Genetic Fingerprinting of Two Species of Averrhoa Using RAPD and SRAP Markers

Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) marker analyses were conducted in two underutilized fruit trees of the family, Oxalidaceae, namely Averrhoa bilimbi and A. carambola , commonly known as cucumber tree and starfruit tree respectively. The current study focused on the utility of 23 RAPD primers and 31 SRAP primers. The RAPD primer, OPD-07 produced the greater number of amplified fragments, exhibited higher level of polymorphism and could differentiate between almost all the collections on the basis of the efficiency of different primer parameters. The most competent SRAP primer combination for the characterization of Averrhoa collections was ME2/EM6. Cluster and PCA analyses on both RAPD and SRAP data differentiated the A. bilimbi and A. carambola collections. Both markers showed that A. bilimbi collections, Ab2, Ab3 and Ab4 were distinct from the rest. Both SRAP and integrated data were capable of distinguishing sour and sweet collections of A. carambola . The present study provides the first in-depth report on the molecular diversity between the two species of the genus Averrhoa with regard to RAPD and SRAP markers. Both RAPD and SRAP could discriminate the species, and collections of Averrhoa. SRAP are the preferred choice because it differentiates various collections and possess good amplification, stability and polymorphism.