ANALYSIS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GRAPEVINE CULTIVARS, SPORTS AND CLONES VIA DNA-FINGERPRINTING

DNA fingerprinting utilizing RAPD polymorphisms was employed to invest igate the relationship among 16 grapevine cultivars and sports thought to have arisen from these cultivars. From 53 primers, a total of 464 bands were generated, of which 29 % were common to all genotypes teste d. Cluster analysis classified all tested cultivars into two main grou ps (Vitis vinifera L. and V. x Labruscana Bailey) as expected. No poly morphism was detected among known clones of Chardonnay (Ch. clone 7, C h. clone 78 and Ch. Geneva clone) or Pinot noir (P. n. clone 29, P. n. Geneva clone and P. n. Pernand). Pinot Meunier, Pinot gris, and Gamay Beaujolais displayed patterns indistinguishable from Pinot noir. Auxe rrois and Melon showed unique patterns and may be classified as distin ct cultivars. Chardonnay clone 7 shared 84 % of its bands with Pinot n oir. There was more than 97 % RAPD amplicon homology between Niagara a nd two supposed sports, and between Concord and a red-fruited sport. T aking into account the error rate in scoring RAPD bands, the evidence is against the hypothesis that the three sports are distinct cultivars . While RAPD banding patterns could not distinguish between known clon es, they were useful for distinguishing between phenotypically similar cultivars and for assessing the origins of cultivars thought to have originated as sports.