APPLICATION OF AFLP(TM)-BASED MOLECULAR MARKERS TO BREEDING OF POPULUS SPP

Molecular marker technologies have eased and potentiated genetic analy sis of plants and have become an extremely useful tool in forest tree breeding. The information provided by molecular markers has made it po ssible to acquire further knowledge about the structure and organizati on of plant genomes as well as about the evolution of these plant geno mes through phylogenetic analysis. Using Populus spp. as a model tree, this paper aims at showing and discussing the possible applications o f AFLP(TM), a high-density DNA marker technology developed by Keygene N.V. (Wageningen, The Netherlands). Applications include: (i) AFLP ana lysis of the disease resistance against Melampsora larici-populina usi ng bulked-segregant analysis, (ii) AFLP fingerprinting for identificat ion and taxonomic analysis of individual trees, and () AFLP-based mapp ing strategies in Populus.