Genetic relatedness among rabbiteye blueberry (Vaccinium ashei) cultivars determined by DNA amplification using single primers of arbitrary sequence

Abstract

Most improved cultivars of commercially important hexaploid rabbiteye blueberry were developed from only four native selections collected from the wild; thus, many cultivars are closely related by lineage. The consanguinity among major cultivars is a potential problem, as the rabbiteye blueberries are highly self-incompatible natural outcrossers with potential inbreeding depression. We investigated the extent of genetic relatedness among 15 improved cultivars and four wild selections by the technique of random amplified polymorphic DNA, also referred to as arbitrarily primed polymerase chain reaction. Single decanucleotides of arbitrary sequence revealed polymorphism among cultivars and wild selections. Genetic distances were estimated based on the amount of band sharing. Cluster analysis of genetic distance estimates tended to group siblings with each other and with one or both parents. The average genetic distance between improved cultivars decreased relative to the four wild parental selections, which might indicate progression towards inbreeding. The significance of increased genetic relatedness among the improved cultivars of rabbiteye blueberry and the application of molecular methods in breeding and commercial cultivation is discussed.

Genetic Relationships among Lowbush Blueberry Genotypes as Determined by Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA Analysis

“…Our sampling error was comparable to other studies of ployploid species with RAPD data sets of ≈100 bands. (Aruna et al, 1993;Levi and Rowland, 1997;Porebski and Catling, 1998).…”

“…sp. ), RAPD markers have been applied in genetic fingerprinting, estimation of relatedness, verification of parentage and sorting out cultivar ambiguities (Aruna et al, 1993 andLevi and Rowland, 1997;and Polashock and Vorsa, 1997). The technique has also been used to establish an initial genetic linkage map for diploid V. darrowi Camp (Qu and Hancock, 1997;Rowland and Levi, 1994) and RAPD markers have been used in studies to determine the level and mode of heterozygosity transmitted via 2n gametes in an interspecific cross of diploid V. darrowi and autotetraploid highbush blueberry, V. corymbosum L. (Qu and Hancock, 1995;Vorsa and Rowland, 1997).…”

Development of ISSR markers for genetic diversity studies in Vaccinium angustifolium

“…The purpose of this study was to examine the level of genetic variation among 43 wild lowbush blueberry clones collected from 10 communities of four Canadian provinces and the cultivar Fundy, with ISSR-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) fingerprints. Although the scientific literature does include reports of RAPD analyses for lowbush blueberry (Burgher et al 2002), rabbiteye blueberry V. ashei Reade (Aruna et al 1993(Aruna et al , 1995, cranberry V. macrocarpon Ait. (Debnath 2005(Debnath , 2007b, bilberry V. myrtillus L. (Albert et al 2003(Albert et al , 2004(Albert et al , 2008, lingonberry (Garkava-Gustavsson et al 2005), bog whortleberry V. uliginosum L. (Albert et al 2005) and for highbush blueberry V. corymbosum L. (Levi and Rowland 1997), none is available with such an extensive set of lowbush blueberry wild clones collected from different geographical areas as has been assembled for the present study.…”

Development of EST-PCR Markers for DNA Fingerprinting and Genetic Relationship Studies in Blueberry (Vaccinium, section Cyanococcus)

“…These maps are based primarily on RAPD markers, except that the maps for the diploid testcross populations, segregating for cold hardiness in the cold acclimated state and chilling requirement [described in Rowland et al (1999) and Panta et al (in press)], include a few inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) PCR markers, in addition to the RAPD markers. RAPD markers have also been used for DNA fi ngerprinting and for assessing genetic relationships among cultivars and wild selections of the major commercially grown types of blueberries: the highbush , lowbush (Burgher et al, 2002), and rabbiteye types (Aruna et al, 1993(Aruna et al, , 1995.…”