Utility of retrotransposon-derived marker systems for differentiation of presumed clones of the apricot cultivar Velkopavlovická

Apricot cultivars may be composed of a variety of clones differing in minor genetic and phenotypic characteristics. Transposable elements might be considered, among other factors, a potential source of mutations that lead to clonal variation. Therefore, genetic markers derived from transposable regions should be suitable for differentiation of clones. The aims of the present work were to verify the utility of sequence-specific amplified polymorphism (SSAP) markers and inter-primer binding sites (iPBS) as universal retrotransposon-derived marker systems for differentiation of clones on the basis of their different DNA fingerprints and to compare the utility of SSAP and iPBS systems with other, more commonly used marker systems (SSR and AFLP). The results obtained with SSAP and iPBS marker systems were similar to those with the conventional AFLP method. Thus, the hypothesis that these retrotransposon-based markers should be more suitable for clonal differentiation was not confirmed. An additional objective of the present study was to map the level of genetic diversity within the genotypes described as clones of the cultivar Velkopavlovická collected from different locations in the Czech Republic and to compare these clones with clones originating from other countries. The results indicated that clones grown in the Czech Republic and other European countries have similar origins.

► Ability of iPBS and SSAP markers to distinguish the clones of apricot cultivar Velkopavlovická was tested.
► Comparison with the results obtained with more common markers (AFLP, SSR) was made.
► Initial idea that these retrotransposon-based markers should be more suitable for clonal differentiation was not confirmed.
► Obtained results suggest a very similar origin of the clones grown not only in the Czech Republic, but also in other European countries.