IDENTIFICATION OF RED RASPBERRY CULTIVARS AND AN ASSESSMENT OF THEIR RELATEDNESS USING FINGERPRINTS PRODUCED BY RANDOM PRIMERS

SummaryThe polymerase chain reaction was used to amplify polymorphic DNA using ten random primers on ten red raspberry cultivars. Nine of the primers successfully amplified DNA fragments from all of the cultivars. Each primer could identify between one and eight cultivars and using the nine primers which generated bands, specific fingerprints could be produced for cultivar identification. The relationship between the cultivars was examined using a similarity index and the results compared with those produced from the published ancestry of these cultivars.