Development and validation of molecular markers for double flower of Prunus mume

Abstract

Prunus mume is a traditional Chinese flower, and cultivars with double flower usually have higher ornamental value. However, the juvenile phase of P. mume is long, and it is necessary to realize the early identification of double flower cultivars through the development of molecular markers which could improve the efficiency of the breeding. In this study, the double flower candidate region was located in Chr 1: 3.00-14.00 Mb, 18.00, 21.00, 24.00 Mb and Chr 8: 0.41-1.35 Mb, 2.39-3.37 Mb, 8.39-9.36 Mb based on bulked segregant analysis sequencing (BSA-seq) analysis. Further, 154 simple sequence repeat (SSR) and 195 insert-delete (InDel) within the candidate region were randomly selected for the development and validation of molecular markers related to the double flower P. mume. One SSR marker (SSR-54) and five InDel markers (InDel 9, InDel 45, InDel 79, InDel 80, InDel 90) were eventually obtained to be associated with the target trait. The SSR-54 were validated with 86.96% accuracy, with InDel 9, InDel 45, InDel 79, InDel 80 and InDel 90 were validated with 100.00%, 92.75%, 91.30%, 97.10% and 100.00% accuracy in 69 P. mume cultivars, respectively. The molecular markers developed in this study can be used for the early identification of double flower of P. mume and lay the foundation for subsequent improvements in the breeding efficiency of double flower of P. mume.