IDENTIFICATION OF RFLP MARKERS LINKED TO THE UNIFOLIATE LEAF, CAULIFLOWER HEAD MUTATION OF ALFALFA

The cauliflower head and unifoliate leaf mutation (uni) is a unique de velopmental mutation of alfalfa that may shed some light on the relati onship between leaves and floral organs. RFLP loci linked to uni were identified using bulk segregant analysis of an F-2 diploid alfalfa pop ulation segregating for this trait. Two bulks, one unifoliate leaf and one trifoliate leaf, were formed with each composed of 20 F-2 plants and screened using 110 RFLP clones. Seven clones detected polymorphism s between the bulks. Linkage analysis confirmed that three of the clon es were tightly linked to uni and located on linkage group 4 of a prev iously published linkage map. The clones provide useful tools for futu re genetic and molecular studies.