PCR-based markers and cut flower longevity in carnation

In carnation, the identification of molecular markers linked to flower vase life character could be an important tool to improve the efficiency of breeding programs, considering that this is one of the most important traits selected by breeders. Longevity is probably a complex quantitative trait, involving several genes showing predominantly additive effects. A previous study carried out on cv. Roland, cv. Milady, and their progenies showed that some RAPD bands significantly discriminated a population with longer vase life. With the aim to verify the general use of these markers for assisted selection, 12 commercial varieties of carnation were collected and analyzed with the RAPD technique. The 23 fragments produced with ten decamers were not able to discriminate the genotypes with greater vase life. In order to identify more effective markers, preliminary analyses were also conducted on four genotypes, using 30 primer sets designed to amplify internal sequences from ethylene biosynthesis and response pathway genesPCR products were obtained with 22 primer pairs, and some polymorphic fragments were observed even in the agarose gels.