Plant Genome III Conference Plant Genome III Conference
A joint project involving six European research groups: Istituto Sperimentale per la Frutticoltura (Roma) from Italy, Horticultural Research International (East Malling) from the United Kingdom, INRA (Bordeaux and Orleans) from France, and CIMA (Arkaute) and IRTA from Spain, started at the end of 1993. The objectives are a) to construct a detailed genetic map for the genus (250 markers, at least 200 of them RFLPs) using two interspecific progenies, one almond x peach and the other cherry x P. nipponica, b) to elaborate reduced maps covering the entire genome (one marker every 20-25 cM) of eleven breeding populations of almond, cherry, peach and plum using the markers previously developed, c) to detect useful linkages between these markers and major genes or QTL segregating in these populations and responsible for agronomic characters that are the breeding objectives of each partner (26 characters in total), and d) to compare the alignment of markers between the different genomes of prunus. Objective a) is being done with the collaboration of all partners in the two interspecific populations, and objectives b) and c) will be done by each partner in the species, populations and characters interesting in its breeding project. One of the partners (IRTA) has developed a map for almond with 180 markers (7 isozymes, 53 RAPDs and 120 RFLPs). The characteristics of this map and its comparison with the partial map constructed with the almond x peach population of the common project (currently with 70 markers) will be discussed.