Morphological characters and SRAP analysis of two hybrids between Hibiscus dasycalyx and Hibiscus 'Moy Grande'

- Cross breeding between Hibiscus dasycalyx and H. 'Moy Grande' is reported.
- Two hybrids were obtained from the pollination of H. dasycalyx × H. 'Moy Grande'.
- Both hybrids showed hybrid vigor, intermediate flower and leaf morphology.
- SRAP is a highly polymorphic marker suitable for analysis of Hibiscus.
- Two hybrids had a higher GSC with the female parent than with the male parent.

The interspecific cross between Hibiscus dasycalyx and Hibiscus 'Moy Grande' is reported for the first time. Two hybrid plants were obtained from the pollination of 36 flowers of H. dasycalyx with pollen from H. 'Moy Grande'; no hybrid plants were obtained from 30 flowers pollinated in the reciprocal direction. Both hybrids showed hybrid vigor, and intermediate flower and leaf morphology compared with the parent plants. Molecular analysis was carried out using sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) markers with 25 primer combinations. A total of 358 unambiguous bands were amplified, of which 230 (62.25%) were polymorphic. Sixteen DNA fragments specific to the male parent were amplified in either or both of the two hybrids, designated 'Sujin 1' and 'Sujin 2'. All of the male parent-specific markers confirmed that 'Sujin 1' and 'Sujin 2' were hybrids of the expected parentage. A hierarchical cluster analysis using the UPGMA algorithm was performed to analyze the relationship among the two hybrids and their parents. The genetic similarity coefficient (GSC) ranged from 0.112 to 0.783 (mean 0.461). The highest GSC was between the two progeny and the lowest GSC was between the two parents. The two progeny had a higher GSC with the female parent (H. dasycalyx) than with the male parent (H. 'Moy Grande').