AFLP vs PCR-RFLP

[Peter Werner]

I'm a graduate student who is kind of new to molecular biology
techniques. I'm working with a researcher who is using AFLPs to get
data on the population structure of fungal populations.

I'm trying to better understand AFLPs, but I haven't found any
liturature that seems to provide any kind of basic introduction. I'm
told that AFLPs are like RFLPs, but that they are derived from
sequences that have first been amplified. However, I'm completely
unclear on how in that case they would be any different from PCR-RFLPs.

Actually, I'm unclear on an even more fundamental level on how
amplification affects sequencing at all. I was under the impression
that PCR simply gave you a larger quantity of the same sequences that
you started with. How then, would AFLP and PCR-RFLP differ from
garden-variety RFLP carried out without amplification?

These questions must seem incredibly silly to many of you who are
thoroughly experienced with these techniques, but keep in mind that
quite often, college biology curriculum is really behind the curve when
it comes to molecular technique. Undergraduate courses often teach
nothing about the finer points of molecular techniques (other than
simple protein electrophoresis), yet we are expected to be able to
understand and use molecular techniques as grad students.

Peter

-- 
Peter Werner
Graduate Student, Mycology
San Francisco State University

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