Marker assisted selection of sex determination in kiwiberry (Actinidia arguta and Actinidia kolomikta)

The selection of phenotypic traits in plant breeding has recently become augmented by the implementation of molecular markers. Marker-assisted breeding strategies are used to develop new cultivars of many important crop plants but have yet to be assimilated into breeding programs for many minor crops with untapped economic potential. In the following chapters, I discuss methods of marker development in crop plants, sex determination as a trait of economic interest in plant breeding, and the identification of two male-dominant, PCR-based markers in the commercially viable Kiwiberry species Actinidia arguta and A. kolomikta