Abstract
AbstractSpecies in the genus Phoenix are dioecious, requiring 5–10 yr for sex determination of individuals raised from seeds. Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.), an important member of the genus, is grown for food in Middle East, whereas Khejur palm [Phoenix sylvestris (L.) Roxb.] is widely used as a source of sugar in India and also as an ornamental plant in China. Availability of an accurate method for sex determination of male and female individuals at the nursery stage is highly desirable. We designed polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primers flanking simple sequence repeats (SSRs) found on the whole‐genome shotgun sequences of Phoenix. Also, three previously reported sex‐linked markers were included. Markers mPdIRDP52 and DPM4 proved to be sex linked, as they were 100% accurate and efficient for sex determination. Marker DPM4, unlike the previous markers, showed distinct bands for both “X” and “Y” alleles and proved to be very efficient in sex determination. Validation of the marker using F1 population (192 palms) revealed accurate conformity with phenotype data. The predicted protein sequence of the amplification product of primer DPM4 revealed four open reading frames (ORFs). Basic local alignment search tool (BLAST) analyses showed similarity with some regions in organisms known to exhibit gender genes. Male palms showed a single melt peak in quantitative PCR (qPCR), as opposed to the female palms that showed two closely related melt peaks. Marker DPM4 has been validated with 192 full‐sib palms of known phenotype for the sex gene and proven efficient for marker‐assisted selection of male and female palms in seedling propagation and popularization in Phoenix spp.
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