RAPDS IDENTIFY VARIETAL MISCLASSIFICATION AND REGIONAL DIVERGENCE IN CRANBERRY [VACCINIUM MACROCARPON (AIT) PURSH]

The majority of cultivated cranberry varieties were selected from nati ve populations in the 1800s and early 1900s from sites in Massachusett s, New Jersey, and Wisconsin. Since their initial selections 100-150 y ears ago, varietal identities have become increasingly confused; prima rily the result of there being a paucity of qualitative markers to eff ectively distinguish among varieties. Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technology has the potential for allowing a more definitive cl assification of varieties and was used in this study to characterize 2 2 cranberry varieties. Twenty-two decamer primers amplified 162 scorab le DNA fragments, of which 66 (41%) were polymorphic. On the basis of these 66 silver-stained RAPDs (ssRAPDs), 17 unique profiles were ident ified rather than the expected 22. Fourteen varieties had unique ssRAP D profiles, while the remaining 8 were represented by 3 ssRAPD profile s. Permuational analyses of the data suggest that the observed ssRAPD profile duplications are examples of varietal misclassification. Furth er analyses identified 2 ssRAPD markers that were found only in Easter n varieties (from Mass. and N. J.) and not in Wisconsin varieties. Wit h varieties differing on average by 22 bands, ssRAPDs are shown to be effective in varietal identification and the assessment of genetic div ersity in cranberry.