Evaluation of AFLP for genetic mapping in Pinus radiata D-Don

Efficient construction of reasonable density genetic linkage maps is an ess ential component of QTL detection programmes. The AFLP technique has been u sed to produce genetic linkage maps in a range of species. We have develope d protocols to generate reproducible AFLP profiles in Pinus radiata and hav e evaluated the inheritance and informativeness of AFLP markers in this imp ortant timber species. The large genome size of P. radiata necessitated inc reased levels of selection at both the pre-amplification and selective ampl ification steps of the AFLP protocol to generate reproducible AFLP profiles . Once optimised ca. 41.3 scorable AFLP bands were resolvable through denat uring gels, of which 48.4% were polymorphic in a screen of eight unrelated trees. This level of polymorphism is ca. three times higher than with RAPD markers. The total number of bands and the number of polymorphismic bands p er PCR were ca. halved when AFLPs were electrophoresed on non-denaturing ge ls and stained with ethidium bromide. Using the protocols developed, AFLP i s an efficient method for generating the DNA markers required for genetic l inkage map construction in P. radiata.