Isolation of a Sequence Homolog to More Axillary Branches MAX2 Gene in Hibiscus rosa-sinensis and its Use as Genetic Marker Authors

Lateral branching plays an important role in the elaboration of adult plants architecture. Herein, we adopted a modified AFLP approach combined with a degenerate primer amplification to identify and isolate in the underinvestigated ornamental species H. rosa-sinensis an orthologous element of the MAX2 gene (More Axillary Branches), which acts downstream of the branching inhibition signaling pathway. A specific gene fragment was cloned and sequenced from nineteen H. rosa-sinensis cultivars and twelve Hibiscus botanical species and different significant nucleotide polymorphisms among genotypes that were observed. The comparative analysis revealed a high conservation of DNA sequences among cultivars and wild species sexually compatible with H. rosa-sinensis. The deduced amino acid sequences of the Hibiscus isolated fragments reveal four characteristic repeat regions showing high identity with other F-box/Leucine Reach Repeat MAX2 homologous sequences. The cloned fragment is a likely candidate gene to be validated for association with phenotype to release a gene-derived "perfect marker" for the compact habit trait.