A rapid simple sequence repeat (SSR)-based identification method for potato cultivars

Abstract

With the numbers of new varieties of potato obtaining Plant Breeders' Rights increasing yearly, the reliable maintenance of large culture collections is becoming more problematic. Additionally, the differentiation of cultivars based on morphological characteristics is a highly skilled and time-consuming task and for these reasons a rapid and robust method for variety differentiation has become highly desirable. By screening a number of microsatellite (simple sequence repeat, SSR) markers we have developed a set of six that can be used to differentiate over 400 cultivars, including those on the UK National List, but excluding somaclonal variants (e.g. Red King Edward and King Edward). The whole process from tuber to accurate identification can be carried out in a single day.