MICROSATELLITE FINGERPRINTING IN LETTUCE (LACTUCA-SATIVA L.) AND WILDRELATIVES

Southern hybridisation with a single microsatellite probe, (TCT)(10), sufficed to discriminate between a representative set of cultivars/acc essions of lettuce, Lactuca sativa L., and its wild relatives L. serri ola, L. saligna and L. virosa. Variability within cultivars was tested in a relatively modern cultivar (Hector), where no variation was foun d, and in an older and morphologically more variable cultivar (Madrile ne), where heterogeneity was observed in the TCT fingerprint. (TCT)(10 ) fingerprinting should be useful for variety identification and homog eneity testing in lettuce.