The genus Rhododendron is one of the largest among the angiosperms, and has been the
subject of intense interest in the horticultural field for the many species which are of
commercial value. Hybrid rhododendrons are also valued, and many thousands of named
cultivars have been registered with the International Rhododendron Registry.
Rhododendrons make up an important sector of British Columbia's nursery industry, as they
thrive in the mild climate of the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island. The RAPD marker
technique was applied in rhododendrons, first for DNA fingerprinting of commercial
cultivars, and secondly, to study relationships within the genus
For DNA fingerprinting, samples of rhododendron hybrids were obtained from Clay's
Nursery in Langley, B.C. Reproducibility of the RAPD technique was established, as was
clonal stability of the banding patterns generated. Thirteen RAPD primers were selected and
used to generate RAPD banding patterns for the hybrid cultivars. Keys to identification of
these cultivars were created based on the presence or absence of certain bands. The
reproducibility of RAPDs coupled with the high level of polymorphism generated and the
simplicity of the protocol makes the technique a good candidate for use in industry as a tool
for quality control and identification of individuals whose identity may be in question.
RAPDs were also evaluated for use in parentage analysis in rhododendrons. However, the
relatively high frequency of non-parental bands observed limits the usefulness of the
technique to certain situations in which there are only a few putative parents.
For the taxonomic study, samples were collected from species in subsection Fortunea, as
well as from some species thought to be related, and from an outgroup species. Cluster
analysis on RAPD data generated from these samples did not give any evidence for the
postulated relationships, but did highlight some other relationships. Individuals of the same
species were generally clustered together, and individuals of the outgroup species were
clustered in a distinct group from the other species. No distinctions were observed between
species from more closely related subsections, however, which gives rise to questions
regarding the current classification of Rhododendron. Further work is required to clarify and
define these relationships. / Medicine, Faculty of / Medical Genetics, Department of / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/5892 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Sakakibara, Stacey M. |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Format | 6367196 bytes, application/pdf |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
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