Increasing the number of molecular markers in the linkage maps of Poncirus trifoliata and Sunki mandarin

• Grant number: 11/14487-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: November 01, 2011
• End date: October 31, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Plant Genetics
• Principal Investigator: Mariângela Cristofani-Yaly
• Grantee: Daniel Bedo Assumpção Castro
• Host Institution: Instituto Agronômico (IAC). Agência Paulista de Tecnologia dos Agronegócios (APTA). Secretaria de Agricultura e Abastecimento (São Paulo - Estado). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Although the citriculture is one of the most important economic activities in Brazil, it is based on a small number of varieties. This fact has contributed for the vulnerability of the culture regarding the phytosanitary problems. A higher number of varieties/genotypes with potential for commercial growing, either for the industry or fresh market, has been one of the main objectives of citrus breeding programs. The genetic breeding of citrus has improved, in the last decades, due to the possibility of an association between biotechnological tools and classical methods of breeding. The use of molecular markers for early selection of zygotic seedlings from controlled crosses resulted in the possibility of selection of a high number of new combination and, as a consequence, the establishment of a great number of hybrids in field experiments. The Citriculture Center Sylvio Moreira / IAC has been performing since 1997, a program of genetic breeding of citrus using controlled crosses. Thus, populations of hybrids obtained from crosses between different varieties of citrus need to be selected and genetic maps already established should have the number of markers increased. The objective of this project is to include, in the linkage maps of Poncirus trifoliata and Sunki mandarin, molecular markers: (i) SSR; (ii) TRAPs markers and (iii) to establish a methodology for detection and genotyping of SNPs using Real Time PCR.