The aim of this research was to study the effects of recurrent selection on the genetic variability of UNB-2U popcorn population after three cycles of recurrent selection (mass selection, full-sib selection and S1 families) based on RAPD markers in 30 progenies from each selection cycle. There was no significant variation between the C0 and C2 cycles based on RAPD, showing that the use of different recurrent selection strategies in the cycles did not decrease genetic variability, due to the size of the population selected in the different cycles. The significant difference observed between mean values of C1 and C2 cycles was attributed to the smaller population size in C1 generation. Individuals were distributed into three large clusters and 20% of the individuals were placed in a group different from their original cycle. This can be explained by alleles' transference from one generation to another and by the relationship between cycles.
genetic variability; population size; selection pressure; Zea mays; RAPD