DNA FINGERPRINT ANALYSIS OF ORNAMENTAL PLANTS

Minisatellite and microsatellite DNA probes hybridize to many loci in rose, gerbera and carnation DNA, allowing cultivar identification in these ornamentals. The level of polymorphism revealed by DNA fingerprints is probe/genus dependent. Jeffrey's probe 33.6 yielded DNA fingerprints in all genera analyzed, while Jeffrey's probe 33.15 did not yield any detectable signal in gerbera. Cattle derived probe R 18.1 detected a higher proportion of polymorphic DNA fingerprint bands in carnation than did any of the other probes. Hybridization of the oligonucleotide probe (GT)12 revealed that simple GT microsatellite repeats generated the hybridization pattern obtained by probe R18.1. Full-sib family analysis of DNA fingerprints prepared from 'standard' Dianthus caryophyllus progeny revealed 36 scorable parental specific bands out of the 186 observed in the parents. These bands were detected cumulatively by phage (M13), cattle (R18.1) and human derived (33.6, 33.15) probes. Only two pairs of these loci were found to be linked. No allelic pairs were detected in the analyzed progeny. The probability of two offspring from a 'standard' carnation intraspecific cross having identical DNA fingerprint patterns was calculated as 1.8 x 10(-6).