<span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";text-transform:uppercase;mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA" lang="EN-GB">D<span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA" lang="EN-GB">evelopment of ‘Assam’ type tea specific scar marker from RAPD products</span></span>

Abstract

Tea is one of the most important plantation crop in India, accounting for two-third of global tea production. However, the genetic diversity of tea is narrowing down because of the large-scale use of vegetatively propagated clones and massive uprooting of age-old bushes. The present study was carried out to develop DNA based marker for characterization of tea germplasms. A RAPD marker (811 base pair) putatively specific to ‘Assam’ type tea was identified and converted to sequenced characterized amplified region (SCAR) marker by cloning and sequencing the specific RAPD product. A pair of primers from SCAR marker so produced amplified a 640 bp product specifically identifying the ‘Assam’ type tea clones from others. The marker was validated and found to be useful for identifying the ‘Assam’ type tea clones easily and economically.