Molecular marker to identify gynoecious lines in bitter gourd

Abstract

We report on the identification of an inter-simple sequence repeat marker (ISSR) associated with the gynoecious trait in bitter gourd. Twenty-four gynoecious plants belonging to the F5 generation derived from a previously identified gynoecious line DBGy-201were screened using 200 RAPD and 28 ISSR markers. A 1000 base pair fragment specific to the gynoecious plants was amplified by the primer (AC)8T. Since bitter gourd flowers 35-40 days after sowing, identification of this marker associated with gynoecy is of great significance to ascertain purity of gynoecious lines at an early stage of development for a cost effective hybrid seed production.