Plant & Animal Genome VI Conference Plant & Animal Genome VI Conference
P42
Distinction of the varieties among the grasses used for fodder is often
difficult due to the lack of reliable morphological traits and to the
heterogeneity encountered in most species. Moreover, these species have been
less intensely studied than other members of the Poaceae and few molecular
markers are available. When searching the databases for DNA sequences for
the genera Lolium, Festuca, Dactylis, Phleum, Bromus and Poa, only 78
sequences were found among which more than half were chloroplastic or
mitochondrial sequences or rDNA. The rest was mostly represented by genes
coding for allergens contained in the pollen. This situation contrasts with
that of other members of the Poaceae, like rice, maize or cereals for which
hundreds of sequences are available. Therefore we tried to derive STS
markers for our fodder crops from consensus sequences found in the databases
for other species of the family Poaceae. This paper describes a set of
primers useful for variety distinction in fodder grasses with a special
focus on ryegrass. The polymorphism found was high and it was possible to
distinguish all varieties tested with only 7 markers. The codominancy of the
markers makes them particularly interesting for synthetic varieties.