Identification of gender Specific DNA Markers in Sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.)

Abstract

Sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) belonging to family Elaeagnaceae is a diploid (2n=2x=24), dioecious, deciduous and nitrogen fixing thorny plant with high nutraceutical and pharmaceutical properties. As it is dioecious plant, gender cannot be determined until flowering. Therefore for commercial orcharding it will be useful to identify genetic markers linked to sex that can help in early and rapid diagnosis of male and female plants. Bulked segregant analysis (BSA) was used to identify markers linked to sex in H. rhamnoides. Pools of male and female plants from two different populations (Phura and Gulling) were screened for polymorphisms with a total of 431(386 RAPDs, 30 ISSRs, 6 MADS-box gene and 9 SSRs) primers. Only one RAPD Primer OPD 14 produced two markers (OPD 14_1000 and OPD 14_400), that were linked to gender. However these markers were specific to Phura population and did not work on other populations tested. These DNA markers were proven to be reliable and could be used to detect the sexuality of H. rhamnoides as well as save time and costs in ongoing Hippophae breeding program.