Foxtail millet is not only a very useful experimental crop, but also a fodder crop and a staple food of people who live on the marginal agricultural lands, and it supplies high-quality protein for food products and industrial materials. However, leaf rust greatly reduces foxtail millet yields in susceptible varieties when weather conditions favor rust spread and development. Therefore, it is necessary to use molecular markers detecting and marking resistance genes. Compared with other molecular markers, AFLP maker is more efficient and powerful in the study of foxtail millet. In this study, AFLP analysis of 131 F2 individuals was performed and three AFLP makers were found to be linked to the rust resistance gene, with the genetic distances of 9.2, 9.8 and 12.4 cM, respectively. Cloning of rust re- sistance genes is of great importance and meaning in studying rust resistance of foxtail millet in the future. Furthermore, we may convert specific AFLP markers into single locus PCR markers, such as sequence characterised amplified region （SCAR） markers or cleaved amplified polymorphic site （CAPS） markers.
Li ZhiyongDong LiBai HuiWang YongfangQuan JianzhangDong Zhiping
