Development of ISSR derived SCAR marker for economically important <em>Benstonea thwaitesii</em> (Martelli) Callm. and Buerki

Abstract

<em>Benstonea thawaitesii </em>(Martelli) Callm. and Buerki, an economically important plant of Pandanaceae family, is having fragrant male inflorescence. In vegetative growth phase, it is difficult to distinguish <em>B. thwaitesii</em> from other Pandanaceae species due to similar morphological characters. In the present study, we have developed inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) derived sequence characterized amplified region (SCAR) marker for identification of <em>B. thwaitesii</em>. A set of 15 Indian Pandanaceae species was screened using 15 ISSR primers. Among 15 primers, UBC-857 generated unique 1 kb band specific to <em>B. thwaitesii</em>. It was further cloned, sequenced and used to design SCAR primer that amplified the expected amplicon of 750 bp in <em>B. thwaitesii </em>only. This is the first report of developing species-specific SCAR marker in <em>B. thwaitesii</em> using ISSR primers.