ASSESSMENT OF RANDOM AMPLIFIED POLYMORPHIC DNA (RAPD) AS GENETIC-MARKERS FOR DETERMINING THE ORIGIN OF INTERSPECIFIC LILAC HYBRIDS

RAPD markers were used to assess the relationship among species, cultivars and hybrids of lilacs. Thirteen random primers were used to examine 87-130 bands per cultivar or hybrid. The percent band sharing among Syringa xchinensis 'Alba', S. xchinensis 'Saugeana', S. xchinensis 'Red Rothomagensis' and S. xpersica, was surprisingly high (98.3 % to 99.6 %), supporting the theory that S. xpersica has the same species parentage as the three S. xchinensis hybrids, but also indicating that all four are of different clonal origin since they do not share 100 % of their bands. The percent band sharing among the hybrids and their putative parental species, S. vulgaris L. (3 selections) and S. protolaciniata P. S. Green & M. C. Chang (2 selections), were also determined. On average the first shared 48.9 % of their bands with the hybrids, and the second shared 50.7 %, thus strongly supporting the postulated parentage. Most bands found in the hybrids were shared with at least one of the selections, but 11 bands were found exclusively in all four hybrids. They might either represent genetic characteristics specific to these hybrids or might indicate that the exact parental selection combination has not yet been studied. The two studied selections of S. protolaciniata shared only 90,7 % of their bands, thus confirming that they are of different provenances. It is felt that RAPD markers will be very useful for assessing the origin of cultivars and hybrids of many plant species.