A universal system for matK gene based diagnostic markers to identify the species in Cucurbitaceae

Abstract

Designing and validation of universal primer combination for matK gene in Cucurbitaceae is described. Using the universal primers already reported, matK gene amplification was attempted in 24 Momordica and 4 Luffa accessions, which was successful at varying rates. Amplified markers were gel eluted, Sanger sequenced and the sequences along with the matK sequences from other Cucurbitaceae genera available at GenBank, were aligned to identify the conserved regions in the locus. Primer combination was designed for the conserved regions and this primer set was found successful for all the Momordica and Luffa accessions. Subsequently, the primer combination was shown successful for other genera such as Benincasa, Cucumis, Cucurbita, Citrullus, Coccinia, Trichosanthes and Lagenaria, suggesting it as a universal system for matK gene in Cucurbitaceae family.