Use of DNA Marker(s) for Sex Determination as Marker-Assisted Selection for Pistacia vera L. in Syria

The Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique was used toamplify DNA segments, with the objective of finding markers linked to sexdetermination in the dioecious species, Pistacia vera. Fifteen varieties from 37female parents pollinated by a common male parent and 21 male were studied.DNA was extracted from each tree individually. DNA was also extracted from43 few-weeks-old P. vera seedlings of unknown sex from market. One hundredfifty one different decamer oligonucleotide primers were used to perform DNAamplification, with one of these (OP-O08) producing a 930 bp amplificationband that was present only in the female samples and absent in the malesamples. This DNA band 930 bp seems to be different than the band of 945 bpwhich is produced by the same primer on p.vera in California. The relationshipbetween band presence and female sex expression was conserved in everyindividual obtained from the 37 trees. We propose that this band is tightlylinked to the gene(s) that control sex determination in pistachio. The OP-O08930 RAPD marker could be used in a breeding program to screen the gender of pistachio plants long before they reach reproductive maturity in Syria.Resulting in considerable savings of time and economic resources. In order toverify that assumption we screened 43 additional seedlings with the OP-O08primer and obtained results consistent with a 1:1 male: female ratio