Phylogenetic Diversity of Ficus Species Using HAT-RAPD Markers as a Measure of Genomic Polymorphism

To create a molecular marker characterization for twenty species of Ficus, eight decamer primers were used to randomly amplify these species genomic DNA producing a total of 172 distinct polymorphic band patterns. One band was chosen to be converted into the more robust sequence characterized amplified region (SCAR) marker format to provide a unique molecular marker characterization for the variety of Ficus hirta. This technique for species identification and characterization provides a morphologically independent test to verify relatedness and provide species information particularly for cases where such identification was previously untenable such as in the case of morphologically indistinguishable plant cuttings.