Molecular approaches for monitoring clonal fidelity and epigenetic variation in in vitro-derived strawberry plants

The advancement of propagation techniques in vitro and their acceptance by commercial growers led to significant progresses in strawberry micropropagation worldwide. Bioreactor micropropagation in liquid media has promoted automation of strawberry micropropagation as a possible way to reduce labour and propagation cost. Production of plants genetically identical to the mother plant is a major concern in commercial strawberry production. DNA-based markers that allow direct comparison of different genetic material independent of environmental influences can efficiently monitor genetic stability of micropropagated strawberries. This review deals with progress of strawberry culture in vitro, genetic and epigenetic variations in micropropagated plants and the use of molecular markers for the assessment of these variations.