Detection of genetic relationships among spring and winter triticale (× Triticosecale Witt.) and rye cultivars (Secale cereale L.) by using retrotransposon-based markers

In the present research, we aimed to detect and evaluate the level of long terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposons (WIS2, Wilma, Daniela, and Wham) intraspecific variability and intron polymorphism for β-amylase (BAMY) genes in 37 winter and 25 spring triticale cultivars coming from European countries and the USA and 5 Finnish rye cultivars. The triticale and rye genotypes differ significantly with respect to the patterns of the four explored LTR retrotransposons. A neighbour-joining dendrogram has separated all triticale and rye cultivars into three principal clusters: all winter triticale, all spring triticale and all rye cultivars. We have proved that retrotransposon-based markers can be used for differentiation of triticale and rye cultivars.