Genetic characterization of the silkworm Bombyx mori by simple sequence repeat (SSR)-anchored PCR

Thirteen diverse strains of the silkworm Bombyx mori were analysed using th e simple sequence repeat anchored polymerase chain reaction (SSR-anchored P CR) or Inter-SSR-PCR (ISSR-PCR). A set of four 5'-anchored and two 3'-ancho red repeat primers amplified a total of 239 bands out of which 184 (77%) we re polymorphic. The 5'-anchored primers revealed more distinct polymorphic markers than the 3'-anchored primers and the ISSR-PCR method showed greater variability than RAPDs. The strain-specific pattern was shown to be inheri ted and segregated in a Mendelian fashion. A dendrogram constructed using t he UPGMA method revealed two distinct groups, one comprising nondiapausing and one comprising diapausing strains. These results suggest that the ISSR- PCR method is potentially useful for genetic fingerprinting of silkworm gen otypes and as a mapping tool in the silkworm.