Shah Kevalkumar P.¹ , Kathiria Keshubhai B.¹ , Kumar Sushil ²

1. Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, BACA, Anand Agricultural University, Anand – 388 110, India
2. Department of Agri Biotechnology, Anand Agricultural University, Anand – 388 110, India
Author    Correspondence author
Molecular Plant Breeding, 2015, Vol. 6, No. 15   doi: 10.5376/mpb.2015.06.0015
Received: 22 Jun., 2015    Accepted: 11 Aug., 2015    Published: 13 Oct., 2015

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Shah Kevalkumar P., Kathiria Keshubhai B. and Kumar Sushil, 2015, Development of SCAR Marker Linked to Sex Determination Locus in Trichosanthes dioica, Interaction, Molecular Plant Breeding, 6(15): 1-6 (doi: 10.5376/mpb.2015.06.0015)

Pointed gourd (Trichosanthes dioica Roxb.), a perennial herb of family Cucurbitaceae, is morphologically different from the other cucurbits due to its dioecism and vegetative means of propagation. Breeding in pointed gourd is less viable due to poor germination, vegetative propagation mean and dioecy. A reliable method for determining the gender of pointed gourd at seedling stage would facilitate breeding programs. With this aim, RAPD markers were used to identify a sex linked marker. RAPD profiles with 104 primers were analyzed in 10 male and 44 female plants for presence/absence of specific bands.  Two sex-specific fragments, OPC05₁₀₀₀ and OPK07₃₀₀, associated with maleness and femaleness, respectively, were converted in SCAR markers. Based on the sequence of OPC5₁₀₀₀ and OPK-07₃₀₀, five and one pair of specific forward and reverse SCAR markers were designed, respectively. Among five male specific SCAR, only one marker (SCF/R-3₆₂₈) discriminated both sexes. Thus, SCAR designed from RAPD fragment could be used as an effective and reliable marker for early sex diagnosis and to reduce both time and costs associated with breeding in T. dioeca.

Dioecious plant; Pointed gourd; RAPD; SCAR