CULTIVAR IDENTIFICATION OF CARNATIONS BY MEANS OF ISOZYME MARKERS

The phenotype of 10 polymorphic isozyme genes of known genetic basis was determined in 100 commercial cultivars of carnation (47 standards and 53 sprays) using starch and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Three of these genes code for aminopeptidase (Aat-1, Aat-2, and Aat-3), 2 for glutamate-oxalacetate transaminase (Got-1 and Got-2), and 1 for each of phosphoglucoisomerase (Pgi-2), shikimic dehydrogenase (Sdh-1), phosphoglucomutase (Pgm-2), and esterase (Est-2). The tenth locus (Mmm) is a modifyer of the migration patterns of a monomorphic malate dehydrogenase region of activity.

Eighty-seven different isozyme phenotypes were found in the 100 cultivars studied. Seventy-eight of them had a unique isozyme fingerprint and the rest could be grouped into nine classes: 1 class of 4 cultivars, 2 classes of 3 cultivars, and 6 classes of 2 cultivars each. None of the cultivars included in the same group for isozyme phenotypes had the same flower color. Thus, the combined information given by electrophoresis and flower color was sufficient for the individual identification of all the cultivars analyzed.