroplast DNA markers for Echinochloa taxa

Summary The genus Echinochloa (Poaceae) includes numerous problematic weeds over a wide range of ecoregions in the world. To date, molecular markers for species identification and assessing phylogenetic relationship are still limited in the genus Echinochloa. In this study, we developed seven chloroplast molecular markers based on divergent chloroplast regions of E. crus-galli and E. oryzicola. Furthermore, Marker #1 (psbA) was examined in more than 200 Echinochloa accessions and a phylogenetic tree grouped these Echinochloa accessions into four clades. Additionally, two different E. crus-galli varieties (E. crus-galli var. crus-galli, E. crus-galli var. praticola) and E. colona were successfully distinguished by this marker. The developed molecular markers contribute to better identification of Echinochloa taxa.