SCAR Marker Development for the Identification of Elite Germplasm of Moringa Oleifera Lam.-A Never Die Plant

• Published in: Plant molecular biology reporter Vol. 39; no. 4; pp. 850 - 861
• Main Authors: Ravi, Drisya, Siril, E. A., Nair, Bindu R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.12.2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Amplification; Biochemical analysis; Bioinformatics; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Crop yield; Fruits; Gene polymorphism; Germplasm; Life Sciences; Marker-assisted selection; Markers; Metabolomics; Minerals; Moringa oleifera; Original Article; Plant Breeding/Biotechnology; Plant Sciences; Polymerase chain reaction; Polymorphism; Proteomics; Random amplified polymorphic DNA; Trees; Tropical environments; Vitamins; India; PCR. RAPD; Fruit traits; SCAR; Vitamin C
• ISSN: 0735-9640; 1572-9818
• DOI: 10.1007/s11105-021-01300-y

Moringa oleifera Lam. (drumstick) belongs to the family Moringaceae that is originated from sub-Himalayan tracts of Northern India distributed worldwide in the tropics and sub-tropics. Immature pods and fresh leaves are widely used as vegetable and are rich source of minerals and vitamins. In the present work, we made an attempt to develop and use a set of RAPD-SCAR marker for the identification of superior germplasm of M. oleifera from the accessions collected from South India. Initially, 120 trees were surveyed based on total fruit yield, and single fruit weight from Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu states of India; 23 plants had 50% higher fruit yield and single fruit weight than average and were selected as Candidate Plus Trees (CPTs). On the basis of morphological and biochemical analysis, CPT17 was selected as elite germplasm. Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis of CPTs indicated 89.61% polymorphism among 23 CPTs. These markers could be used in marker-assisted selection and breeding programs in M. oleifera . Further, an attempt to develop a set of RAPD-SCAR marker for the identification of superior germplasm of M. oleifera was made. RAPD primer OPA-19 (CAAACGTCGG) revealed a unique band (1500-bp) in CPT17. The specific RAPD band was recovered from the gel, cloned, and sequenced. BLAST analysis of the CPT17 specific sequences revealed that no considerable similarity with known protein. Based on these unique characterized sequences, specific primers for CPT17 were designed. Specific amplification profile of this primer proved it as a SCAR marker (F2R2) for CPT17 genotype.