Using Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) Markers to Identify Annona Cultivars
The native American genus Annona contains many species that are cultivated for their edible fruit, including the custard apple (A. reticuluta L.), soursop (A. muricata L.), cherimoya (A. cherimola L.), sugar apple (A. squamosa L.), and interspecific hybrids, the atemoyas. RAPD analysis of A. cherimola. `Campa' and `Jete,' A. squamosa `Lessard,' and the atemoyas `Ubranitzki,' `Malali,' and `Kaspi' resulted in very distinctive patterns, indicating that RAPD markers, may be an efficient method of fingerprinting genotypes within and between Annona species. All 15 primers used generated repeatable, polymorphic patterns. An F1 population of `Jete' × `Lessard' was analyzed to determine the inheritance of the RAPD banding patterns. Fifty-two polymorphic loci were identified, which segregated in an expected Mendelian fashion.