Molecular genetic diversity of Lavandula × intermedia Emeric. ex Loisel. in the Nikita Botanical Garden’s collection detected by microsatellite markers

The prerequisites for the successful conservation and use of various species and cultivars of agricultural crops is the identification and control of their genetic variability, for the studies of which various methods are used, including methods of molecular genetic analysis. Currently, a highly productive hybrid Lavandula angustifolia Mill. and L. latifolia Medic. – lavandin (L. × intermedia Emeric. ex Loisel.) is actively used in the production of lavendin essential oil. In the Nikita Botanical Gardens, breeding works have been carried out for this crop and 10 cultivars have been originated. In this regard, the aim of the presented work was to search for marker systems for the determination of intervarietal polymorphism of lavandin using microsatellite DNA loci. DNAs were isolated from young leaves of three lavandin cultivars ‘Rabat’, ‘Temp’, and ‘Snezhnyi Bars’. Amplification was made with primers LAF, LAL, LINT, and LAB. A total of 486 alleles (270 alleles of the LAF series, 91 – LINT, 83 – LAB, and 42 - LAL) were identified in the studied group of lavandin genotypes according to 45 SSR markers, from 30 to 2000 bp. The markers LAB 009, LAB 029, LAB 030, LAB 039, LAB 042, and LAB 051 did not form an amplification product. The number of alleles per locus for the rest of the markers varied from 1 (LAB 014, LAB 050) to 11 (LAF 14). The maximum degree of polymorphism was observed for the loci LAF 5, LAF 10, LAF 14, LAF 16, LAF 19, LAL 2, LAB 10, and LAB 62.