Molecular Plant Breeding 2015, Vol.6, No.15, 1
-
6
1
Research Report
Open
Access
Development of SCAR Marker Linked to Sex Determination Locus in
Trichosanthes dioica
Shah Kevalkumar P.
1
, Kathiria Keshubhai B.
1
, Kumar Sushil
2
1. Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, BACA, Anand Agricultural University, Anand – 388 110, India
2. Department of Agri Biotechnology, Anand Agricultural University, Anand – 388 110, India
Corresponding
authors
email:
Molecular
Plant
Breeding,
2015,
Vol.6,
No.15
doi:
10.5376/mpb.2015.06.0015
Received:
22
Jun.,
2015
Accepted:
11
Aug.,
2015
Published:
10
Sep.,
2015
Copyright
© 2015
Shah Kevalkumar et al.,
This
is
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open
access
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Attribution
License,
which
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use,
distribution,
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reproduction
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provided
the
original
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is
properly
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Preferred
citation
for
this
article:
Shah Kevalkumar P., Kathiria Keshubhai B. and Kumar Sushil, 2015,
Development of SCAR Marker Linked to Sex Determination Locus in
Trichosanthes
dioica
, Interaction,
Molecular
Plant
Breeding,
6(15):
1
-
6 (doi:
Abstract
Pointed gourd (
Trichosanthes dioica
Roxb.), a perennial herb of family Cucurbitaceae, is morphologically different from
the other cucurbits due to its dioecism and vegetative means of propagation. Breeding in pointed gourd is less viable due to poor
germination, vegetative propagation mean and dioecy. A reliable method for determining the gender of pointed gourd at seedling
stage would facilitate breeding programs. With this aim, RAPD markers were used to identify a sex linked marker. RAPD profiles
with 104 primers were analyzed in 10 male and 44 female plants for presence/absence of specific bands. Two sex-specific fragments,
OPC05
1000
and OPK07
300
, associated with maleness and femaleness, respectively, were converted in SCAR markers. Based on the
sequence of OPC5
1000
and OPK-07
300
, five and one pair of specific forward and reverse SCAR markers were designed, respectively.
Among five male specific SCAR, only one marker (SCF/R-3
628
) discriminated both sexes. Thus, SCAR designed from RAPD
fragment could be used as an effective and reliable marker for early sex diagnosis and to reduce both time and costs associated with
breeding in
T. dioeca.
Keywords
Dioecious plant; Pointed gourd; RAPD; SCAR
Background
In the plant kingdom, dioecious plants are estimated to
constitute 4% of all flowering plants and are
represented in 75% of plant families (Yakubov et al.,
2005). Dioecious plants are highly evolved members
of the plant kingdom in terms of sexual differentiation.
Mechanisms of sexual differentiation in plants are
almost overwhelmingly diverse, therefore, it is
impossible to answer sex-related questions during
seedling stage. Most models of sex determination in
dioecious plants are based annuals such as Silene or
Rumex that possess heteromorphic sex chromosomes
(Parker, 1989). Although these species represent
useful models for understanding the control of gender
in a broad sense, the liability of sex determination
mechanisms in plants without sex chromosomes
suggests that such models may prove to be unsuitable
for the majority of dioecious plants.
The application of molecular techniques has advanced
the isolation and characterization of many floral
meristem identity genes (Ainsworth, 2000). However,
it is unclear what direct effect such genes may have on
sex determination in monoecious and dioecious species.
Furthermore, despite evidence that sex determination
is under genetic control in dioecious species with
heteromorphic sex chromosomes (e. g., Rumex and
Silene), it is doubtful that the same mechanism would
control sex in individual flowers in monoecious plants
or in dioecious plants without sex chromosomes
(Ainsworth et al., 1998). However, the presence of sex
chromosome has been claimed for some dioecious
angiosperms, but only in few cases have these claims
been documented (Singh et al., 2002).
Trichosanthes dioeca
, a plant with great medicinal and
nutritive value is yet to be exploited to its full extent
due to absence of reliable breeding programmes
owing to low growth rate of seedlings and
well-established dioecism nature of the sex types
(Nanda et al., 2013). There is no robust evidence of
sex chromosomes in
T. dioica,
thus there is no method
for distinguishing between male and female plantlets
prior to flowering in
T. dioica
. A reliable method for
determining the gender of pointed gourd before
flowering would facilitate breeding programs. The last
decade has witnessed an increasing number of
research efforts directed at identifying and character-
