Molecular identification of apple cultivars/rootstocks using SSR markers

Identification of plant cultivars and rootstocks, requires accurate andreproducible methods which not affected by environmental conditions. In thisresearch, efficacy of SSR markers in identification of some apple genotypes androotstocks was studied. For this purpose, 5 pairs of SSR markers were applied foridentification of 24 and 5 Iranian and foreign apple genotypes and rootstocks,respectively. According to the results, 52 polymorphic alleles were proliferated in 5microsatellite loci (mean 10.4 alleles per locus) and polymorphism informationcontent (PIC) was 80%. The markers produced specific DNA bands in "Lobnani(tabestane)", "Golab (Damavand)", "Golab (Isfahan)", "Malyer 8" and "Malayer 9"genotypes and specific band patterns in "Bahare arak", "Shemirani", "Lobnani(tabestane) ", "Damavand B1", "Golabn (rasmi) ", "Golab (damavnd) ", "Golab(sahne) ", "Malayer 8", "Malayer 6", "Malayer 9", "Shafiabadi (chalus) and "Golab(paize) ". In rootstocks, 12 specific and reproducible alleles were identified. Theresults indicate the high efficacy of SSR markers for apple cultivar and rootstockidentification.