STRAWBERRY CULTIVAR IDENTIFICATION USING RANDOMLY AMPLIFIED POLYMORPHIC DNA (RAPD) MARKERS

Accurate and rapid cultivar identification is important for breeders'-rights protection, especially for vegetatively propagated plants. The objective of this study was to test the feasibility of developing cultivar-specific RAPD markers in commercial strawberries (Fragaria ananassa Dutch). Efforts were focused on distinguishing between two newly developed Volcani cultivars, 'Ofra' and 'Dorit', and six other cultivars, 'Douglas', 'Chandler', 'Oso Grande', 'Dover', 'Nurit' and 'Parker'. Reproducible RAPD fingerprints were generated, each containing at least one polymorphic DNA product. A combination of 10 polymorphic DNA products exhibited cultivar-specific patterns enabling the distinction between closely related varieties, such as 'Ofra' (which is the progeny of 'Dorit' and 'Parker') and 'Dorit' (which is the progeny of 'Nurit' and 'Dover'). This study shows that RAPD markers can help in the protection of breeders' rights to strawberry cultivars.