Microsatellite DNA in peach (Prunus persica L. Batsch) and its use in fingerprinting and testing the genetic origin of cultivars

Abstract

We isolated and sequenced 26 microsatellites from two genomic libraries of peach cultivar 'Redhaven', enriched for AC/GT and AG/CT repeats, respectively. For 17 of these microsatellites, it was possible to demonstrate Mendelian inheritance. Microsatellite polymorphism was assayed in 50 peach and nectarine cultivars. Of the 1300 PCRs carried out, all but two produced amplified products of the expected size. All microsatellites were polymorphic, showing 2-8 alleles per locus. Heterozygosity ranged from 0.04-0.74 (mean 0.47); the discrimination power (PD) ranged from 0.04-0.84 (mean 0.60). Cultivar heterozygosity varied greatly, with one cultivar ('Independence') being homozygous at all loci. The set of microsatellites discriminated all cultivars investigated, except several sport mutations, i.e., 'Dixitime' vs. 'Springcrest', 'Compact Redhaven' vs. 'Redhaven', and two pairs of cultivars, 'Venus' vs. 'Orion' and 'Elegant Lady' vs. 'Rome Star', whose pedigrees are controversial. We were able to analyze the paternity of several cultivars. In most cases, the parenthood was confirmed. The comparison of three long-living 'Redhaven' accessions supplied by different repositories did not provide any evidence of somatic instability of microsatellites. Hence, microsatellites, ranked according to their information content, are recommended as markers of choice for peach fingerprinting and suggestions are provided for interpreting band profiles and the correct sizing of alleles.

Significant effect of accidental pollinations on the progeny of low setting Prunus interspecific crosses

“…However, microsatellites or simple sequence repeats (SSRs) have become the markers of choice for fingerprinting and paternity analyses in most plant species (Gupta & Varshney, 2000) due to their high polymorphism, codominancy and reproducibility. Over 100 microsatellite markers have been so far reported in peach (Cipriani et al, 1999;Testolin et al, 2000;Sosinski et al, 2000;Aranzana et al, 2002Aranzana et al, , 2003Dirlewanger et al, 2002) and many of them are transferable to other related species (Hormaza, 2002;Wünsch & Hormaza, 2002).…”

Genetic relationships and origin of commercial clones of Nangouhi, a vegetatively propagated cultivar of hinoki cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa)

“…Microsatellite genotypes of mutant sprouts are identical or very similar to each other. Previous studies failed to discriminate them or found only one locus that distinguished between the mutant sprouts and their original cultivars (Testolin et al 2000, Yamamoto et al 2003, Soriano et al 2005. In contrast, N6 and N13 had two and three distinguishable loci, respectively, of the ten loci.…”

“…In horticulture, mutant sprouts of specific cultivars are often used to produce new cultivars (Testolin et al 2000, Martins et al 2003, Yamamoto et al 2003, Hu et al 2005, Soriano et al 2005. Microsatellite genotypes of mutant sprouts are identical or very similar to each other.…”

“…Maintaining the genetic diversity of commercial and breeding populations is important for reducing risks and for coping with the changing requirements of the timber market (Zobel and Talbert 1984). To this end, the natural origin (source population) of the cultivars is a valuable genetic resource, but the origin of cultivars is sometimes complex or unknown because of their long history of selection, transfer, and plantation (Testolin et al 2000, Honjo et al 2007.…”

“…Microsatellite DNA, or simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers, is an ideal tool for cultivar identification due to their hypervariability and reproducibility (Sefc et al 1998, Testolin et al 2000, Rajora and Rahman 2003, Manel et al 2005. Such markers are codominant and are useful for evaluating genetic diversity and genetic relationships among individuals and populations (Wunsch and Hormaza 2002).…”