Discrimination of teak (Tectona grandis) plus trees using selected random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers

To achieve a highly reliable clone management of teak (Tectona grandis) plus trees, useful DNA molecular markers were surveyed using RAPD analysis and their ability to discriminate among plus tree clones was examined. A primary screening was performed for 120 arbitrary decamer primers, and 24 primers that generated 26 clear and unambiguous fragments were selected. In the secondary screening, the reproducibility of each fragment was investigated by six repetitions of polymerase chain reaction, and 13 fragments found to be most reproducible were finally selected. Evaluation of the discriminatory powers of these fragments suggested that the selected RAPD markers would be useful in the clone management of teak plus trees.