DNA MARKER TIGHTLY LINKED TO THE DOUBLE FLOWER LOCUS IN ROSA x DAMASCENA MILL. F. TRIGINTIPETALA SUITABLE FOR MARKER ASSISTED BREEDING

The present study reports the development of a DNA marker tightly linked to the double flower (DF) phenotype in R. x damascena, suitable for marker assisted breeding. The development of this marker is based on previous identification of genome region associated with the DF phenotype in R. x damascena and recent studies demonstrating involvement of the AP2/TOE gene in the formation of DF in several species from the Rosaceae family. We identified a polymorphic region named RdDF upstream of the AP2/TOE gene in R. x damascena and used the sequence data for designing PCR primers. Segregation analysis of the four alleles of RdDF in a population of 104 plants obtained after self-pollination of R. x damascena showed that one of the alleles (RdDF-B, 203 bp) is tightly linked to the DF phenotype. Analysis of the segregation of two S SR markers located at a distance of approximately 1578 kb and 1129 kb on both sides of RdDF, showed that walking away from the developed RdDF marker results in the observation of simple flower recombinant plants, supporting association of RdDF with the DF phenotype. The application of the developed RdDF marker for marker assisted selection (MAS) and breeding programmes involving R. x damascena, as well as further study of the molecular base of DF formation in this species are discussed.