The perennial grass, Arundo donax, has shown potential as a promising biomass crop. However, it has become invasive in a number of areas and declared a noxious weed in some jurisdictions, making proposals to grow A. donax for commercial use in Australia controversial. Evidence of asexual reproduction and the presence of a single genetic clone in Australia was investigated, as such characteristics would indicate a limited risk of escape and invasion. Using amplified fragment length polymorphism markers, the genetic diversity of 218 A. donax samples from across Australia was examined. The samples were found to separate into two distinct genetic groups, or clades. There was only a small amount of genetic diversity within a clade (0.9 and 1.5%). However, there was a larger difference between the clades of 19.8%, suggesting the presence of two distinct A. donax genotypes in Australia. The low level of genetic variation in Australian A. donax that was found in this study indicates that spread is essentially by vegetative means and suggests that if grown in areas where it is separated from natural water dispersal events, A. donax poses a low risk of becoming invasive.

中文翻译：

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澳大利亚巨型芦苇 (Arundo donax) 的遗传多样性

多年生草，Arundo donax，已显示出作为一种有前途的生物质作物的潜力。然而，它已在许多地区成为入侵物种，并在某些司法管辖区宣布为有害杂草，这使得在澳大利亚种植芦竹用于商业用途的建议存在争议。研究了澳大利亚无性繁殖和单一基因克隆存在的证据，因为这些特征表明逃逸和入侵的风险有限。使用扩增片段长度多态性标记，检查了来自澳大利亚各地的 218 个 A. donax 样本的遗传多样性。发现样本分为两个不同的遗传组或进化枝。一个进化枝中只有少量的遗传多样性（0.9% 和 1.5%）。然而，进化枝之间的差异更大，为 19.8%，表明澳大利亚存在两种不同的 A. donax 基因型。本研究中发现的澳大利亚芦笋遗传变异水平较低，这表明传播主要是通过植物方式进行的，并表明如果生长在与自然水传播事件分开的地区，芦笋造成的风险较低变得具有侵略性。