AFLP characterization of the Mexican pineapple germplasm collection

The Mexican pineapple germplasm collection represents the genetic diversity of cultivated pineapple [Ananas comosus (L.) Merr.] in that country and includes important genotypes from Hawaii, Ivory Coast, and Latin America. The collection has been partially characterized at the morphological level, but a molecular characterization has been lacking. With this aim, 39 genotypes of A. comosus var. comosus Coppens & Leal, two of A. comosus van bracteatus (Lindl) Coppens & Leal, two of A. comosus var. ananassoides (Baker) Coppens & Leal, and three from the related genus Bromelia L. were analyzed with a total of 169 amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers. A dendrogram representing the genetic relationships between these samples based on the AFLP results, showed a low level of diversity in the Mexican pineapple collection. In general, the molecular classification of the materials agreed well with the morphological classification. Several groups of genotypes showed distances of <0.03, whereas others thought to be similar based on morphological criteria were found to be distant. These results will allow more efficient use of the materials in the germplasm collection for breeding purposes and support the acquisition of genotypes that are scarce or lacking in the collection.