Identification of molecular markers for selection of supermale (YY) asparagus plants

Piotr Gebler, Łukasz Wolko, Mikołaj Knaflewski

The research was aimed to elaborate a method for selection of male plants (XY, YY) and female ones (XX) as well as for identification of supermale genotypes (YY) among male phenotypes. The population obtained by self-pollination of andromonoecious plants was analysed. In order to identify the bands differentiating the male from the female genotypes, Bulk Segregant Analysis (BSA) was carried out. Primers identified by BSA analysis were used for RAPD amplification on the template of the male and female individuals. Among the products obtained by the use of primer OPB-20, some bands were linked with sex. A band of about 700 bp was found in all female plants, and in 4 phenotypically male specimens. In the male plants, the band showed a much lower intensity, compared with the female specimens. It seems that this fragment can be linked to the X chromosome in the investigated specimens. In the female specimens with XX karyotype, template duplication occurs and hence the band intensity is twice as high as in the XY karyotype. Three male plants did not include the OPB-20-700 fragment so they could potentially have the supermale (YY) karyotype. If the obtained marker proved its usefulness for identification of supermale plants, it could become a valuable tool facilitating breeding work.