Identification of peach varieties using molecular markers

Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers were evaluated for detecting intraspecific variations in peach varieties. Sixty three peach varieties were chosen in the peach germplasm of the INRA at Bordeaux. Forty five peach varieties were analysed by RAPD and 56 by AFLP among which 38 were analysed by both RAPD and AFLP. Out of the 100 primers tested for RAPD, only 47 revealed polymorphism between the 45 peach varieties analysed and 131 RAPD markers (2.8 markers per polymorphic primer) were identified. By using all of them, all 45 varieties were identified. For AFLP, 13 primer combinations out of the 14 tested revealed polymorphism: 212 AFLP markers (16.3 markers per polymorphic combination) were identified. With the most polymorphic combination, 32 markers were identified and 52 varieties among the 56 analysed were identified. The four remaining non-distinguished varieties were issued from mutation. By using all the 212 AFLP markers, all the varieties are distinguished. The results demonstrate that RAPD and AFLP markers can be used as a complement to pomologic studies to distinguish peach varieties even if they are genetically very close i.e. with one or two parents in common or issued from mutations. However, AFLP appears much more effective, quicker and less expensive: with only one analysis, nearly all the varieties were identified.