The selection and validation of a marker set for the differentiation of onion cultivars from the Czech republic

Abstract

The onion (Allium cepa L.) constitutes an important part of the human diet and is of economic importance on the vegetable market. Methods that allow unambiguous differentiation of cultivars and breeding lines are required for market control and the protection of plant breeders’ rights. DNA analyses, such as single sequence repeat polymorphism (SSRs), represent such a tool. Based on the evaluation of polymorphism in 21 SSR loci, we established a panel of 15 easy to score SSR markers that differentiated 16 commercial onion cultivars in the Czech Republic. The polymorphism ranged from 2–3 alleles per locus, indicating a low level of diversity among the cultivars. The panel can also be used to evaluate genetic resources.