ASSESSMENT OF RANDOM AMPLIFIED POLYMORPHIC DNA (RAPD) AS GENETIC-MARKERS FOR DETERMINING THE ORIGIN OF INTERSPECIFIC LILAC HYBRIDS

RAPD markers were used to assess the relationship among species, culti vars and hybrids of lilacs. Thirteen random primers were used to exami ne 87-130 bands per cultivar or hybrid. The percent band sharing among Syringa xchinensis 'Alba', S. xchinensis 'Saugeana', S. xchinensis 'R ed Rothomagensis' and S. xpersica, was surprisingly high (98.3 % to 99 .6 %), supporting the theory that S. xpersica has the same species par entage as the three S. xchinensis hybrids, but also indicating that al l four are of different clonal origin since they do not share 100 % of their bands. The percent band sharing among the hybrids and their put ative parental species, S. vulgaris L. (3 selections) and S. protolaci niata P. S. Green & M. C. Chang (2 selections), were also determined. On average the first shared 48.9 % of their bands with the hybrids, an d the second shared 50.7 %, thus strongly supporting the postulated pa rentage. Most bands found in the hybrids were shared with at least one of the selections, but 11 bands were found exclusively in all four hy brids. They might either represent genetic characteristics specific to these hybrids or might indicate that the exact parental selection com bination has not yet been studied. The two studied selections of S. pr otolaciniata shared only 90,7 % of their bands, thus confirming that t hey are of different provenances. It is felt that RAPD markers will be very useful for assessing the origin of cultivars and hybrids of many plant species.