Identification of Feijoa sellowiana Berg accessions by RAPD markers

Random amplified polymorphic DNAs (RAPDs) were used to discriminate among 25 Feijoa sellowiana cultivars and accessions. Fifty ten-mer oligonucleotide primers were tested on five accessions. Twenty-two primers, showing clear polymorphic patterns, were chosen to amplify the DNAs of all 25 genotypes; each amplification was repeated three times separately. Only 11 primers were finally analysed, yielding a total of 23 polymorphic RAPD markers. Twenty-one genotypes were fully distinguished, with as few as five primers and nine RAPD markers. The remaining four genotypes grouped into pairs ('Edenvale late' and 'Edenvale supreme', Mangiapane 1 and Mangiapane 3) could not be further distinguished, even when the number of primers examined was increased to 100. A cluster analysis based on 49 RAPD markers was performed to construct a phenetic similarity dendrogram. The low number of rare bands and the lack of apparent relation between clusters and the geographical origin of the accessions suggest that most of the plant materials of this study share a common genetic ancestry, possibly coming from relatively few introductions. A larger study, analysing Brazilian type (undomesticated) accessions of F. sellowiana, would be necessary to confirm this hypothesis and to evaluate more accurately the diversity available for feijoa breeding. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.