DNA fingerprinting of rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars using microsatellite markers

Microsatellite combines several features of an ultimate molecular marker and they are used increasingly in various plant genetic studies and applications. In this work, we report on the utilization of a small set of three previously developed rice microsatellite markers for the identification and discrimination of 17 HYVs and 17 local rice cultivars including two wild rice cultivars. All analyzed microsatellite markers were found to be polymorphic with an average number of 6.33 alleles per locus. These three markers were able to identify 15 local rice cultivars and 11 HYVs. A total of three variety specific alleles, RM-11/147, RM-151/289 and RM-153/178 were identified for BR-11, Badshabhog and BR-19 cultivars respectively. DNA fingerprints of rice cultivars by means of microsatellites provided meaningful data, which can be extended by additional microsatellite markers. The data obtained can be used for the protection of plant genetic resources.