Low-Cost Strategies for Development of Molecular Markers Linked to Agronomic Traits in Prunus

Evaluation of agronomic traits in Prunus breeding programs is a tedious process because of the long juvenile period of trees, the influence of juvenility and the existence of climatic factors affecting the expression of the trait. For these reasons, marker-assisted selection (MAS) strategies are particularly useful in these cases. The objective of this work is the analysis of alternative lowcost strategies for development of molecular markers linked to agronomic traits in Prunus including the application of modified Bulked segregant analysis (BSA) using Simple sequence repeat (SSRs) markers and the application of Random amplified polymorphism microsatellite (RAMP) markers. First BSA results showed that two SSR loci were found to be tightly linked to flowering time in almond. On the other hand, RAMP analysis has been demonstrated to be a potentially valuable molecular marker for the study of genetic relationships in Prunus. Results showed the dominant nature of these markers with a great abundance and transferability although with a reduced polymorphism. In addition, RAMP application in F1 progenies showed its suitability for molecular characterization and mapping, and later Quantitative trait loci (QTL) or BSA analysis.