As a prelude to exploit DNA methylation-induced variation, we hypothesized the existence of substantial natural DNA methylation variation and its association with economically important traits in dolichos bean, and tested it using amplified methylation polymorphism-polymerase chain reaction (AMP-PCR) assay. DNA methylation patterns such as internal, external, full and non-methylation were amplified in a set of 64 genotypes using 26 customized randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) primers containing 5′CCGG3′ sequence. The 64 genotypes included 60 germplasm accessions (GA), two advanced breeding lines (ABLs) and two released varieties. The ABLs and released varieties are referred to as improved germplasm accessions (IGA) in this study. The association of DNA methylation patterns with economically important traits such as days to 50% flowering, raceme length, fresh pods plant⁻¹, fresh pod yield plant⁻¹ and 100-fresh seed weight was explored. At least 50 genotypes were polymorphic for DNA methylation patterns at 10 loci generated by seven of the 26 RAPD primers. The GA and IGA differed significantly for total, full and external methylation and the frequency of methylation was higher in GA compared to that in IGA. The genotypes with external methylation produced longer racemes than those with full, internal and non-methylation in that order at polymorphic RAPD-11–242 locus. High pod yielding genotypes had significantly lower frequency of full methylation than low yielding ones. On the contrary, the genotypes that produced heavier fresh seeds harboured higher frequencies of total and externally methylated loci than those that produced lighter fresh seeds.

作为利用 DNA 甲基化诱导变异的前奏，我们假设存在大量的天然 DNA 甲基化变异及其与长戟豆重要经济性状的关联，并使用扩增甲基化多态性聚合酶链反应 (AMP-PCR) 测定对其进行了测试。使用包含 5'CCGG3' 序列的 26 个定制随机扩增多态 DNA (RAPD) 引物，在一组 64 种基因型中扩增 DNA 甲基化模式，例如内部、外部、完全和非甲基化。64 个基因型包括 60 个种质资源（GA）、两个高级育种系（ABL）和两个发布品种。在本研究中，ABL 和发布的品种被称为改良种质资源（IGA）。DNA 甲基化模式与重要经济性状的关联，例如开花 50% 的天数，^-1，探索植物新鲜豆荚产量^-1和 100-新鲜种子重量。至少有 50 种基因型在 10 个位点的 DNA 甲基化模式是多态的，由 26 种 RAPD 引物中的 7 种产生。GA 和 IGA 在总甲基化、完全甲基化和外部甲基化方面存在显着差异，并且 GA 中的甲基化频率高于 IGA 中的甲基化频率。在多态性 RAPD-11-242 位点，具有外部甲基化的基因型比具有完全、内部和非甲基化的基因型产生更长的消旋体。高产荚果基因型的全甲基化频率显着低于低产荚果基因型。相反，产生较重的新鲜种子的基因型比产生较轻的新鲜种子的基因型具有更高频率的总甲基化和外部甲基化位点。