Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) assay was performed for the id
entification of 14 in vivo and one in vitro lemon mutants in compariso
n with a known zygotic origin genotype. Thirty six 10-mer arbitrary pr
imers were employed to detect RAPD markers. Fourteen of the tested pri
mers generated sole monomorphic profiles and 22 produced 43 polymorphi
c fragments in a total of 294 loci. With the polymorphisms obtained in
the present assay, all the 16 lemon genotypes were identified. Among
the 43 RAPD markers, 28 were unique to a single genotype, of which 20
were specific to 'Interdonato', four to 'Ruvittaro', three to 'Monache
llo' and one to 'Femminello Continella'. The results of the pairwise a
nalysis of the RAPD data indicated that 'Interdonato' was genetically
distinct from the other lemons, while high similarities were observed
among the remaining genotypes. High reproducibility of RAPD technique
was observed in the analysis of three DNA preps. The RAPDs obtained in
the present study have provided the first molecular markers enabling
the discrimination of citrus cultivars differentiated by mutation.