Molecular fingerprinting and relative relationship of apricot cultivars in China by simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers

In order to construct DNA fingerprint of apricot in China, the simple sequence repeats (SSR) analysis of 130 majority cultivars were performed. 104 alleles from 10 SSR loci were combined, which became the identification key of apricot cultivars. DNA fingerprint of these varieties had been primarily established. The identifying efficiency was also investigated using SSR data from three pair primers. The results demonstrate that 124 cultivars could be distinguished. There was a high efficiency in the identification of apricot germplasms using SSR markers and some cultivars with closely relationship (the similarity coefficient higher than 0.525) also could be separated from each other. These results can be expected to distinguish among all other apricot cultivars, and represent a practical system for apricot cultivar identification at any development stage, which would provide evidences for protection of breeder’s intellectual rights. In addition, cluster phylogenetic analysis was conducted based on all the SSR data. The ‘Jingjia No.1’ and its male parent ‘Shanhuangxing’ had been clustered within one group; ‘Longwangmao’ and ‘Yiwofeng’ which was called ‘small Longwangmao’ were clustered into the same group. This result further suggests that it was reliable to study the genetic relationship among these apricot cultivars using SSR markers with these primers. Key words: Apricot, fingerprinting, SSR.