Varietal identification of chestnut using microsatellites markers

Microsatellites (SSRs) combine several features of an ultimate molecular marker and they are used increasingly in many plant genetic studies and applications. In this work, we report on the utilisation of six SSRs markers, previously developed in chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.), for the identification and differentiation of a set of forty varietal denominations. DNA was isolated from lyophilised leaves and PCR products were separated on an ABI PRISM 310 analyser. All studied microsatellite markers revealed a high level of polymorphism that allowed unique genotyping of most of the examined denominations, as well as identification of very probable synonymies and homonymies. Data obtained suggest that the varietal panorama in Andalusia is extremely complex, the number of the genotypes being higher than the one indicated by the knowledge of the farmers and other previous researches.