IDENTIFICATION OF A RAPD MARKER LINKED TO THE PENDULA GENE IN NORWAY SPRUCE (PICEA-ABIES (L) KARST F PENDULA)

The pendula phenotype of Norway spruce [Picea abies (L.) Karst f. pend ula] is characterized by narrow crowns and strong apical dominance and is controlled by a single dominant gene (P). This defined genetic con trol presents one of the few opportunities to map a single gene contro lling a morphological trait in a forest tree. We used random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers and bulked segregant analysis to ident ify one locus OPH10_720, linked to the pendula gene. The estimated rec ombination frequency (r) between OPH10_720 and P was 0.046 (SE(r) = 0. 032). Mapping of the pendula gene is an important first step towards t he ultimate identification and cloning of this gene.