DNA marker linked to everbearing flowering gene in cultivated strawberry, with high applicability to various breeding populations

Abstract

Everbearing cultivars of the octoploid cultivated strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) enable the expansion of production. Because the identification of everbearing individuals by phenotypic observation is time- and laborconsuming, marker-assisted selection is useful. In this study, we developed a sequence-tagged site marker, s2430859, which specifically amplifies a DNA fragment linked to the everbearing gene from homoeologous chromosomes for genotyping by agarose gel electrophoresis. In the analysis of eight F1 populations produced from various crosses of everbearing by June-bearing cultivars, the concordance between the phenotype and the marker genotype ranged from 94.4% in the ‘Hecker’ × ‘Sagahonoka’ population to 100.0% in the ‘Miyazaki-natsuharuka’ × ‘Karenberry’ population. The average match was 96.8%. These results suggest that s2430859 is closely linked to the everbearing gene and is applicable to various breeding populations. Because s2430859 is located on the opposite side of the gene from already reported markers, it will contribute to the detection of recombinant individuals by use in combination with these markers.