Identification of molecular markers for selection of supermale (YY) asparagus plants

Abstract

The research was aimed to elaborate a method for selection of male plants (XY, YY) and female ones (XX) as well as for identification of supermale genotypes (YY) among male phenotypes. The population obtained by self-pollination of andromonoecious plants was analysed. In order to identify the bands differentiating the male from the female genotypes, Bulk Segregant Analysis (BSA) was carried out. Primers identified by BSA analysis were used for RAPD amplification on the template of the male and female individuals. Among the products obtained by the use of primer OPB-20, some bands were linked with sex. A band of about 700 bp was found in all female plants, and in 4 phenotypically male specimens. In the male plants, the band showed a much lower intensity, compared with the female specimens. It seems that this fragment can be linked to the X chromosome in the investigated specimens. In the female specimens with XX karyotype, template duplication occurs and hence the band intensity is twice as high as in the XY karyotype. Three male plants did not include the OPB-20-700 fragment so they could potentially have the supermale (YY) karyotype. If the obtained marker proved its usefulness for identification of supermale plants, it could become a valuable tool facilitating breeding work.

Development of a SCAR Marker for Sex Identification in Asparagus

“…Several sex-linked molecular markers have been identified from asparagus (Jiang and Sink, 1997;Lu et al, 2006;Gao et al, 2007;Gebler et al, 2007).…”

“…In case of asparagus, sex identification through the induction of early flowering was previously performed (Abe and Kameya, 1986;Yanosaka et al, 1989). Since molecular marker techniques were developed, male-or female-specific molecular markers also have been developed for asparagus breeding program (Jamsari et al, 2004;Lu et al 2006;Gao et al, 2007;Gebler et al, 2007).…”

Bulked segregant analysis of the pirarucu (Arapaima gigas) genome for identification of sex-specific molecular markers

“…Compared to other methods that have been used previously for identifying sequences present and absent from a genome, bulked segregant analysis with RAPD markers is a simple, low-cost approach, which has been used successfully in several recent studies aimed at identifying sex-specific markers in a number of species (Iturra et al, 1997;Lee and Donaldson, 2001;Gebler et al, 2007;Mariotti et al, 2009;Casas et al, 2011). Even in the current context where sequencing and resequencing of complete genomes are becoming widely accessible due to the greater capacity and reduced cost conferred by recent technological advances (Metzker, 2010), this methodology is still a proven approach with great potential to provide positive results in similar studies.…”

Identification of Homozygous Male Plants by Quantitative Analysis of a Nucleotide Sequence Linked to the Sex-determination Locus in Asparagus officinalis L.

“…Recently, a few sets of PCR primers that amplify nucleotide sequences tightly linked to the sexdetermination locus have been reported (Gebler et al, 2007;Jamsari et al, 2004, Nakayama et al, 2006Reamon-Büttner and Jung, 2000). Molecular markers associated with the female gender have also been reported (Gebler et al, 2007), although trials are very limited and their applicability to detect the m-locus remains to be examined.…”

“…Molecular markers associated with the female gender have also been reported (Gebler et al, 2007), although trials are very limited and their applicability to detect the m-locus remains to be examined. Thus, we considered that only markers linked to the male determination locus are presently reliable for establishing a molecular markerbased method to select homozygous males in asparagus.…”