CHLOROPLAST RESTRICTION FRAGMENT VARIABILITY IN RASPBERRY

Cultivated raspberries may include North American red raspberry (Rubus idaeus strigosus Michx), European red raspberry (R. idaeus vulgatus Arrhen.) or black raspberry (R. occidentalis in their pedigrees. Twenty-one raspberry clones were investigated using chloroplast restriction fragment length polymorphisms to determine the cytoplasm type and the amount of cytoplasmic diversity among these selected clones. The raspberry clones were selected representing North American red raspberry, European red raspberry, black raspberry and cultivars with divergent maternal lineages. Total cellular DNA was probed with two 32 P-labelled fragments of tomato chloroplast DNA. Probe-restriction enzyme combinations were selected which discriminated between representatives of the two red raspberry subspecies. Raspberry clones were grouped according to the chloroplast restriction fragment patterns. The composition of the groups was compared with their pedigrees.