Characterization of peach and nectarine cultivars through molecular markers

Abstract

In species with a narrow genetic basis, such as peach and nectarine (Prunus persica (L.) Batsch), the utilization of molecular markers in cultivar characterization is very important, besides the potential of use for protection. Gel electrophoresis and RAPD techniques were used to characterize peach cultivars Granada, Esmeralda, Jade, Eldorado, Riograndense, Capdeboscq, Aldrighi, Precocinho, Diamante, Turmalina, Maciel, BR-1, Pepita, Coral, Chinoca, Marfim, Chiripá, Della Nona and Planalto and nectarine cultivars Dulce and Anita. Isoenzymes of 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase and acid phosphatase in pollen, peroxidase, phosphoglucoisomerase, aspartate transaminase and isocitrate dehydrogenase in leaves, malate dehydrogenase, leucine aminopeptidase and phosphoglucomutase in pollen and leaves were analyzed. Fifty primers were tested and eleven were used to analyze RAPD markers in leaf extracts. Similarity and cluster analysis were conducted using Jaccard coefficient and the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic average. Despite the differences detected in malate dehydrogenase in peach and nectarine pollen and leaves, the low polymorphism presented by the other systems did not allow the characterization of all cultivars through gel electrophoresis. RAPD markers, associated or not to isoenzyme analysis, were efficient to characterize peach and nectarine cultivars.