SSR-BASED DNA FINGERPRINTING OF POTATO CLONES FROM THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST POTATO VARIETY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

DNA fingerprinting is a valuable tool for plant cultivar identification and discrimination. The use of simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers for DNA fingerprinting of potatoes could benefit the declaration of distinctiveness of new potato clones for plant variety protection (PVP), granting the Plant Breeder's Rights and the legal protection of new cultivars. A total of 54 tetraploid potato clones, including new cultivars released by Oregon State University under the umbrella of the Pacific Northwest Tri-State Potato Variety Development Program and a set of common commercial cultivars, were analyzed using 13 SSR markers. The SSR amplification products were separated by electrophoresis on a LI-COR 4300 DNA analyzer system and then compiled using the SAGA Generation 2 software. These 13 SSRs were able to distinguish all clones; a reduced subset of 6 SSRs with the highest PIC (polymorphic information content) value were also sufficient to distinguish all 54 potato genotypes. Therefore, this subset of 6 SRRs markers could be a used for legal protection of newly released potato cultivars as part of the cultivar description for PVP.